Using E-Prime
Sep. 18th, 2008 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fiat_knoxI have recently begun attempting to use E-Prime in all my LJ communications.
When using E-Prime, the speaker or writer simply removes all instances of the verb "to be" and variants.
Examples of the excised word include "to be," "is," "are," "were," "am," "be," "been" and "being," along with contractions such as "I'm," "you're," "he's," "she's," "it's," "we're" and "they're" and "[name]'s" in sentences such as "David's English" (short for "David is English") as compared to the apostrophe used to denote a possessive term (e.g. "David's Garage").
Not only does E-Prime change the way one uses words; its use forces the speaker or writer to think about what he or she really means. The premise initially appears complex and requires much thought; but once you embark upon the journey, you may well come to rely upon E-Prime for its superlative efficiency in cutting out linguistic ambiguities.
When using E-Prime, the speaker or writer simply removes all instances of the verb "to be" and variants.
Examples of the excised word include "to be," "is," "are," "were," "am," "be," "been" and "being," along with contractions such as "I'm," "you're," "he's," "she's," "it's," "we're" and "they're" and "[name]'s" in sentences such as "David's English" (short for "David is English") as compared to the apostrophe used to denote a possessive term (e.g. "David's Garage").
Not only does E-Prime change the way one uses words; its use forces the speaker or writer to think about what he or she really means. The premise initially appears complex and requires much thought; but once you embark upon the journey, you may well come to rely upon E-Prime for its superlative efficiency in cutting out linguistic ambiguities.
