Which Way Your Sentences Branch – Right or Left?

Ugur Akinci
Try right-branching sentences in your technical documents for higher comprehension.
Right-branching sentences start with the SUBJECT, follow it with PRIMARY VERB (or sometimes the other way around if the verb is in imperative/order mode), and then end with modifiers and other relevant information. What branches off to the right of the subject and the verb is all the additional information you want to get across.

Right Branching Sentence

For example, here is a RIGHT-branching sentence:
“You need to access the control panel to rewire the card reader.”
SUBJECT (“You”) + PRIMARY VERB (“access”) + the rest.

Here is the LEFT-branching equivalent of the same sentence:
“To rewire the control panel you need to access the control panel.”
SECONDARY VERB (“rewire”) + DIRECT OBJECT (“control panel”) + the rest.
Which one you think is easier to understand and remember?
Here is another example of a RIGHT-branching sentence:
“Check the voltage before connecting the alarm module.”
PRIMARY VERB (“check”) + SUBJECT (“you” implicit in the imperative form of the verb “to check”) + the rest.

Left Branching Sentence

And here is its LEFT-branching equivalent:
“Before you connect the alarm module check the voltage.”
SUBJECT (“you”) + SECONDARY VERB (“connect”) + SECONDARY OBJECT (“alarm module”) + the rest.
Right-branching sentences say the most importing things upfront, right away. They are immediately satisfying and relaxing structures.
In contrast, there’s a tension in left-branching sentences since the most important information is held off from the reader until the end of the sentence