Construct Sentences that Do Not Require Mental Inversion

© Ugur Akinci
When we construct a procedural sentence in technical writing we are usually telling the reader either to do something or not to do it. Our intention is either pointing out to something positive or negative.
For easier comprehension and longer retention, try to construct your sentences in a way such that the intended effect would come at the end of the sentence. Otherwise your readers will be forced to invert the emphasis and deduce that the overall intended tone of the sentence is negative even though you finish it with a positive phrase or clause. The cognitive load of such lopsided sentences would be higher on those readers who are not native speakers of English.

Requires mental inversion:

For example, here is a sentence that requires mental inversion:
“If you select this option, then NO panel [NEGATIVE] can be connected [POSITIVE] to the server.”
Even though the sentence ends with “can be connected” [a POSITIVE act] the reader is asked to remember the “NO panel” phrase that came earlier [a NEGATIVE assertion], perform a mental inversion and deduce that the overall message is actually a negative one.

Does not require mental inversion:

Compare that with this sentence below that says exactly the same thing but does not require mental inversion:
“If you select this option, then the panel [POSITIVE] can NOT be connected [NEGATIVE] to the server.”
The sentence ends with a negative message and that is the correct one. The reader can understand this structure more easily without performing any mental inversion. It creates a smoother and easier reader experience, especially for those readers who are not native speakers of English.