How to Make Sure Your Verb Agrees with Your Subject in Technical Writing
© Ugur Akinci It’s a fundamental rule of English grammar: your VERB must agree with the SUBJECT of your sentence. A SINGULAR subject must take a SINGULAR verb. A PLURAL subject must take a PLURAL verb. Why am I addressing this very basic rule? The reason is, the violation of this rule can potentially have disastrous consequences in…
Read MoreWatch Your Adjectives Like a Hawk in Technical Writing
Watch your adjectives like a hawk when you’re writing a list or a procedure in a technical document. Here is an example from the “Workout & Nutrition Guide” that came with the exercise equipment I’ve bought the other day. EXAMPLE 1 “Continue your workout until you feel you are no longer using good form.” What…
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How to Write Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
Introduction How to write notes, cautions, and warnings is an important skill in documentation. They can be used to make a point clear or to warn the reader about something they should be careful about or the possibility of personal injury. You can hurt or at least drive your readers crazy if you neglect the…
Read MoreTwo Ways to Direct Your Readers in Technical Writing
© Ugur Akinci There are many times when while writing a procedure you’ll have to direct a reader in one direction or another. There are two types of directing instructions: A REFERENCE and a BRANCH statement. And both of them can be either CONDITIONAL or UNCONDITIONAL. I’ll give an example of each. UNCONDITIONAL REFERENCE: Refer…
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