In Cambridge rukte vorig jaar zomer een ambulance uit naar Kings Road. Astma-aanval. Daar aangekomen was iedereen nog in leven. Astma-aanval? Waar hebben jullie het over? 6 Kilometer verderop stierf op hetzelfde moment een man. Hij woonde aan King’s Road….

Nader onderzoek door de Cambridge City Council wees uit dat deze fout mogelijk te wijten was aan nieuwe nationale richtlijnen betreffende nieuwe (geografische) namen voor straten, parken, gebieden etc. In navolging van de Verenigde Staten en Australië werd besloten het gebruik van interpunctie in nieuwe geografisch namen te voorkomen. Als
reden werd (onder meer) gegeven dat dit lastig zou zijn voor GPS-systemen en de snelle bereikbaarheid voor hulpdiensten (sic). Deze richtlijn is na het incident in Cambridge schielijk ingetrokken…

Sinds die tijd raast een Apostrophe War door het Verenigd Koninkrijk, en de Britten zouden de Britten niet zijn als ze niet gelijk een heuse Apostrophe Protection Society hadden opgericht (klik hier voor website). Het is immer al erg genoeg dat ze ounces, pounds, en fahrenheit hebben moeten opgeven…

Doden zullen er vast niet zo snel vallen als u de apostrof verkeerd gebruikt in een Engelse tekst, maar als de Engelsen er al zo’n moeite mee schijnen te hebben, hoe moet dat dan met niet-moedertaalsprekers die in het Engels schrijven? Te meer daar er één groot
verschil is met het apostrofgebruik…

De regels dan maar even:
1. De apostrof gebruik je ter vervanging van een of meer letters:
• I can’t in plaats van I can not (ook vaak als één woord geschreven: cannot)
• I don’t in plaats van I do not
• It’s in plaats van it is of it has
NB:
Zulke samentrekkingen dienen in het algemeen in formele teksten vermeden te worden.

2. De apostrof gebruik je om bezit aan te geven
• John Smith is Peter’s lawyer
• We are giving you one week’s notice
NB:
de ENIGE uitzondering is its dat zonder apostrof wordt geschreven als het om bezit gaat:
• The firm launched its new website last week
Maar natuurlijk wél als het een afkorting is van It is
• It’s the company’s new website

Vooral hier wijkt het Nederlands af van het Engels: in het Nederlands schrijf je namelijk ”John Smith is Peters advocaat” en komt de apostrof alleen maar om de hoek kijken als de bezittende partij op een klinker eindigt: “John Smith is Anita’s advocaat”. Overigens zou je in het Nederlands veel vaker schijven “John Smith is de advocaat van Peter/Anita”, terwijl je in het Engels in 9 van 10 gevallen die genitief-s gebruikt (ALTIJD met een apostrof, dus!!).

Als een woord op een –s (of een –s klank) eindigt, schrijf je heel officieel ook ‘s (John Smith is Peter Jones’s lawyer), maar in modern Brits Engels en Amerikaans Engels is het heel gebruikelijk om dan alleen maar de apostrof te gebruiken: John Smith is Peter Jones’ lawyer). Het zal niemand verbazen dat de Apostrophe Protection Society daar héél anders over denkt. Hier zie je overigens ook wel een verschil tussen ‘namen’ en ‘woorden’, waar de ‘s bij namen wordt weggelaten (Peter Jones’ lawyer), maar bij ‘woorden’ wél wordt gebruikt (The class’s timetable  of: The carcass’s remains), maar dit is meer iets voor individuele huisstijlhandboeken.

En wellicht voor de volledigheid: apostrof + s wordt (in tegenstelling tot het Nederlands) nooit en te nimmer gebruikt om meervoud aan te geven. Het is dus gewoon: bananas, CDs, menus, 1000s of people, etc. Af en toe kan dit tot grote betekenisverschillen leiden: The employee’s contract (is het arbeidscontract van één werknemer, terwijl The
employees’ contract over het arbeidscontract van meer dan dan één werkgever gaat. The client’s payments were late zijn de betalingen van eén klant en The clients’ payments were late zijn de betalingen van meer dan één klant.

COMMAPHILIA

This week I would like to address my very often underestimated little friend, the comma. I confess to being somewhat of a pedant when it comes to its usage. Often ignored and underrated, incorrect comma usage can change the meaning of sentences and its omission render a sentence unintelligible. Sticklers like myself go so far as to say that our system of punctuation is endangered – what with ‘textese’ (SMS language) and other internet-based communication. So allow me to demonstrate what a wonderful and necessary thing the comma is. I know, it’s sad – I really don’t have a life.

Before I enlighten you of the rules, look how commas can change the meaning of sentences:

• The judge said the convict was a fool. (meaning:) The convict is the fool.
• The judge, said the convict, was a fool. (meaning:)The judge is the fool.
• The staff who were successful received a bonus. (meaning:) Only members of staff who were successful received a bonus
• The staff, who were successful, received a bonus. (meaning:) All staff received a bonus.

The rules surrounding comma usage in English differ from those in Dutch. Moreover, I frequently encounter a form of ‘comma phobia’ during the writing workshops I provide; i.e. the poor little comma is completely overlooked. Look at this extract, not a comma in sight!

“The difference between the large company rules and the mitigated large company rules is that the mitigated large company rules the members of the company’s management board are appointed by the general meeting rather than by the members of the supervisory board”.

Now that I have hopefully demonstrated their importance, here are some of the rules:

1. Commas are used to separate an introductory word or phrase from the main subject of the sentence e.g.

• Time phrase: In 2012, we launched our new software.
• Introductory phrase: In response to your telephone call, I have pleasure in enclosing the revised contract.

2. Commas are used after connectors (e.g. furthermore, however etc.) or adverbs of opinion (e.g. actually, frankly etc.) placed at the beginning of a sentence e.g.

• Moreover, we would like to draw your attention to the final paragraph of our client’s letter.
• Very importantly, we would like to draw your attention to clause four of the contract.

3. Commas are used to separate connectors from the surrounding text e.g.

• We have, however, some queries related to clause 4.
• The supplier must, therefore, give four weeks’ notice of any price changes.

4. Commas are used before and after a non-defining relative clause e.g.

• The contract, which has also been passed to my colleague in Frankfurt, does not   include the information we sent you last week.
• He has agreed to speak to the manager, who is coming here next Monday, regarding the Patent issue.

5. Commas are NOT used:

• After a defining relative clause e.g. – This is an issue which will require further attention. – A barrister is a lawyer in England or Wales who is allowed to speak in the higher law courts.
• Before ‘and’ (NB: There is something known as the ‘Oxford Comma’ which is an optional comma before the word ‘and’ at the end of al list e.g. We sell books, videos, and magazines. The Oxford Comma is also a part of pop music… click here). 
• After a ‘reporting’ verb (e.g. say, tell, inform, think, confirm etc.)e.g. He has confirmed that the Plaintiff will accept the amount offered in settlement
• (as mentioned in Courtesy 1): After salutations and closes in correspondence e.g. Dear Mr Jones and Yours sincerely/Best regards. This is no longer necessary in British English.

Although I have only scratched the surface regarding comma usage, the above are the most important rules. I hope after reading this you pay a little more attention to possibly one of the most important, but underrated elements of punctuation.

Happy writing.

In onze Workshops Legal English Writing Skills staan de Branch Out “7 Cs of Writing” centraal. Deze 7 Cs zijn: Clarity, Correctness, Courtesy, Conciseness, Cohesion, Consistency en Completeness (voor een korte beschrijving: zie hiernaast).

Onder de C van Clarity:  SVOMPT (NB: ook deze keer voorbeelden die wij de laatste tijd in de praktijk zijn tegengekomen).

Last week I made a start on some important elements regarding clarity in writing; KISS (Keep It Short and Simple) was our mantra. This week I would like to introduce a further and important element of clarity which is sentence structure.

Dutch writers of English often make the mistake of applying Dutch word order to their English sentences which, of course, doesn’t always work. So my first tip is to try and remember SVOMPT. Now, this is not really an acronym, but it does sound like a Dutch or German speaker saying ‘swamped’ (I am swamped with work i.e. you have too much work) – no offence meant! SVOMPT stands for:  Subject, Verb, Object, Manner, Place and Time which is generally correct English word order.  For example:

(S=) We (V=) sent (O=) the contract (M=) by courier (P=) to Amsterdam (T=) yesterday.

As is often the case in English, there are some exceptions to this rule – e.g. the time can also go at the very beginning of the sentence – but on the whole, SVOMPT should serve you well. Here are a few other pointers to help you ensure correct sentence structure (and some examples we recently came across):

1. Have the subject as close as possible to the beginning of the sentence.

• Instead of:            Because he lives in Amsterdam, he is always late for work.
• Write this:             He is always late for work because he lives in Amsterdam

2. Do not separate the verb and object when possible.

• Instead of:            In my opinion this is, for foreign companies or clients looking for                                          advice, a good characteristic.
• Write this:             In my opinion, this is a good characteristic for companies or clients                                      looking for …

3. Do not separate a modal verb (e.g. would, could, can etc.) from its dependent verb(s) whenever possible.

• Instead of:            This could, for our clients, have consequences.
• Write this:             This could have consequences for our clients.

4. Linking words and adverbs of opinion are best placed at the beginning of the sentence.

• Instead of:           The employer may not, nevertheless, store the data for any longer                                     than is necessary.
• Write this:            Nevertheless, the employer may not store the data for any longer                                       than is necessary.

5. Avoid putting qualifying phrases in the middle of a sentence. Put them either at the end or eliminate.

• Instead of:           The court, although it limited its holding, held that a bicyclist must                                     adhere to traffic rules.
• Write this:            The court held that a cyclist must adhere to traffic rules, although it                                   limited its holding.

And while we are at it:

6. Adverbs of frequency (e.g. always, often, never etc.) go before a single verb; except for the verb ‘to be’

• I take always the train to work                                        I always take the train to work
• I never am late for a meeting                                           I am never late for a meeting

7. In multi-verb combinations, the adverb goes between  the verbs

• They have been always a reliable business partner. They have always been …
• We never will reach a decision.                                         We will never reach …
• They also have been working on a new structure.      They have also been working …

On a final note, remember that there are always exceptions to the rule; and English seems to have its fair share of these. We will often break the rules of word order and vary word order for reasons of style, focus, rhythm, sound, rhyme, or to express emphasis, catch the reader’s attention or just to be different. But if you are in doubt, SVOMPT (together with last week’s KISS) and the above tips should be a good guideline.

Happy writing!!.

In onze Workshops Legal English Writing Skills staan de Branch Out “7 Cs of Writing” centraal. Deze 7 Cs zijn: Clarity, Correctness, Courtesy, Conciseness, Cohesion, Consistency en Completeness (voor een korte beschrijving: zie hiernaast).

Onder de C van Clarity het volgende: (NB. we geven drie voorbeelden die we het afgelopen jaar zijn tegengekomen. Lezers zijn uitgenodigd om hun eigen verbeteringen aan de laatste twee voorbeelden in te sturen. Iedereen krijgt feedback!!).

PUT YOURSELF IN THE READER’S SHOES

When I broach the topic of clarity in writing with my students, I usually uncover a huge misconception which is that we do not write to IMPRESS, but to INFORM.  Some think that pages of dense, undecipherable, longwinded prose are the norm and what clients, business partners, bosses etc. expect. “After all, they are paying us to do this” one particular student once pointed out to me! Nothing could be further from the truth. Your average reader is very busy and wants to be able to grasp the message at first glance; remember, ‘time is money’.  In addition, if you are prone to producing overly complex sentences, you are more likely to fall into the trap of making unnecessary grammatical mistakes.

Example 1:

If any partner becomes a bankrupt partner, the partnership, at its sole option, exercisable by notice from the managing general partner (including any newly designated managing general partner) to the bankrupt partner or its duly appointed representative at any time prior to the 180^th day after receipt of notice of the occurrence of the event causing the partner to become a bankrupt partner, may buy, and upon the exercise of this option the bankrupt partner or its representative shall sell, the bankrupt partner’s partnership interest.

Could (or maybe should??) be worded as:

The partnership may buy the bankrupt partner’s interest. To exercise its option to buy, the managing general partner must provide notice to the bankrupt partner no later than 180 days after receiving notice of the event that caused bankruptcy.

So here are a few tips:

Short paragraphs

• One main idea per paragraph
• Paragraphs of more than six lines put the reader off
• Break down longer paragraphs to keep the reader’s attention
• Link your ideas between paragraphs

Short sentences

• One idea per sentence
• Don’t use over-long sentences. In most documents, any sentence of more than 20 words may be too complex for the reader to take in.
• Follow the KISS principle – Keep It Short & Simple. A reader should never have to reread a sentence if he/she did not get the meaning the first time
• Check your use of and. You need to use connectors (e.g. however, moreover etc.) to show the relationship between ideas – but if the relationship is simply additive, wouldn’t a separate sentence be better?

Two more ‘real-life’ examples (please correct and return to p.peek@branch-out.eu; we will give you feed-back):

Example 2: Please note that we have reviewed the four contracts you sent us, and established that Stevenson Inc. made a few text changes, of which we feel that these – as said – could possibly lead to interpretation difficulties, and (more importantly) does not always fully cover the situation that Stevenson Inc. has in mind with the specific agreement.

Example 3: Before deciding on the introduction of a personal computer scheme I ask you for feedback/advice – as far as possible consulting together and/or with each other – on the above outlined intended decision.