Return-Path: <root> Received: (from root@localhost) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) id f7VBr2H09466 for health-archive@nifl.gov; Fri, 31 Aug 2001 07:53:02 -0400 (EDT) Resent-Message-Id: <200108311153.f7VBr2H09466@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from inside.sickkids.on.ca (mail.sickkids.on.ca [142.20.67.51]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with ESMTP id f2JJo3g12529 for <nifl-health@nifl.gov>; Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:50:06 -0500 (EST) Received: from notessmtp01.sickkids.on.ca (notessmtp01.sickkids.on.ca [142.20.71.62]) by inside.sickkids.on.ca (8.10.0/8.10.0) with SMTP id f2JK39X00333 for <nifl-health@nifl.gov>; Mon, 19 Mar 2001 15:03:09 -0500 Received: by notessmtp01.sickkids.on.ca(Lotus SMTP MTA v4.6.7 (934.1 12-30-1999)) id 85256A14.006CEE3A ; Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:49:48 -0500 X-Lotus-FromDomain: HSC From: michelle.black@sickkids.ca To: nifl-health@nifl.gov Message-ID: <85256A14.006CECFD.00@notessmtp01.sickkids.on.ca> Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:49:42 -0500 Subject: Re: [NIFL-HEALTH:2927] Easy to read vs. grammatically incorrect Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Resent-From: root@literacy.nifl.gov Resent-Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 07:53:02 -0400 Resent-To: health-archive@nifl.gov Status: O Content-Length: 1515 Lines: 43 Felicia wrote: When writing easy-to-read patient ed materials, I occasionally find that the easiest-to-understand wording is (technically) grammatically incorrect. What's your opinion on choosing one over the other? Greetings Felicia. I would err on the side of using whatever your audience can understand without too much effort. In this case, the readers are likely going to identify less with the "for whom" example, because this is not the way most people talk. Therefore, the grammatically-less-correct example would likely work better. In fact, many people who work in clear communication--be it patient education or other types--have publicly dashed that "no ending sentences with a preposition" rule. Most of these folks acknowledge that as a language evolves, it will start to do away with things that do not work in practice; hence the acceptance of relaxing that particular grammatical rule. That said, I would also caution that relaxing grammatical rules takes a long time to gain acceptance in many contexts. This can make it harder to make a case for your decisions with your clients, for one. It also is something that takes a long time; and in my experience it only happens if enough people can find effective ways to prove that changing that rule will ultimately benefit the document's ability to communicate with its audience. 'Hope that helps, Michelle Black Plain Language Writer Centre for Health Information and Promotion Hospital for Sick Children Toronto, Ontario CANADA
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