How you ever thought about how your sentence style impacts your readers' ability to understand your ideas?

  • Should you write long complicated sentences to impress your readers?
  • Or short, concise ones that make clear points? 
You might be surprised at what publishers consider to be a good sentence length. As an example, take a look at what this publisher says about long sentences.

Learning activity


To find out about your sentence style, watch this video to analyze your sentence style
Analyze your sentence style - This instructional video will guide you through this exercise.
Complete the fillable pdf attached to Assignment box 2.2 and submit it.

Here are a couple of other ways to improve your sentences

Beware of overusing nominalizations. To find out about that, watch this excellent video by Helen Sword

Beware of nominalizations (Time: 5 min)

In addition, consider using more active voice. To understand the arguments behind this suggestion, read this document 

Passive voice in scientific writing


Follow-up


Findings: If your sentences tend to be too short, look at the following instructional videos on how to combine sentences

Combining sentences: Part 1
Combining sentences: Part 2




Last modified: Wednesday, 28 October 2020, 3:30 PM