Use the alphabetical shortcuts above to narrow down your choice. Then type the key word or phrase you want to look up, or scroll down the drop-down list that will appear once you tap on or click in the search box.

 

Tap on or click the word or phrase you want and our suggestion will appear below. Often you'll find some advice on using our suggestion, or an explanation of why it's important to put this idea in plain English.

 

As this is the preview version of the phrase book, you'll find that only the 'A' shortcut works. In the full version of the phrase book there are hundreds of entries to help you use everyday language when you write.

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plain English phrase book

use the phrase book

Welcome to the plain English phrase book!

 

Using familiar or 'everyday' words is one of the main plain English principles. Unfortunately, it can be hard sometimes to change the way you write about a familiar topic. This phrase book will be a great help when you are stuck for the right word.

 

The phrase book isn't just a random collection of words. We've trawled through many of the documents we've edited over the years, looking for the words and phrases we have to edit most often. We are sure this makes the phrase book much more relevant and helpful.

The phrase book is an alphabetical list containing many of the complicated and bureaucratic words and phrases that writers often use. For each one you will see our suggestion, or suggestions, for saying the same thing in plain English.

 

Use the alphabetical shortcuts to narrow down your choice. Then type the key word or phrase you want to look up, or scroll down the drop-down list that will appear once you tap on or click in the search box.

 

Tap on or click the word or phrase you want and our suggestion will appear below. Often you'll find some advice on using our suggestion, or an explanation of why it's important to put this idea in plain English.

Of course, there is more to writing in plain English than just crossing out complicated words and putting 'easy' ones in their place. You need to apply the other principles too, and you'll learn more about these as you work through the course.

 

You may need to alter other parts of the sentence if you use our 'plain English' alternative. For example: if you look at our suggestion for the word 'compulsory' you will see 'must'.

 

The two words aren't interchangeable in a sentence. Imagine a sentence with the word 'compulsory' in it: 'Going to three meetings a week is compulsory'. To use 'must', you need to re-arrange the sentence: 'You must go to three meetings a week'. Or you could use our other suggestion 'have to' in the same way.

If you can't find the word or phrase you want to change please let us know. Just fill in the form below, with a sentence to give us some context, and we'll get back to you with our suggestions.

 

We'll also add it to the phrase book so that other users can reap the benefit!

 

Sorry. The form only works in the full version of the course.