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1.3.3 Don't hide the verb.

Verbs are the heart of clear writing. They tell what happened or tell the reader what to do. Avoid hiding verbs by turning them into nouns. Turning verbs into nouns makes them less effective and requires you to use more words than necessary.

Watch out for the words make, do, give, have, provide, perform, and conduct, which often indicate that a verb has been turned into a noun.

We made the decision to They did a study of This gives the indication that This has the tendency to He provided an explanation They performed an assessment of She conducted a review of Have researchers show

We decided They studied This indicates This tends He explained They assessed She reviewed Ask researchers to show

1.3.4 Don't use "shall."

Avoid the ambiguous shall. The word can suggest obligation or simply a future event. Good business writing never forces the reader to interpret.

For obligation, use "must."

When you examine records, you must keep them in their original order.

For permission, use "may."

You may bring a coin purse or wallet into the research room.

When recommending a course of action, use "should."

You and your financial institution should agree on how invoice information will be provided to you.

When indicating the future, use "will."

Our facility will reopen on September 1.

1.3.5 Avoid the false subjects It is and There are.

It is shown in the photographs It was proven by the research It will be argued by the plaintiff There are times when There were delays due to There will be complications unless

The photographs show The research proved The plaintiff will argue Occasionally/Sometimes Delays were caused by Complications will occur unless