Grammar

As a writer, your job is to avoid writing the words in your writing which confuse the reader or do not clearly convey your message. So, when writing a technical document, specification, blog avoid using weak phrases. If you are new to technical writing and exploring the opportunity you can read our beginner’s guide. They were found to be ineffective by NASA Software Assurance Technology Center and they recently updated the list  : This extra weak word or phrase can confuse, mislead or frustrate the readers. Avoid these small words can strengthen our writing and increase the reader engagement. These word clutter the content rather making the writing clear. adequate – What is adequate for you may not be for others. as a minimum- How much is minimum as applicable- Not clear how much tax will be applicable 🙂 easy- Can be difficult for me as appropriate- May not be for my son. be able to- I’m may not able to. So by now, you are clear about why to not use these kinds of stuff. Oh! Avoid stuff also, it is not recommended 🙂 be capable but not limited to capability of capability to effective if practical normal provide for timely tbd If you are looking for training in technical writing please read Information Developers Foundation complete training program. Apart from online we also provide technical writing training in Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad.

Definition of parallelism The balance between two or more similar words, phrases or clauses is called parallelism in grammar. Parallelism is also called parallel structure or parallel construction. Parallel construction prevents awkwardness, promotes clarity and improves writing style and readability. Rules of parallelism are also described in the Microsoft writing style guide. If you are interested to learn more concepts read our complete syllabus. Examples: Debjani likes playing the piano, the trumpet and play the guitar.  Debjani likes the piano, the trumpet and the guitar. Debjani likes playing the piano, the trumpet and the guitar. She played basketball, had a shower and gone to school. She played basketball, had a shower and went to school.  You can apply to the job by filling this form or apply by telephone. You can apply to the job by filling this form or you can apply by telephone. Rules of parallelism Parallelism is used to balance nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, participles with participles, infinitives with infinitives, clauses with clauses. Parallelism is used with elements joined by coordinating conjunctions. Shipra likes cooking and to read. Shipra likes cooking and reading. Parallelism is used with elements in lists or in a series. This task can be done individually, in pairs, or can be done in groups of four.  This task can be done individually, in pairs, or in groups of four. Parallelism is used with elements being compared. Navtez is mad about watching TV more than to read a book. Navtez is mad about watching TV more than reading a book.  Parallelism is used with elements joined by a linking verb or a form of be To learn is understanding the world.  To learn is to understand the world.  Parallelism is used with elements joined by linking words. Rahul not only wants his students to keep quiet but also to do the task.  Rahul wants his students not only to keep quiet but also to do the task. If you are exploring technical writing as a full-time career do not miss to read. You can also consider reading the comprehensive guide on content writing.

“Login” or “Log in” also which is better “Log in” or “Log on”? What is the difference between logon and login? Sometimes this small word confuses us and compels us to go back to basic :-). I prefer Microsoft Manual of Style so the answer is inline with it. Microsoft Manual of Style prefers Log on/logon over Log In/ Login. Sign in is used by many websites such as Linkedin, Microsoft, and so on. From my experience, log on is mostly used in enterprise documentation.   For example, the information you use to sign into your email is your login (noun), and the page where you sign in is the login page (adjective). Two words as a verb, one as a noun. I personally prefer to log on to log in but both are fine. When we use it as a button in the UI, should it be two words or one word? Use the phrasal verb form: Log in. The button is offering the user the option to perform an action, that is, to log in. If this is not the case you can talk to your UI developers. Do not forget to attend Information Developers Foundation FREE Webinars, training. If you want to be the part of largest google group of techcomm professionals please write to us. Please do not forget to add your comments also.

Difference between Editing and Proofreading  Difference between editing and proofreading is work from Megha Gola, A student of Information Developers and employee of Vikash Technical publication, New Delhi. Now Megha is working with Emersion Noida. There is a very thin line between both processes. In this table, I’m trying to summarize the difference. Feel free to add more points if I missed something. Editing Proofreading It is the first task that should be undertaken after finishing the first draft of a piece of text. It involves checking the text in detail after the editing stage, to detect errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and format. Editing requires focusing on the content of the text. The key goals are to check that the text:          flows logically         is meaningful as whole         is clearly expressed          is accurate in the information it provides        is concise          makes its purpose clear is targeted towards the reader The aim of proofreading is to spot and correct errors in:  spelling   typography  grammar, punctuation and use of language  style and format anything missed at the editing stage Editing requires careful analysis and critical thinking. Proofreading requires a great deal of attention to detail.

Hi Folk, One of the irrepressible skill of technical writers is good English. We can achieve this by practice. In this series, we are trying to share some good rules of writing. This is a brief about “Gerund Rules”. Hope you all like the post!! Gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, and for this reason, it is now common to call both forms ‘the -ing form’. However, it is useful to understand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb) so it can be used:   Rule1: As the subject of the sentence: Eating people is wrong. Hunting tigers is dangerous. Flying makes me nervous. Rule 2: As the complement of the verb ‘to be’: One of his duties is attending meetings. The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund. One of life’s pleasures is having breakfast in bed. Rule 3: After prepositions. The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition: Can you sneeze without opening your mouth? She is good at painting. They’re keen on windsurfing. She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road. We arrived in Madrid after driving all night. My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary. Note:  This is also true of certain expressions ending with a preposition, e.g. in spite of, there’s no point in..: There’s no point in waiting. In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time. Rule4: After a number of ‘phrasal verbs’ which are composed of a verb + preposition/adverb Example: to look forward to, to give up, to be for/against, to take, to put off, to keep on: I look forward to hearing from you soon. (at the end of a letter) When are you going to give up smoking? She always puts off going to the dentist. He kept on asking for money. NOTE: There are some phrasal verbs and other expressions that include the word ‘to’ as a preposition, not as part of a to-infinitive: – to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to be used to. It is important to recognize that ‘to’ is a preposition in these cases, as it must be followed by a gerund: We are looking forward to seeing you. I am used to waiting for buses. She didn’t really take to studying English. Note: It is possible to check whether ‘to  is a preposition or part of a to-infinitive: if you can put a noun or the pronoun ‘it’ after it, then it is a preposition and must be followed by a gerund: I am accustomed to it (the cold). I am accustomed to being cold. Rule5:  In compound nouns Example: a driving lesson, a swimming pool, bird-watching, train-spotting It is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb.   Example: the pool is not swimming, it is a pool for swimming in.   Rule6:  After the expressions: can’t help, can’t stand, it’s no use/good, and the adjective worth: She couldn’t help falling in love with him. I can’t stand being stuck in traffic jams. It’s no use/good trying to escape. It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train.   

Some Rules for Comma and Inverted Comma. This guest post is from Raksha Pradeep, Director of ApraDocs Information Developers, New Delhi, holds a Masters Degree in Business management in Human Resource from Mumbai University.Apart from her services in the corporate sector she is also involved with various reputed institutes as visiting/ guest faculty for Business Communication. Comma (,) A comma is a punctuation used to denote a pause in the sentence. A comma is used to structure a sentence and helps the reader understand the meaning of the sentence. Place a comma after each introductory word, phrase, or clause. Eventually, she had to admit that he was the better classical singer. In the introductory speech, the philosopher appears to be a scholar of the topic. Whenever I get a break from my busy schedule, I go to my mother’s apartment to relax. Use comma: ·         To join the items on a list: They own a cat, a dog, two rabbits, and six mice ·         After certain adverbs: Commas are always used to set off certain adverbs at the beginning of a sentence, including, however, in fact, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore, and still. If these adverbs appear in the middle of a sentence, they are followed and preceded by a comma. (can be preceded by a semicolon) Using commas to offset certain adverbs is optional, including then, so, yet, instead, and too. Ex-So, that’s it for this rule. or So that’s it for this rule. ·         Parenthetical phrases Commas are often used to enclose parenthetical words and phrases within a sentence (i.e., information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence). Ex- M S Dhoni, Cricket Captain of India, hit the ball to score a six. ·         Between Adjectives ·         Before quotes ·         In dates (only when it is written in month day format) Ex- January 21, 2013 ·         In Numbers: Ex- In representing large numbers, English texts usually use commas to separate each group of three digits. (numbers of 5 or more digits) ·         In names: Commas are used when writing names where a surname is presented first: Smith, John. They are also used before many titles that follow a name: John Smith, Ph.D. ·         As an ellipsis: ·         Commas may be used to indicate that a word has been omitted, as in The cat was white; the dog, brown. (Here the comma replaces was.) to set off a direct address: Vijay, will you please close the door? ·         The same rule applies when you replace the name with a word which defines the relationship. Darling, will you marry me? Doctor, Is everything fine? ·         Place a comma before and after the name of a state when you name a city and state in a sentence. ·         If you include a full address in a sentence, place a comma between each part of the address except for the zip code. No commas should be placed either before or after the zip code.  ·         Place a comma before the coordinating conjunction when you combine two independent clauses into a single sentence. Ex- Neha studies very hard, but she still gets poor grades in English. ·         Place a comma after but not before a dependent clause. Ex- Dependent clause, Independent clause Independent clause Dependent clause ·         Comma is always placed between the speaker and the direct quote. ·         Place a comma where a pause is required in order to avoid misreading. Apostrophe (‘)   Apostrophes are used to show possession and omission. 1. Used to show possession: Possession means ownership. When you want to indicate that an object or a trait belongs to or is an attribute of someone or something, you use an apostrophe. Where you place the apostrophe depends on whether the possessive noun or pronoun is singular or plural. To form the possessive of a singular noun, add an apostrophe and an s. o   Tree’s leaf 2.    To form the possessive of a singular proper noun, add an apostrophe and an s, even if the proper noun already ends in s: o   Doll owned by Sita – Sita’s doll, Jesus’s love To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in s, add only an apostrophe: The officials’ decision–(the decision was made by a group of officials) To form the possessive of a plural proper noun, add only an apostrophe: The Indians‘ protest To form the possessive of an irregular plural noun that does not end in s add an apostrophe and an s: Children’s bag Forming Possessive Compound Nouns If ownership is separate, make each noun possessive by adding the appropriate apostrophe or an apostrophe and an s: During Dussehra break, I’ll be staying at my brother‘s and my sister‘s houses. The brother and sister separately own separate houses.  If ownership is shared, make only the final noun possessive: Every year, I visit my mom and dad‘s winter cottage and summer house. Mom and dad jointly own both residences.  3.Used to show contractions of words: Use an apostrophe in place of omitted letters in contractions: o   It is so hot today – It’s so hot today o   I have not done my homework – I haven’t done my homework Use an apostrophe to indicate omissions in dates and expressions. 80’s, the class of ‘36, singing ‘n’ dancing The most common apostrophe error is using the apostrophe when what you really want is a plural noun rather than a possessive one. Let’s take examples to illustrate the usage:- The hares burrows You have hares and you have burrows, but you don’t know the relationship between them. The hare’s burrowone hare has one burrow. The hare’s burrowsnow one hare has multiple burrows. The hares’ burrowMultiple hares is sharing one burrow. The hares’ burrowsLots of hares have lots of burrows. Don’t use an apostrophe with personal pronouns. Ex- yours, theirs Know to differentiate between possession and contraction Ex- it’s and its. It’s is ‘It is’ while its is possession Proper use of these punctuation marks can help the writer to bring the actual essence that he wants to convey through his writing.

  This guest post is from Raksha Pradeep, Director of Information Developers, New Delhi, holds a Masters Degree in Business management in Human Resource, Mumbai University.Apart from her services in corporate sector she is also involved with various reputed institutes as visiting/ guest faculty for Business Communication.     Redundancy has a different meaning in a different arena but narrowing the definition to linguistics we can say that it is the superfluity of words in a sentence or the use of words or data that could be omitted without loss of meaning or function. Being verbose in your expression doesn’t mean that a person is an efficient writer but, to express everything in a concise form without letting the facts ignored makes the listener or the reader alert and glued to the topic. We often come across the situations where we see people lacking interest in the subject though it may be interesting just because of repetition of the ideas or opinions. Sometimes to emphasize one’s point of view people use unnecessary adjectives or adverbs but while writing as a professional we should avoid redundancy. Though the list never ends, some common redundancy errors and the techniques to avoid them are cited here:- Eliminate unnecessary adverbs: “I truly believe you.” Instead, we can say “I believe you” It doesn’t change the fact what we want to convey.  For example- really, truly, extremely, very, quite, severely, these words often lead to redundancy errors if not used properly. Replace or eliminate meaningless adjectives:- “He is a good runner who runs fast” instead we can say “He is a fast runner”. Adjectives such as good, nice, bad, okay, important, significant may add to redundancy mistakes. Writing concise sentences: Writing short and simple sentences is an effective way to reduce redundancy errors. It also helps the reader to understand clearly what the writing is exactly about. Avoid expletive constructions:- “There is/are”, “It is” these are some of the phrases which usually are unnecessarily used by the writers making the sentence superfluous. For example:  “There are over five thousand people listening to him” instead it can be said, “Over five thousand people are listening to him.” Avoid repeating yourself in the following sentences:- “Ram is an intelligent boy. Ram scored highest in the final examination. Teachers often praise Ram.” We can replace Ram by he/him in the following sentences without snatching the meaning of the paragraph. Trimming the fat:- Using a set of words instead of one: These are the most common redundancy errors we make while communicating with others. We should know how to trim the fat and make the sentence more concise. Few examples are listed below:- At the present time-                       Now Due to the fact that-                       Because 12 midnight-                                     Midnight In my opinion, I believe-                 I believe In the event that-                             If In spite of the fact that-                 Although In the vicinity of-                              Near Until such time as-                           Until Redundancy is mostly overlooked while writing but, when it comes to professional writing it should be taken care of because it’s not the literature or language the reader is looking out for but the content and the facts embedded in it. If you are interested in learning complete RoboHelp, Framemaker, Madcap Flair, MS VISIO, Captivate, SnagIt, Business writing, Technical writing at Noida, NCR, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad visit www.informationdevelopers.in. For the latest update, you can also like our LinkedIn page.  

Who is the proofreader? To understand the proofreading tips, let us know who is the proofreader? The proofreader combs through the work looking for any inappropriateness. These include punctuation, spelling, spaces, alignment, type font and style, and other minutiae. This can involve comparing the final copy with the final trail print. Technical writers and Self-proofreading Proofreading is one of the important skill technical writers must possess to excel in their profession. A good writer with self-proofreading ability are able to churn out accurate, clear, concise, flawless and logically structured document, it’s imperative that you review each word to check for typos, mistakes, context, and tone. Those little details really do matter! In several projects I had worked as a single writer or freelancer with no peer or editor around, in fact in my current project also I am the sole contributor and in that scenario, I have to proofread my own work, this is when I felt the need of good self-proofreading skill. So did some homework on proofreading and here is the weblog of it. I asked my friends on LinkedIn Information Developers group and I got some great tips thanks to Altaf Ahmed, San Xu, Carlos and Kranthi Kumar Kandagatla for their insight.  To find out errors, you must know the type of errors that you do commonly. In this post, my main focus is on some common mistakes and methods to reduce them by self-proofing. Please also keep in the mind there is a difference between editing and proofreading. It is said that we should not do together, but I believe if you have the ability to do it together please go ahead. The first step I think is you should have a checklist of commonly made mistakes and make sure you do not repeat it again 🙂 Go ahead make a checklist. Few entries for checklist currently spilling out from my mind are: Spelling mistakes Incorrect data Incorrect or inconsistent capitalization Incorrect Numbering and Heading Incorrectly spelled names Non-agreement of subject and verb Use of passive voice Incorrect punctuation Incorrect Referencing of illustrations Incorrect header and footer Reversed numbers like 459 to 495 Sound similar but have different meanings for words (e.g., except/accept, palette/palate, intense/intensive). Wrong use of apostrophes Check Cross-references Style Guide compliance mistakes. (Mistakes in Fonts, Images, Tables etc) Incorrect Index Now you have a checklist available, but how to find your own writing errors which often occurs just when stress levels are highest and time shortest, writers minds resist identifying them as errors. Under these conditions, you will see only what they want to see because we are often blind to our own mistakes? Few popular and easy steps which work wonder to many will surely work for you as well. Allow some time to pass. This is one of the tips which is common to all who responded on Linkedin. Put the work aside for a few days or weeks before beginning the proofreading process. Read out loud to yourself. This is one of the wonderful tools, try it, you can find your many grammatical mistakes. Reading out loud will help catch missing words. It’s also helpful for determining whether a piece lacks clarity or if phrasing doesn’t sound quite right. Spell checks this. Spell check your document, the spell checker can do some wonder like: Identify misspelled words Find double occurrences of words Identify double capital letters at the beginning of a word Identify when a small letter precedes a capital letter Accommodate additions to the dictionary of unusual words you commonly use Beware spell check  also cannot do many things, Like Find typographical errors that appear to be correct (horrible instead of honorable, be long instead of belong ) Point out grammatical errors (their instead of they’re, its instead of it’s ) Identify poor sentence sense and syntax Check all the links and cross references-Click on all the links and cross-references manually, see if they navigate to the proper location and not broken. Backward to forward-Start with the last paragraph first. Because you’re reading it out of order, you’re more likely to spot the typos and spelling mistakes Pause before you press Send- Take a long pause before sending the final draft, a pause can vary from hours to days.  Avoid distraction– I personally like to proofread my work without any distraction, you can use a quiet location or earphones, the choice is yours. Proofread print-This is not eco-friendly and little expensive method as well but one of my close to heart method. A print version is also handy for making notes with a pen, crossing out excess verbiage, and changing vocabulary prior to implementing the corrections in a final version. Illustration/Screen check-Make sure you have used correct images and screenshots. —————————————————————— Response from LinkedIn Information Developers Group Altaf Ahmed • If you meant proofreading of our own work, for errors and bugs in our documents, then I would mention one method that I have learned from one of my projects. We can do a complete scan of the document for only spell checking, and then repeat the quick scan each time for checking graphics, links, grammar check etc. Though this looks to be a tedious and time-consuming process, however, can provide thorough results with correction of even minute undetected errors. San Xu • I always think it is best to allow some time between your writing and your proofreading. I proofread in soft copy. I admit though, that hard copies are more effective than soft copies if the writing contains MANY mistakes – this conclusion is drawn from my past experience as an editor. Kranthi Kumar Kandagatla • I agree to San. A fresh mind works efficiently for proofreading. I always take a day off after I complete a project. Come next day for proofreading. I prefer soft copy. Carlos Mills, • I also keep a list of commonly misspelt words to run a quick search/replace to save editing time. As we all agree, the writer should take some