Making it Clear: Clear Language for Union Communications

SENTENCE LENGTH AND STRUCTURE

Vary the sentence length

balance short sentences with longer ones
keep the average sentence length under 20 words
shorter sentences are easier to understand than longer ones
break up a sentence into two sentences if you are using several commas and semi-colons

Write sentences with no more than one or two clauses to a sentence. Present only one new item of information per sentence.

Before	After
In response to the Action Plan, the Canadian Labour Congress is working with the Canadian Health Coalition to make the public aware that corporate greed is threatening Medicare, and to build public demand for an end to the monopoly enjoyed by giant drug companies.	In response to the Action Plan, the Canadian Labour Congress is working with the Canadian Health Coalition. We are working together to make the public aware that corporate greed is threatening Medicare. We are helping to build public demand for an end to the monopoly enjoyed by giant drug companies.

Use simple, complete sentences

Write sentences with the usual English word order of subject, verb, object. The subject is the person or thing that does something. The verb shows the action. The object receives the action. The object answers the question "what" or "whom."

this sentence structure is easiest to read because it is clear who is doing what
this order helps people who speak English as a second language. This order is the way English is usually taught

The steward	filed	the grievance.
Subject	Verb	Object