How To Use Readability Formulas To Write For Your Target Audience

Can You Read Me Now?
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What Are Readability .Formulas?

We can dissect the term “readability” into
“read” + “ability,” which translates into
the ability to read. Readability has
nothing to do with either legibility or
literacy. In fact, readability is more of a
judgmental exercise for the targeted
audience. George Klare (1963) defines
readability as “the ease of understanding
or comprehension due to the style of
writing.” We can consider readability as means to
measure the difficulty of text or page layout, so the
writer knows how effectively his text will reach his
target audience before he publishes or distributes it.
We can assess readability through readability tests by

applying readability formulas. Readability formulas are
mathematical in nature; each formula’s primary aim is to
measure the grade level a person must have to read and
comprehend a text. Writers consider readability formulas
as simple ways to judge read-ability, i.e., the level of
difficulty of a text.
Readability formulas work by measuring certain features

of a text based on mathematical calculations. We base
these readability measures on a handful of factors; the
most common factors include the number of words in a
sentence, as well as the number of letters or syllables
per word. Most readability formulas are based on one
semantic factor (i.e., the difficulty of words), and one
syntactic factor (i.e., the difficulty of sentences). We
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don’t need to calculate other factors, as they tend to

make the formulas more complex and achieve little in
return.
Another startling fact about these formulas is that you

don’t need readers to read out (or try to read out) the
text. However, readability formulas don’t always work
with 100% accuracy.
Importance of Readability Formulas

It requires much effort to come up with some kind of
text. This text may be unique in its contents, yet it
fails to serve its purpose of making the reader
understand and use it. The problem many writers face is
how to assess the ‘readability’ of their text.
Readability formulas offer the solution. By applying
these scientific and mathematical principles, the
readability formulas aim to present an objective
analysis about the readability of a particular text.
Commonly Used Readability Formulas

Researchers and writers have been using readability
formulas since 1920 and, over the years, they have spent
much time devising the most accurate and scientific
formulas to assess readability. Some of the popular and
commonly used formulas include:
1. Rudolph Flesch’s Reading Ease Formula;

2. Flesch’s Grade Level;
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3. J. Peter Kinkaid’s Flesch-Kinkaid Index;

4. Robert Gunning’s Fog Index;
5. The SMOG Readability Formula;
6. Fry’s Readability Graph;
7. New Dale-Chall Formula;
8. Powers-Sumner-Kearl Readability Formula;
9. FORCAST Readability Formula; and
10. Spache Readability Formula.
The underlying message of each formula is the same: if

you use shorter, average sentence lengths and fewer big-
lettered words, you can reduce the reading level and
increase the speed and ease of reading.
The History and Development of Readability

Formulas
We can trace the origin of readability formulas
during the late 19th Century in the United
States. The schools in the US did not routinely
grade students until 1847 when the first graded
school opened in Boston with a series of books
prepared for each grade. Junior high school science
teachers wanted to teach scientific facts and methods in
plain English, rather than teaching complicated science
vocabulary. As a result, teachers, librarians, and
scholars developed primitive readability formulas to
determine what seemed readable to their students.
No one had ever entertained the thought of grading

adults. The US Military took the first step in grading
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adults in 1917. Chicago took the clue from the military

and started grading civilians in 1937. Earlier studies
had revealed that general adult readers in the United
States had limited reading ability.
The breakthrough of readability formulas was the

publication of The Teacher’s Word Book by Edward
Thorndike in 1921. In his book, Thorndike tabulated how
often general literature used difficult words. For the
first time, a notable scholar suggested a way to measure
difficult words through mathematical formulas.
Early researchers studied surface characteristics of

written texts to determine the extent readers could
comprehend texts. Then they compared the data with
certain predetermined standards; one such standard was
tabulating the average grade level of students who could
correctly answer a certain percentage of questions from
the text. Researchers judged the characteristics with
the most accurate standards as indicators of
readability, which they developed into readability
formulas.
Thorndike’s book was followed by another landmark work

by George Kingsley Zipf in 1949. Zipf came up with Human
Behavior and The Principle of Least Effort, in which he
declared a mathematical relationship between the hard
and easy words, called Zipf’s Curve.
Many researchers have contributed to developing

readability formulas. Rudolf Flesch is one of the better
known developers of a readability formula called Flesch-
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Kincaid Grade Level. His formula uses the number of

syllables per 100 words and the average number of words
per sentence. Flesch said that writers can make their
texts easier to read by using shorter words and shorter
sentences.
In 1963 George R. Klare published his book, The

Measurement of Readability, in which he reviewed the
efforts to improve comprehensible language by revising
the texts to lower readability scores. He also suggested
using readability formulas as an aid to increase
effectiveness of writing and speaking. Klare published
over 80 papers and studies on readability in
professional and scholarly journals. He died in 2006.
Some of the other significant contributors of

readability formulas include Edgar Dale, Jeanne Chall,
Robert Gunning, Ed Fry, Tom Trabasso, and J. Peter
Kinkaid, etc.
Presently, there are over 200 readability formulas with

varying degrees of accuracy and success rate. There is
much debate about which readability formula is
foolproof. All formulas have some significance in
improving text readability.
Why Use Readability Formulas?

Despite their much-criticized faults, many organizations
consider readability formulas an important tool to
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evaluate the readability of text. Here are reasons you

should use readability formulas in your organization:
1. Most Americans have limited reading ability,

which means their reading grade-level balances
between average and poor. It makes sense to
prepare text in plain English if your readers
have limited reading capabilities. How do you
determine if your text is readable from your
readers’ point of view? Simple. Use readability
formulas.
2. If the text is not readable, then you’ve wasted your

time writing it in the first place. For instance, let’s
assume you’ve written an instruction manual for your
employees. If your employees cannot read this manual,
they will never understand the true meaning of its
contents; this will adversely impact their productivity.
Using readability formulas can prevent such a scenario
and tell you beforehand if your text is of any value to
your employees.
3. Readability formulas help you to prepare a readable

text. In other words, these formulas can save you time
and money that you might have wasted in writing a
complicated document, which is not useful for the target
audience.
4. Just imagine how frustrated your target audience

feels trying to read an ill-prepared document. Studies
show that enforcing difficult text can have adverse
effects on the overall mood and psychology of your
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customers. They may feel confused by a clumsily prepared

text and opt for another provider.
5. Preparing text costs money. If you produce an

unreadable text, you are increasing your organization’s
operating costs. By using readability formulas, you are
almost 80% sure that your readers find your text useful.
6. Most reputable word-processors, like MS-Word, have a

built-in readability formula feature that helps you to
assess the readability of a document. Or you can use a
free readability formula tester at
www.ReadabilityFormulas.com to assess the reading level
of your text. If you can gain such a useful insight into
the document without manually calculating the
readability, why won’t you use it?
Advantages of Using Readability Formulas

1. By definition, readability formulas measure
the grade-level readers must have to read a given
text. The results from using readability formulas
provide the writer of the text with much needed
information to reach his target audience.
2. Readability formulas do not require the

(targeted) readers to first go through the text
to decide if the text is too hard or too easy to
read. By using readability formulas, you can know ahead
of time if your readers can understand your material.
This saves you time and money.
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3. Readability formulas are text-based formulas; many

researchers and writers find them easy-to-use.
4. Readability formulas help the text-creators convert

the document into plain language if the readability
levels are low (which is the case with the reading
levels of many American people), or too high (which is
normally the case with higher-studies’ students,
researchers and professionals).
5. Using readability formulas to perfect a document can

help readers to increase their retention, understanding,
and speed of reading; this, in turn, smoothens out the
work-schedule of your readers.
6. A readable text always attracts a larger reader-base.
Disadvantages of Using Readability Formulas

1. “Readability” is different from “understand-ability.”
Unfortunately, readability formulas are not much help if
you want to know if the target audience will understand
the text.
2. Readability formulas also cannot measure the

complexity of a word or phrase to pinpoint where you
need to correct it.
3. The admirers of literary geniuses largely see

readability formulas as an insult to their work. Most
great literary works fail to pass the readability tests,
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but this doesn’t mean that those works are inferior in

quality. The critics view readability formulas as over-
simplification and a critique of creative writing.
4. Due to many readability formulas, there is an

increasing chance of getting wide variations in results
of a same text.
5. Readability formulas cannot measure everything that

contributes to how readable a book is for a student, any
more than a reading test can measure a student’s reading
behavior.
6. Readability formulas can’t measure the context, prior

knowledge, interest level, difficulty of concepts, or
coherence of text.
7. Readability formulas apply mathematics to literature.

This idea, itself, is not favored by language scholars
and researchers.
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How do I decide which readability formula or

formulas to use on my document?
Presently, there are more than 200
readability formulas developed by various
scholars since the 1940s. Only a handful of
these formulas are reliable to determine the
reading-level of a sample text. This article
will help you to decide which readability
formula or formulas to use on your documents.
Identify your industry, then select the
proper formula.
EDUCATION
The primary role of the education sector is to distill

good education to students at different grade levels.
Written text in the form of textbooks, journals,
literature and so on, forms the backbone of a good
education system. Here are different readability
formulas to use on your documents according to the grade
level:
1. Dale-Chall: Dale-Chall Readability formula is a

general formula suitable for all kinds of texts.
2. Spache: Spache Readability Formula is ideal for texts

aimed at up to 3rd grade level students.
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3. Powers-Sumner-Kearl: The Powers-Sumner-Kearl

Readability Formula is ideal for text geared towards
primary age children (age 7-10).
4. SMOG: McLaughlin’s SMOG Readability Formula is

suitable for the text aimed at secondary age (4th grade
to college level) readers.
5. Flesch Reading Ease: The Flesch Reading Ease

Readability Formula is a general formula suitable for
all texts.
6. Gunning Fog: The Gunning Fog Index Readability

Formula is ideal for education material aimed at
business houses, like business magazines and journals.
7. Fry Graph: The Fry Graph Readability Formula is a

general formula suitable for all texts.
8. Coleman-Liau: The Coleman-Liau Readability Formula is

ideal for the text aimed at 4th grade to college level
readers.
9. McAlpine EFLAW: The McAlpine EFLAW Readability

Formula is ideal in determining the ease of reading
English text for ESL/EFL (English as a Second/Foreign
Language) readers.
HEALTH CARE
The Health Care Industry produces much literature

relevant to patients, doctors, pharmacists, researchers,
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and so on. Here are some tips to decide which

readability formula or formulas to use:
1. Dale-Chall: Useful for any text.
2. Flesch Reading Ease: Useful for any text.
3. Fry Graph: Useful for any text.
4. Gunning Fog: Ideal for business publications and

journals.
5. New Fog Count: Useful for technical documents and

manuals.
6. FORCAST: Ideal for technical manuals and forms.
7. Raygor Estimate Graph: Useful for any text, including

literature and technical documents.
MILITARY AND GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES
The military and government agencies developed several

important readability formulas to measure the
readability of enlistment applications and technical
manuals. The most important Readability formulas used by
military and governmental agencies include:
1. Automated Readability Index (ARI): Ideal for

technical documents and manuals.
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3. Flesch-Kincaid: Ideally suited for manuals, forms and

other technical documents.
4. FORCAST: Most suitable for multiple-choice quizzes,

applications, entrance forms, etc.
5. Linsear Write: Ideal for technical manuals.
PUBLISHING
The publishing industry includes newspapers, magazine,

books, journals, and online media. Publishers mostly use
the following readability formulas to make their
documents readable:
1. Dale-Chall: Useful for any text.
3. Fry Graph: Useful for any text.
4. Spache: Ideal for texts aimed at up to 3rd grade

level students.
5. Powers-Sumner-Kearl: Ideal for text geared towards

primary age children (age 7-10).
6. SMOG: Appropriate for text aimed at secondary age

(4th grade to college level) readers.
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7. Gunning Fog: Ideal for business publication and

journals.
8. Coleman-Liau: Ideal for the text aimed at 4th grade

to college level readers.
9. Raygor Estimate Graph: Useful for any text, including

literature and technical documents.
10. Laesbarheds Index (LIX): Useful for documents of any

Western European language.
The New Dale-Chall Readability Formula
The New Dale-Chall Formula improves the

original Dale-Chall Readability Formula as
explained in A Formula for Predicting
Readability in 1948. The creators of this
formula were Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall.
Edgar Dale was a professor of education at Ohio

State University and a well-known authority on
communications. He devoted much of his life to
improve the readability of reading materials, such as
books, pamphlets, and newsletters. Jeanne Chall was the
founder-director of the Harvard Reading Laboratory for
20 years. She was also the reading consultant for the
hit TV show Sesame Street and The Electric Company. She
was an active advocate for teaching early reading
systematically with phonics. Many professionals consider
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her book, Learning to Read: The Great Debate, a

paramount contribution in the phonics debate.
Rudolph Flesch and his Flesch Reading Ease Formula

inspired Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall to improve the way
most people perceive documents. Dale and Chall created
The Dale-Chall Formula for adults and children above 4th
grade as a way to improve upon the Flesch Reading Ease
Formula.
The Dale-Chall Formula was unique; unlike other formulas

that use word-length to assess word difficulty, the
Dale-Chall Formula uses a count of “hard” words. The
Dale-Chall Formula calculates the US grade level of a
text sample based on sentence length and the number of
“hard” words. These “hard” words are words that do not
appear on a specially designed list of common words
familiar to most 4th-grade students.
The original Dale-Chall Formula had a list of 763 non-

hard or familiar words. The New Dale-Chall Formula,
revised by Readability Revisited: The New Dale-Chall
Readability Formula, in 1995 expands the list of
familiar words to 3000.
The Dale-Chall Readability Formula
Step 1: Select a text sample of 100-150 words from an

intermediate or advanced level text.
Step 2: Compute the average sentence length by dividing

the number of words by the number of sentences.
Step 3: Compute the percentage of words not on the list
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of 3,000 familiar words.
Step 4: Compute the following equation:
Raw Score = 0.1579 PDW + 0.0496 ASL + 3.6365
Raw Score = Reading Grade of a reader who can answer

one-half of the test questions on the passage.
PDW = Percentage of Difficult Words
ASL = Average Sentence Length in words
Step 5: Use the following table to get the Adjusted

Score:
RAW SCORE ADJUSTED SCORE
4.9 and Below Grade 4 and Below
5.0 to 5.9 Grades 5 - 6
6.0 to 6.9 Grades 7 - 8
7.0 to 7.9 Grades 9 - 10
8.0 to 8.9 Grades 11 - 12
9.0 to 9.9 Grades 13 - 15 (College)
10 and Above Grades 16 and Above (College Graduate)
The New Dale-Chall Formula is an accurate readability

formula because it is based on the use of familiar
words, rather than syllable or letter counts. Reading
tests show that readers usually find it easier to read,
process and recall a passage if they find the words
familiar.
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The Flesch Reading Ease Readability

Formula
Flesch Reading Ease Formula is considered as one
of the oldest and most accurate readability
formulas. Rudolph Flesch, an author, writing
consultant, and a supporter of the Plain English
Movement, developed this formula in 1948. Raised
in Austria, Rudolph Flesch studied law and earned
a Ph.D. in English from the Columbia University.
Flesch, through his writings and speeches,
advocated a return to phonics. In his article, A New
Readability Yardstick, published in the Journal of
Applied Psychology in 1948, Flesch proposed the Flesch
Reading Ease Readability Formula.
The Flesch Reading Ease Formula is a simple approach to

assess the grade-level of the reader. It’s also one of
the few accurate measures around that we can rely on
without too much scrutiny. This formula is best used on
school text. It has since become a standard readability
formula used by many US Government Agencies, including
the US Department of Defense. However, mainly, we use
the formula to assess the difficulty of a reading
passage written in English.
The Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula
The specific mathematical formula is:
RE = 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)
RE = Readability Ease
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ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of

words divided by the number of sentences)
ASW = Average number of syllables per word (i.e., the

number of syllables divided by the number of words)
The output, i.e., RE is a number ranging from 0 to 100.

The higher the number, the easier the text is to read.
• Scores between 90.0 and 100.0 are considered easily

understandable by an average 5th grader.

understood by 8th and 9th graders.

understood by college graduates.
If we were to draw a conclusion from the Flesch Reading

Ease Formula, then the best text should contain shorter
sentences and words. The score between 60 and 70 is
considered acceptable. The following table is also
helpful to assess the ease of readability in a document:
90-100 : Very Easy

80-89 : Easy
70-79 : Fairly Easy
60-69 : Standard
50-59 : Fairly Difficult
30-49 : Difficult
0-29 : Very Confusing
Though simple it might seem, the Flesch Reading Ease

Formula has certain ambiguities. For instance, periods,
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explanation points, colons and semicolons serve as

sentence delimiters; each group of continuous non-blank
characters with beginning and ending punctuation removed
counts as a word; each vowel in a word is considered one
syllable subject to: (a) -es, -ed and -e (except -le)
endings are ignored; (b) words of three letters or
shorter count as single syllables; and (c) consecutive
vowels count as one syllable.
The Flesch Grade Level Readability

Formula
Flesch Grade Level Readability Formula improves

upon the Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula.
Rudolph Flesch, an author, writing consultant,
and the supporter of Plain English Movement, is
the co-author of this formula with John P.
Kincaid. That’s why it is also called Flesch-Kincaid
Grade Level Readability Test. Raised in Austria, Flesch
studied law and earned a Ph.D. in English from the
Columbia University. Flesch, through his writings and
speeches, advocated a return to phonics. In his article,
A New Readability Yardstick, published in the Journal of
Applied Psychology in 1948, Flesch proposed the Reading
Ease Readability Formula.
In 1976 the US Navy modified the Reading Ease formula to

produce a grade-level score by applying the Flesch
Grade-Scale formula, or the Kincaid formula. John P.
Kincaid was assisted by Fishburne, Rogers, and Chissom,
in his research.
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This formula is known by different names, like Flesch-

Kincaid Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score, Flesch-
Kincaid Scale, Flesch-Kincaid Score, Flesch-Kincaid
Readability Score, Flesch-Kincaid Readability
Statistics, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, Flesch-
Kincaid Readability Index, Flesch-Kincaid readability
equation, and so on.
Originally formulated for US Navy purposes, this Formula

is best suited in education.
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula
Step 1: Calculate the average number of words used per

sentence.
Step 2: Calculate the average number of syllables per

word.
Step 3: Multiply the average number of words by 0.39

and add it to the average number of syllables per word
multiplied by 11.8.
Step 4: Subtract 15.59 from the result.
The specific mathematical formula is:
FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59
Where,
FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age
ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of

words divided by the number of sentences)
ASW = Average number of Syllable per Word (i.e., the

number of syllables divided by the number of words)
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Analyzing the results is a simple exercise. For

instance, a score of 5.0 indicates a grade-school
level; i.e., a score of 9.3 means that a ninth grader
would be able to read the document. This score makes it
easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to
judge the readability level of various books and texts
for the students.
Theoretically, the lowest grade level score could be -

3.4, but since there are no real passages that have
every sentence consisting of a one-syllable word, it is
an unlikely result in practice.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula is built

in the MS-Word application. However, MS-Word doesn’t
score above grade 12 and any grade above 12 will be
reported as Grade 12.
The US Government Department of Defense uses Flesch-

Kincaid Grade Level formula as a standard test.
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The Fry Graph Readability Formula
Edward Fry developed one of the more popular

Reading Formulas – the Fry Graph Readability
Formula. Fry, who worked as a Fulbright Scholar
in Uganda, also helped teachers to teach English
as a Second Language (ESL) for a few years, from
1963 and onwards. During his early days, Fry
developed readability tests based on graph [A
Readability Formula That Saves Time, Journal of
Reading (1968)]. This graph-based test determined
readability through high school; it was validated with
materials from primary and secondary schools and with
results of other readability formulas.
In 1969, Fry extended the graph to primary levels. In

his book Elementary Reading Instruction in 1977, Fry
extended the graph to test through the college years.
Fry advised that an individual’s vocabulary continues to
grow during college years, yet the reading ability
varies depending on the individual and the subjects
taught.
Fry went on to become Director of the Reading Center of

Rutgers University and an authority on how people learn
to read.
The Fry Graph Readability Formula
Step 1: Select 3 samples of 100-word passages randomly

(eliminate the numbers from word count).
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Step 2: Count the number of sentences in all three 100-

word passages, estimating the fraction of the last
sentence to the nearest 1/10th.
Step 3: Count the number of syllables in all three 100-

word passages. Make a table as follows:
Number of Sentences Number of Syllables

First 100 words
Second 100 words
Third 100 words
Total
Average
Step 4: Enter the graph with Average Sentence Length

and Number of Syllables. Plot dot where the two lines
intersect. Area where dot is plotted signifies the
approximate reading grade level of the content.
Step 5: If you find much variability, you can put more

sample counts into the average.
Scores that appear in the dark area (long sentences and

long words) are invalid.
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The Fry Graph Readability Formula and its associated

Graph are often used to provide a consensus of
readability for regulatory purposes, such as
readability in the healthcare industry, to ensure a
wider portion of the population can understand and
access publications with a high level of readability.
The Gunning’s Fog Index (or FOG)

Readability Formula
The Gunning Fog Index Readability Formula, or

simply called FOG Index, is attributed to
American textbook publisher, Robert Gunning, who
was a graduate from Ohio State University.
Gunning observed that most high school graduates
were unable to read. Much of this reading problem
was a writing problem. His opinion was that
newspapers and business documents were full of “fog” and
unnecessary complexity.
Gunning realized the problem early and became the first

to take the new readability research into the workplace.
Gunning founded the first consulting firm specializing
in readability in 1944. He spent the next few years
testing and working with more than 60 large city daily
newspapers and popular magazines, helping writers and
editors write to their audience.
In 1952, Gunning published a book, The Technique of

Clear Writing and created an easy-to-use Fog Index.
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The Gunning’s Fog Index (or FOG) Readability Formula
Step 1: Take a sample passage of at least 100-words and

count the number of exact words and sentences.
Step 2: Divide the total number of words in the sample

by the number of sentences to arrive at the Average
Sentence Length (ASL).
Step 3: Count the number of words of three or more

syllables that are NOT (i) proper nouns, (ii)
combinations of easy words or hyphenated words, or
(iii) two-syllable verbs made into three with -es and -
ed endings.
Step 4: Divide this number by the number or words in

the sample passage. For example, 25 long words divided
by 100 words gives you 25 Percent Hard Words (PHW).
Step 5: Add the ASL from Step 2 and the PHW from Step
4.
Step 6: Multiply the result by 0.4.
The mathematical formula is:
Grade Level = 0.4 (ASL + PHW)
where,
ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., number of words

divided by the number of sentences)
PHW = Percentage of Hard Words
The underlying message of The Gunning Fog Index formula

is that short sentences written in Plain English
achieve a better score than long sentences written in
complicated language.
The ideal score for readability with the Fog index is 7

or 8. Anything above 12 is too hard for most people to
read. For instance, The Bible, Shakespeare and Mark
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Twain have Fog Indexes of around 6. The leading

magazines, like Time, Newsweek, and the Wall Street
Journal average around 11.
Though considered as an accurate readability formula,

The Gunning Fog Index Formula has some unnoticeable
flaws. For example, it discounts that not all multi-
syllabic words are difficult.
The Fog Index has also undergone important changes to

enable computerization of this formula, after facing
different opinions among scholars about counting
independent clauses as separate sentences.
The Powers-Sumner-Kearl Readability

Formula
The Powers-Sumner-Kearl Readability Formula is an

excellent formula to calculate the US grade level
of a text sample based on sentence length and
number of syllables. This formula is suited for
primary age children (age 7-10) and, usually, is
not considered ideal for children above the age
of 10 years. The Powers-Sumner-Kearl Readability
Formula is attributed to an article, A
Recalculation of Four Adult Readability Formulas
in 1958 in the Journal of Educational Psychology,
University of Wisconsin, by R D Powers, W A Sumner, and
B E Kearl.
Sumner and Kearl recalculated the Gunning Fog Index

Formula using the McCall-Crabbs Reading Lessons. The
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newly revised Gunning Fog Index Formula was:
Grade level = 3.0680 + .0877

(Average Sentence Length) + .0984 (Percentage of Monosyllables)
The Power-Sumner-Kearl Readability Formula
Step 1: Select a sample passage of around 100 words.
Step 2: Calculate the exact number of words and

sentences in the sample passage.
Step 3: Divide the number of words with the number of

sentences to arrive at Average Sentence Length (ASL)
Step 4: Count the Number of Syllables (NS) in the

sample passage.
Step 5: Apply the formula:
GL = 0.0778(ASL) + 0.455(NS) – 2.2029
where,
GL = US Grade Level
ASL = Average Sentence Length
NS = Number of Syllables
Step 6: The Reading Age is determined by applying the

following formula:
RA = 0.0778(ASL) + 0.455(NS) + 2.7971
Where,
RA = Reading Age
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NS = Number of Syllables
The Powers-Sumner-Kearl readability formula is used to

assess materials for use in the primary grades, through
the third grade level.
The SMOG Readability Formula
G Harry McLaughlin created the SMOG Readability

Formula in 1969 through an article, SMOG Grading
– A New Readability Formula in the Journal of
Reading. SMOG Readability Formula estimates the
years of education a person needs to understand a
piece of writing.
McLaughlin created this formula to improve other

readability formulas. You may come across SMOG as an
acronym for Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, but it’s
widely believed the title is a nod to Robert Gunning’s
FOG Index.
McLaughlin started his career as a sub-editor of the

Mirror newspaper in London, but spent much of his life
in Applied Psychology. He left the newspaper to pursue a
doctorate in psycholinguistics at the University of
London. He wrote a thesis titled, “What Makes Prose
Understandable.” After teaching human communications at
City University of London, he moved to Toronto, Canada
where McLaughlin taught briefly at York University and
30
then to the University of Syracuse, where he published

his SMOG Formula in 1969.
The SMOG Readability Formula
Step 1: Assess the entire text.
Step 2: Count 10 sentences in a row near the beginning,

10 in the middle, and 10 in the end for a total of 30
sentences.
Step 3: Count every word with three or more syllables

in each group of sentences, even if the same word
appears more than once.
Step 4: Calculate the square root of the number arrived

at in Step 3 and round it off to nearest 10.
Step 4: Add 3 to the figure arrived at in Step 4 to

know the SMOG Grade, i.e., the reading grade that a
person must have reached if he is to understand fully
the text assessed.
SMOG grade = 3 + Square Root of Polysyllable Count
The SMOG Formula is considered appropriate for

secondary age (4th grade to college level) readers.
The characteristics of McLaughlin’s SMOG Formula are:
1. A sentence is defined as a string of words

punctuated with a period, an exclamation mark, or a
question mark.
2. Consider long sentences with a semi-colon as two

sentences.
3. Words with hyphen are considered as a single word.
4. Proper nouns, if polysyllabic should be counted.
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5. Numbers that are written should be counted. If

written in numeric form, they should be pronounced to
determine if they are polysyllabic.
6. Abbreviations should be read as though unabbreviated

to determine if they are polysyllabic. However,
abbreviations should be avoided unless commonly known.
7. If the text being graded is shorter than 30

sentences, follow the steps below:
i. Count all the polysyllabic words in the text
ii. Count the number of sentences in the text.
iii. Divide the figures obtained in i. by the figure

obtained in ii. to arrive at Average Polysyllabic Words
per sentence.
iv. Multiply the figure obtained in iii. with the

average number of sentences short of 30.
v. Add the figure obtained in iv. to the total number

of polysyllabic words.
vi. Compare the number of polysyllabic words in the

SMOG Conversion Table.
SMOG Conversion Table

Total Polysyllabic Word Approximate Grade Level (+1.5
Count Grades)
1 - 6 5
7 - 12 6
13 - 20 7
21 - 30 8
31 - 42 9
43 - 56 10
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57 - 72 11
73 - 90 12
91 - 110 13
111 - 132 14
133 - 156 15
157 - 182 16
183 - 210 17
211 - 240 18
McLaughlin validated his formula against the McCall-

Crabbs passages. He used a 100% correct-score standard,
whereas most formulas test for around 50%-75%
comprehension. His formula predicts scores at least two
grades higher than the Dale-Chall formula. Harry is on a
mission to improve his SMOG formula; he has published
his new formula on his Web Page, where you can paste and
test your documents at
(http://webpages.charter.net/ghal/SMOG.htm)
33
The FORCAST Readability Formula
The FORCAST Readability Formula is the result of

The Human Resources Research Organization of
Alexandria, Virginia, to study the reading
requirements of military occupational
specialties in the US Army. John S Caylor,
Thomas G Sticht, and J Patrick Ford were
assigned this responsibility in 1973. The
subjects for the research were Vietnam draftees
entering basic training and job-specific
training. The FORCAST Readability Formula evolved from
their study. The formula was first published in 1973 as
an article in a journal called Literacy Discussion,
published by UNESCO’s International Institute for Adult
Literacy.
The FORCAST Readability Formula is the only test not

designed for running narrative. Therefore, FORCAST is
ideal for multiple-choice quiz contests, applications,
entrance forms, and so on. The FORCAST Readability
Formula is strictly not prescribed for assessing primary
age reading materials.
The FORCAST Readability Formula
Step 1: Select a sample text of 150 words.
Step 2: Count N, i.e., the number of single-syllable

words in the sample text.
Step 3: Divide N by 10.
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Step 4: Subtract the result obtained in Step 3 from 20.
The mathematical formula is:
GL = 20 – (N/10)
Where,
GL = Grade Level
N = Number of monosyllabic words in the sample text.
Step 4: The Reading Age can be calculated by applying

the formula:
Reading Age = 25 – (N/10) years
However, if the sample text contains 100 words, the

Reading Age = 25 – (N/6.67) years
This formula was validated at only a 35% score on

comprehension tests.
In 1979, Lydia Hooke and her colleagues validated the

FORCAST formula on technical documents for the Air
Force. They found that four of the seven writers
underestimated the grade level of their materials by
more than one grade.
Because of its relative ease of use, The US Air Force,

in 1977, approved the use of FORCAST Readability Formula
to write readable publications.
35
The SPACHE Readability Formula
G. Spache devised the Spache Readability Formula

in 1953 through an article, A New Readability
Formula for Primary-Grade Reading Materials,
published in The Elementary School Journal. The
formula calculates the grade level of a text
sample based on sentence length and number of
unfamiliar words. The Spache Formula considers
“unfamiliar words” as words that 3rd grade and
below do not recognize. The Spache Formula is best used
to calculate the difficulty of text that falls at the
3rd grade level or below.
Spache Readability Formula is similar to the Dale-Chall

Readability Formula. While Spache was designed to assess
the readability of primary texts through the end of
third grade, The Dale-Chall is ideal to gauge the
readability of more advanced texts -i.e., fourth grade
and above. Which formula should you use, and when?
1. If your text sample is equivalent to a third grade

text or below, use the Spache.
2. If your text sample is more advanced than third

grade, use the Dale-Chall.
3. If you are not sure about the level of difficulty of

the passage, first use the Spache formula. If the Spache
36
readability results are higher than third grade, run the

same passage again with the Dale-Chall.
The SPACHE Readability Formula
Step 1: Select a sample text of 100-150 words from a

primary grade level text.
Step 2: Count the total number of words in the sample

text.
Step 3: Count the number of sentences in the sample

text.
Step 4: Divide the figure obtained in Step 2 by the

figure obtained in Step 3 to arrive at Average Sentence
Length (ASL)
Step 5: Count the number of words in the sample text

that are not found on the Spache Revised Word List (as
revised in 1974).
Step 6: Divide the figure obtained in Step 5 with the

figure obtained in Step 2, and multiply the result by
100, to arrive at Percentage of Difficult Words (PDW).
Step 7: Compute the Spache Readability Index with the

following formula:
Spache Readability Index/Grade Level = (0.141 X ASL) +

(0.086 X PDW) +0.839
where,
PDW = Percentage of Difficult Words
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Guidelines to identify “Difficult Words” in Spache

Readability Formula:
1. Count the following as “familiar” or “known” words:
• Words appearing on the Revised Spache Word List
• Variants of words appearing on the Revised Spache Word

List that have regular verb form endings – ing, -ed, -es
• Plural and Possessive endings of nouns from Revised

Spache Word List
• First Names
• Single letters standing alone as words. E.g., “C is

the third letter of the alphabets”
2. “Difficult Words,” i.e., the words not appearing on

the Spache Word List are counted only once, even if they
appear later with other endings. Count the following as
“unfamiliar” or “unknown” words:
• Words not appearing on the Revised Spache Word List

(other than First Names)

List that have irregular verb form endings – unless
those variant forms also appear on the Spache List
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List that have adverbial, comparative, or superlative

endings – ly, -er, -est.
How Can My Company Save Money Using

Readability Formulas?
Many business owners constantly seek new
ways to save money and increase profits.
One such money-saving measure is to use
readability formulas on all text and
materials. Readability formulas let you
know if your text is readable by your
target audience (your customers, suppliers,
employees, etc). Studies show that readable
text matched to the grade-level of your readers can
increase their interest and improve your results to get
your message across. Here’s how:
EMPLOYEE INSTRUCTION MANUALS. Employee instruction

manuals contain important instructions for employees to
perform their job duties. This is an all-important
document for the efficient internal working of a
company. Using readability formulas will ensure your
employees can read these manuals so they can perform
their duties properly and efficiently. If your employees
are performing well, your business’ productivity
increases, and this translates into increased profits.
Also, using readability formulas can reduce the number
of times you revise your manual for better readability;
this saves you time and money.
39
INTERNAL REPORTS. An organization’s internal reports

should meet the reading level of its employees;
otherwise your employees will find the reports
meaningless because they can’t understand them. You’ll
also have to spend more money on resources and labor to
revise the reports.
BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE. The employer-employee

correspondence forms the backbone of an organization. If
this correspondence lacks readability, your employees
can’t process the exact instructions. Using readability
formulas on internal correspondence will ensure clarity
and convergence of ideas between employer and employee.
This will improve employer-employee relationship and
increase the overall productivity of the business.
PRODUCT/SERIVE SPECS SHEETS. The product/service

specifications are an integral part of your company’s
products/services. Using readability formulas on the
product/service specifications ensures your
customers/clients fully understand your products or
services. A readable product/service specification saves
you money and time by avoiding unnecessary customer
complaints.
Why Should Military and Government Use

In 1917 the US military began systematic testing of
readability among adults. These studies revealed that
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most US adults had limited reading ability. These

studies also revealed the importance of creating
effective readability formulas. Over the years,
readability formulas have proved their worth in every
governmental and military sphere. Written texts,
documents, and training manuals form an integral part of
the military and government functioning. It is pertinent
to have these documents written with the readability
factor of the audience in mind.
The military and government sectors use readability

formulas for the following reasons:
1. Military exercises involve many assessment

tests for the trainees. Through these tests,
the military determines the aptitude,
cognitive skills, general learning ability,
ability to perform on the job, and so on.
These tests are vital for military training.
Besides tests, the military uses training

manuals to provide general and special training for
personnel. If these important texts lack readability --
either too low or too high in readability -- the purpose
of preparing these manuals is wasted. Using readability
formulas before publishing these training manuals
ensures trainees can process and understand the texts,
and it can save time and money that you would have spent
revising these texts.
2. Government bodies spend much time and money to train

administrative staff, as well as publishing a lot of
41
literature for public consumption. Knowing the reading

level of the target audience can save time and
resources. Readability formulas, like Flesch Reading
Ease, Flesch-Kincaid, FORCAST etc., help the government
to reach the target audience in a much effective way.
Why Should Publishing Companies Use

The Internet era has helped the publishing
industry explode into new media. We have
publishers in print medium (newspapers,
magazines, journals, books, textbooks, novels,
etc.), television, radio, and the Internet.
Whether you publish online or offline, you need
to make your products as reader-friendly as
possible to attract new readers and build a
loyal customer base. Using readability formulas can help
you publish readable text for your readers.
Using Readability Formulas as part of your publishing

process has many benefits.
1. The publishing industry publishes many textbooks for

schools and colleges. These books help students learn
and help teachers teach. It is vital to achieve easy
readability of all textbooks to improve the
learning/teaching process between students and teachers.
The readability level of these books should be at an
optimum level so as not to be too low or too high to
sustain students’ interests.
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2. Readable books help promote student independence by

encouraging self-selection of books, and help teachers,
librarians, and parents help students in choosing grade-
level books. Students won’t shy away from choosing extra
books if they find their books informative and readable.
3. Many newspapers, magazines, and journals target the

general population. It’s very important to learn the
average reading level of the audience to make the most
of their publications. For instance, if a reporter
writes a newspaper article with difficult prose and
style, the readers will immediately stop reading it.
Using readability formulas to make the article readable
can sustain the interest of the readers and help improve
readership and subscribers.
4. Internet publishing through articles, blogs, online

magazines and journals target the online audience.
Applying readability formulas before publishing the text
online ensures the text conforms to the grade level of
your readers. Of course, if what you write is readable,
informative and updated regularly, you can grow your
readership and attract new readers.
Why Should The Healthcare Industry Use

The Healthcare Industry is paramount to any nation’s
economy. A vibrant healthcare industry ensures a healthy
nation, and ensures a flourishing lifestyle for its
43
citizens. It is vital to adopt simple

modes of communications between
healthcare professionals and their
patients. One such way to improve
communications in healthcare is by using
readability formulas on documents as a
means to communicate effectively with
staff, patients, and healthcare
suppliers.
Using readability formulas in the healthcare industry

offers many benefits, such as:
1. Readability formulas ensure healthcare employees can

read and understand documentation and instruction
manuals of medical equipments, such as X-ray machines,
ultrasound machines, dental chairs, etc. Readable
manuals ensure healthcare employees can:
(a) properly install medical equipment without technical

error arising out of an installation problem; and
(b) use medical equipment according to instruction to

avoid wrong diagnosis due to mishandling the equipment.
Ideally, most healthcare manuals should be written at a

fifth or sixth grade reading level. Studies show that
most Americans read at a fifth or sixth grade reading
level.
2. Readability formulas can improve patient education

and awareness. Patients need to understand their
44
ailments, prescribed drugs, risks and side effects of

the drugs, clinical tests, when to contact their
doctors, when to seek immediate medical attention, and
so on. All of this is accomplished by communicating with
the patient through written communications, verbal
instructions, multimedia, etc. Many patients need
written instructions for long-term reference, and they
need to understand their healthcare material in simple
terms. Using readability formulas can help hospitals
prepare documentation that patients can read and
understand at their reading-level.
3. Studies show certain revealing facts. For instance,

adults with low literacy skills: a) have a poorer health
status; b) their average health costs are six times
higher; c) they are less likely to comply with
medication regimens; and d) they are less likely to
understand their illnesses. These results show that
patients are more vulnerable to grave dangers when we
consider serious ailments like diabetes, heart disorder,
asthma, cancer, and nerves-related sickness, etc. Many
hospitals use the SMOG Readability Formula on their
written health material to preempt these risks and help
healthcare professionals develop user-friendly readable
text. Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Readability
Formulas are also useful in writing and simplifying
healthcare material.
4. For overall effective disease management, it is vital

the doctor-patient-pharmacist communication is as clear
as possible. If the written text is beyond the reading
abilities of the patient, he cannot understand the
45
measures he needs to take to manage his disease. If the

pharmacist can’t understand the prescription from a
doctor, there’s every chance the pharmacist could give a
wrong medication to the patient. Readability formulas
can help health professionals prevent such unfortunate
events.
Why Should the Insurance Industry Use

An insurance policy is a legal document
between the insurance company and the
policyholder, and entails serious legal
implications in case of a dispute. The
insurance contract involves an elaborate
documentation explaining the powers and
liabilities of the parties to the contract.
It contains lots of legalese and is often
difficult to decipher the exact requirements and
implications of an insurance policy.
This difficult-to-read document is one major reason

insurance disputes go to court. To help policyholders
understand their policies, insurance companies should
write their insurance documents in plain English, using
simple words and sentences. Readability formulas can
help the insurance industry in simplifying their
documents.
Here are reasons the insurance industry should use

readability formulas:
46
1. Every policyholder must understand (and wants to

understand) their insurance policies. Excessive use of
legal terminology bewilders and frustrates most
policyholders. While it is important the insurance
policy is formal enough to not look like an advertising
brochure, it should be informal enough to make for easy
reading. The challenge is writing a readable legal
document that an average American citizen can read and
understand. Revising the insurance policy can help
reduce the reading level of the policy. Readability
formulas can help in assessing the reading-level of the
drafted policy. Insurance experts can revise the
contract by removing difficult words and replacing them
with easier ones. Long sentences can also be divided
into short sentences.
2. Certain US jurisdictions have found that using

readability formulas in the insurance industry is
important. For instance, the State of Massachusetts has
incorporated the Flesch test into their legislation,
which forces insurance policies to have a minimum score
of 50. Many states are trying to improve consumer-
friendly legislation so consumers are fully aware about
every clause and sub-clause of a legal document. This
idea is derived from the Latin phrase consensus ad idem,
which means that parties to a contract understand its
subject matter and implications in the same sense.
3. The policyholder should know the premium he has to

pay, frequency of payments, specific exclusions to the
claim, his duties and responsibilities, disclaimers,
47
disclosures, and so on. A difficult-to-read insurance

policy frustrates and bewilders most policyholders to
understand the policy’s small print. The website,
ReadabilityFormulas.com recommends using the Flesch-
Kincaid, Cloze Test or FOG Index formulas for all
insurance documents.
4. Consumers will never buy an insurance product that

they find confusing. If the policy lacks cohesion, the
prospective consumer is more likely to search for a
different insurance company. If you can present the same
information in simpler details, you can convince even
the most uninterested customers to buy a policy.
Why the Education Industry Needs

Readability Formulas
Right from their inception in the late
1940s, readability formulas revolutionized
the writing style of everyone. Readability
formulas affect every industry because of
their all-appealing premise. These formulas
make documents or text “readable” for the
intended audience. Every industry has a
target audience when it prepares any text. Such is the
case with the academic sector which targets students and
teachers.
Using readability formulas in the educational sector has

many benefits. The most prominent ones include:
48
1. The primary role of the education sector is to

distill good education to students at different grade
levels. Written text in the form of textbooks, journals,
literature and so on, forms the backbone of a good
education system. A “good” text forms the basis of a
good learning experience for students. The definition of
a “good” text includes its readability aspect, i.e., the
text should be reader-friendly and should neither be too
difficult nor too easy to read. It should be easy enough
to comprehend and difficult enough to contribute to
students’ academic development. Readability formulas
help assess and develop textbooks and other written
material for the exact grade level. For instance, if
you’ve prepared textbooks for third grade level students
and the appropriate readability formula tells you the
textbooks are for the fifth grade level, it’s better to
revise the text for easier reading.
2. Like students, teachers need text that is readable

for the grade level of students they are teaching. If
the teacher can’t understand the text, how can we expect
students to comprehend the text as well? The appropriate
readability formula ensures teachers know beforehand if
they can comprehend the text and teach the lessons to
their students.
3. A readable text is easier to read, and improves the

chance of making a boring subject interesting to
students. A text written in plain English produces
greater comprehension, retention, reading speed, and
perseverance to read the text.
49
4. The academic sector saves precious dollars by using

readability formulas for all texts. Using readability
formulas helps to avoid repeated revisions of the text
due to difficulty faced by students in deciphering the
text. The time and money can be directed towards
valuable projects for students and improve the overall
learning experience.
5. Readability formulas have helped adult classes as

well. Unlike children and teenage students, it’s not
easy to sustain adults’ interests in reading. Unless
adult students are provided with easier textbooks to
read, they are more likely to leave the studies midway.
Using readability formulas on adult-level texts ensures
these grade-level students can comprehend and learn what
they are reading.
How Can I Simplify My Writing Using

The crux of any document is to convey a
message. Keeping in mind the target
audience, your text should communicate the
contents effectively. If the readability
level of your text is too hard for your
target audience, your first reaction
should be to simplify the text.
Simplifying your text reduces the
readability level and ensures your target reader can
process and comprehend your material.
50
Here are some tips to simplify your writing to reduce

the reading level of your document:
1. Use short sentences with commonly used words. This is

generally the best way to write clearly for any
audience. Try to restrict sentence length to 20 words.
Simplicity in documents is vital. Studies have shown
that majority of Americans have average reading
capabilities. If you can re-word or re-state your ideas
using simpler words, then do so (unless the target
audience has higher reading grade level).
2. Besides simplicity in your documents, be brief and

precise in your writing. If you can state the same point
in fewer words, then don’t go on elaborating. Every
reader prefers small text that conveys the information
precisely.
3. Use headings, sub-headings, bullets, numbers, tables,

highlighters, and text formatting (bold, italicized,
underline etc.), wherever possible. You can feel the
visual difference in your documents with the astute use
of these tools. If a document appears inviting, the
readers’ interest will grow towards reading it.
4. Avoid using polysyllabic words (words with more than

three syllables), as many readers find such words
frustrating to read.
5. The best approach to simplify a document is to

compare it with a popular text that also has the same
51
target audience and is considered ideal by that

audience.
6. Use a plain English editor, like StyleWriter

(www.StyleWriter-USA.com) to help you write in plain
English.
How to Improve Your Lousy Writing Skills

If there’s one important reason why you need to
write effectively, it is this: the quality of
your writing imprints a lasting impression on
the reader. This reader may be your boss, a
client, or a person who is ready to make a
billion dollar business deal with you.
Have you ever read a poorly-written document

that made you lose interest right away? It was so
poorly-written that you lost trust in the author and
asked yourself why the author was wasting your time? How
about those junk e-mails that sneak into your junk box
like annoying cockroaches? You know the ones I’m
referring to: the ones pitching vitamins, software, and
sex aids. These e-mails are the biggest showcase of
writing blunders, stricken to death with grammar
mistakes, misspellings, and sloppy sentences. I doubt
these e-mails pull a sale because their poor writing
style immediately alienates the reader.
What impression does your writing leave on your boss,

clients, or co-workers? Does your writing alienate
52
readers, cause you to lose sales or clients, or cost you

job promotions? Or does your writing build streams of
loyal readers, increase sales for the company, and help
you earn six figures a year at your job?
Whatever writing you do in the workplace, always know

this reality: readers believe the quality of your writing
reflects your skills, work ethics, and integrity as a
person. If you write eloquently, clearly, and lively, the
reader trusts you and you are able to build rapport
quickly. If your writing is sloppy, disorganized, and
riddled with errors, the reader assumes the rest of your
work is flawed, your work ethics are flawed, and perhaps
as a person you are flawed. Why should this reader waste
his time reading the rest of your junk or even do
business with you?
This article provides fail-safe strategies to help refine

your writing and help you to communicate with clarity,
simplicity, and impact so you will never write junk
again. You will learn five masterful steps to guide you
in planning, writing, and refining an article; and you
will learn how to avoid common writing mistakes.
AIM! FIRE! FIRE!
To become a good writer, your first task is to establish

your aim.
Yiddish novelist, dramatist and essayist, Sholem Asch,

once said, “Writing comes more easily if you have
something to say.”
What message do you want to convey with your writing?
53
To establish your aim, ask yourself:
1) “Why am I writing this document?”

2) “What do I want to communicate?”
3) “Do I want to inform, educate, report, persuade,
challenge, or entertain?”
Developing your aim will help you to adopt the best

writing style for your reader. For example, an
educational document will likely be more formal than one
written for entertaining.
CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS
To write effectively, you need to connect strongly with

your readers. Ask yourself:
1) “For whom am I writing this? Will I be writing for

colleagues, my supervisor, my team of employees, or our
clients?”
2) “How much information do my readers need?”
3) “How familiar are my readers with the topic?”
4) “How much time do my readers have? Would my readers

prefer a short, succinct presentation of facts and
statistics, or more narration and exposition?”
Knowing your audience will allow you to write content in

a way that appeals to your readers.
SHAPE YOUR DOCUMENT
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You know your aim. You know the people who will likely
read your document. Now plan your document. What
information will it contain? What information will most
likely grab the reader and hold their interests? What
points do you need to get across? Start with a rough
outline of ideas. Then go through the outline and add
more information and more detail. An outline will create
the structure for your document. Soon enough your writing
will come more easily, quickly, and with greater clarity.
WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW BEST
At this stage, read over your outline and write the first
draft. Establish the main idea of the document and
support your argument throughout. If a blank white page
glares back at you like headlights, just start writing on
whatever topic you know best. According to American
novelist Jack London, “You can’t wait for inspiration.
You have to go after it with a club.” Don’t worry about
the sequence if the ideas come to you out of order. You
can cut and paste later.
WORDY WEIGHT LOSS
If you have time, step away from the document. Come back
to it later with a fresh mind. Now add material where
needed. Trim away unnecessary sections. Refine the text
to communicate what you want to say. Remember: less is
more. Try not to repeat ideas. Repetition, unless
necessary, is tiresome for the reader. Keep the piece
moving along. Use a lively pace. Progress through your
points efficiently.
55
The following sections address some of the most common

writing problems. Use these tips to write more clearly,
effectively, and lively.
I.) PUNCTUATION
a) Apostrophes
Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive form of “it.”
Incorrect: Our department submitted it’s reports for 2005

last week.
Correct: Our department submitted its reports for 2005

last week.
Do not use apostrophes in the possessive forms “his,”

“hers,” and “ours.”
Incorrect: The window office is her’s.
Correct: The window office is hers.
Do not use apostrophes in plural nouns.
Incorrect: How many new computer’s are we getting?
Correct: How many new computers are we getting?
b) Commas
Do not connect two complete sentences with a comma.
56
Incorrect: The meeting was cancelled, I finished my work

early.
Correct: The meeting was cancelled, so I finished my work

early.
Correct: Since the meeting was cancelled, I finished my

work early.
II.) MECHANICS
a) Split Infinitives
Do not insert words between “to” and the infinitive form

of a verb.
Incorrect: I was told we needed to slightly tighten the

deadline.
Correct: I was told we needed to tighten the deadline

slightly.
III.) SPELLING
a) “A lot” is always two words.
Incorrect: I have alot of work to do.
Correct: I have a lot of work to do.
b) “To” is a function word often used before the

infinitive form of a verb (to go).
57
c) “Too” is an adverb that means “excessively” (too

difficult).
d) “Two” denotes the number 2.
Incorrect: This file cabinet is to heavy for me to move.
Correct: This file cabinet is too heavy for me to move.
e) “There” is an adverb indicating a place (over there).
f) “Their” is a possessive word that shows ownership

(their computers).
g) “They’re” is the contraction form of “they are.”
Incorrect: There results for this quarter were excellent.
Correct: Their results for this quarter were excellent.
Incorrect: Their working very hard today.
Correct: They’re working very hard today.
IV.) STYLE
a) Sentence Variety
To write more lively, vary sentence structure. Use

alternate ways of beginning, and combine short sentences
to create different sentence lengths.
Before:
58
I organized the files for all the new accounts this week.
Then I created a more efficient labeling system. I color-
coded everything. I made sure all paper files had been
documented electronically. I put these files in the empty
file cabinet.
After:
This week I organized the files for the new accounts and
created a more efficient color-coded labeling system.
After I documented all paper files electronically, I put
these files in the empty file cabinet.
V.) ACTIVE VOICE vs. PASSIVE VOICE
The English language has two "voices": active voice (the

subject performs an action); and passive voice (the
subject is acted upon). In business communication, all
good writers write in active voice. Lazy writers write in
passive voice. Writing in active voice shortens your
sentences and makes your writing sound more direct and
formal.
Examples:
PASSIVE: The recipe book is read by her.
ACTIVE: She reads the recipe book.
PASSIVE: The radio announcement should be listened to by

everyone.
ACTIVE: Everyone should listen to the radio announcement.
59
PASSIVE: The photo is being taken by the photographer.
ACTIVE: The photographer is taking the photo.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
To learn more about fixing common writing mistakes, check

out The Electronic Writing Course (
www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com ). It’s a program that
teaches the basics of good writing and editing. If you
want to check your document against 36,000 style and
usage mistakes, check out StyleWriter ( www.StyleWriter-
USA.com ). It’s a style and usage Plain English checker.
If you want to write more lively and creatively, check
out WhiteSmoke Software ( www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ).
It’s a program that fixes and enriches your text.
If you follow these guidelines, you’ll stop yourself from

writing “lousy” in the workplace. Your writing will be
lively, clear, and concise, and you will build rapport
with readers. Perhaps it’s now time to e-mail your boss a
perfectly-written e-mail requesting a salary raise?
60
Related Articles on Readability
BUSINESS BROCHURE WRITING: Why It's Important That a 5th Grader Understands Your
Brochure - No matter what’s your business or service, you need to write your brochure at a level
that even a 5th grader can understand.
Can Readers Understand What I Write? - Your writing skills may be superb, but what if your
readers can’t understand your text? Technically, your readers may have problems with your
document’s “readability,” but what truly counts is the document’s “understandability.”
Internet Users Choose Speed And Readability Over Appearance - More than 93 per cent of
Internet users indicated they favour speed and readability over appearance when visiting
websites.
Keeping Your Writing Simple - The good folks who buy your how-to manual do not want to read
anything complicated or hard to comprehend. They bought your manual to help them solve a
specific problem, quickly, easily, and efficiently.
Readability - How To Write Articles And Other Material That Will Be Easily Read By Your
Audience - When writing articles to use for ezines, newsletters, website, and article marketing,
readability becomes an important factor. If your articles are not easy to read, people will not stay
with you long enough to find out what you have to say.
Readability Metrics: Are They Getting Your Message? - According to the encyclopedia,
"Readability is a measure of the accessibility of a piece of writing, indicating how wide an
audience it will reach. Readability is a judgment of how easy a text is to understand."
Readability Over Appearance - Web Poll - More than 93 per cent of Internet users indicated they
favour speed and readability over appearance when visiting websites, according to a recent
online poll conducted by Webcopyplus.
Simple Steps To Improve Your Websites Readability - Consider your target audience. Even if
they are a group of teenage girls looking for new shoes, it's never a good idea to use tiny type. It
doesn't have to be enormous, but up to a point, larger type is better.
Website Useability Is There Room For Improvement? - A website's usability is one of the key
determinants of its success in fulfilling its main goal, whether it is made for information
dissemination, business or communication.
Understanding Differences Between Writing for the Web and Writing for Print - Knowing your
audience and the purpose of your content is paramount whether writing for the web or for print.
However, there are significant differences between the two mediums of which a writer must be
aware before writing Web content for the first time.
61
Readability Formulas Software

ReadabilityFormulas.com offers two time-tested readability
software products:
The first readability software is Readability

Calculations, supporting the readability scoring of
written materials according to nine of the most
popular readability formulas - Flesch Grade Level
(Flesch-Kincaid), Flesch Reading Ease, FOG, SMOG,
Powers-Sumner-Kearl, FORCAST, Spache, Dale-Chall and
Fry Graph formula.
The second readability software is Readability PLUS, which

includes the Readability Calculations software plus
Vocabulary Assessor software. Whereas Readability
Calculations produces reading level scores,
Readability Plus can identify and display specific
words that readers find most difficult.
Both Readability Calculations and Readability PLUS

automate the process of determining the reading level of your
materials, saving you time, money and plenty of headaches.
Both Readability Calculations and Readability PLUS work on any

type of document -- reports, business letters, articles,
books, manuals, academic texts, literature, you name it!
For more information, visit ReadabilityFormulas.com.
62

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What Are Readability .Formulas?

We can assess readability through readability tests by

Readability formulas work by measuring certain features

don’t need to calculate other factors, as they tend to

Another startling fact about these formulas is that you

Importance of Readability Formulas

Commonly Used Readability Formulas

1. Rudolph Flesch’s Reading Ease Formula;

3. J. Peter Kinkaid’s Flesch-Kinkaid Index;

The underlying message of each formula is the same: if

The History and Development of Readability

No one had ever entertained the thought of grading

adults in 1917. Chicago took the clue from the military

The breakthrough of readability formulas was the

Early researchers studied surface characteristics of

Thorndike’s book was followed by another landmark work

Many researchers have contributed to developing

Kincaid Grade Level. His formula uses the number of

In 1963 George R. Klare published his book, The

Some of the other significant contributors of

Presently, there are over 200 readability formulas with

Why Use Readability Formulas?

evaluate the readability of text. Here are reasons you

1. Most Americans have limited reading ability,

2. If the text is not readable, then you’ve wasted your

3. Readability formulas help you to prepare a readable

4. Just imagine how frustrated your target audience

customers. They may feel confused by a clumsily prepared

5. Preparing text costs money. If you produce an

6. Most reputable word-processors, like MS-Word, have a

Advantages of Using Readability Formulas

2. Readability formulas do not require the

3. Readability formulas are text-based formulas; many

4. Readability formulas help the text-creators convert

5. Using readability formulas to perfect a document can

6. A readable text always attracts a larger reader-base.

Disadvantages of Using Readability Formulas

2. Readability formulas also cannot measure the

3. The admirers of literary geniuses largely see

but this doesn’t mean that those works are inferior in

4. Due to many readability formulas, there is an

5. Readability formulas cannot measure everything that

6. Readability formulas can’t measure the context, prior

7. Readability formulas apply mathematics to literature.

How do I decide which readability formula or

The primary role of the education sector is to distill

1. Dale-Chall: Dale-Chall Readability formula is a

2. Spache: Spache Readability Formula is ideal for texts

3. Powers-Sumner-Kearl: The Powers-Sumner-Kearl

4. SMOG: McLaughlin’s SMOG Readability Formula is

5. Flesch Reading Ease: The Flesch Reading Ease

6. Gunning Fog: The Gunning Fog Index Readability

7. Fry Graph: The Fry Graph Readability Formula is a

8. Coleman-Liau: The Coleman-Liau Readability Formula is

9. McAlpine EFLAW: The McAlpine EFLAW Readability

The Health Care Industry produces much literature

and so on. Here are some tips to decide which

1. Dale-Chall: Useful for any text.