Online Technical Writing:

Common Grammar, Usage, & Spelling

Problemscontinued


This part of the appendix covers grammar problems involving the structure of a sentence
as well as usage problems such as capitalization.
Parallelism
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun reference
Pronoun case (who, whom)
Capitalization
Numbers vs. words
Symbols and abbreviations
Parallelism
Parallelism refers to the way that items in a series are worded. You want to use the same
style of wording in a series of items--it makes it easier on the reader. Widely varied
wording is distracting and potentially confusing to readers. Here are some examples, with
revisions and some comments:
Problem: The r epor t di scusses how t el escopes
wor k, what t ypes ar e
avai l abl e, mount s, accessor i es, and
t echni ques f or begi nni ng st ar
gazer s. (The "how" and the "why"
clauses are not
parallel to the "mounts,"
"accessories," and
"techniques" phrases.)

Revision: The r epor t di scusses how t el escopes
wor k, what t ypes of
t el escopes, mount s, and accessor i es
ar e avai l abl e, and how t o begi n your
hobby as a st ar gazer .
Problem: Cust omer s of t en cal l t he showr oomt o
i nqui r e about pr i ci ng,
what i t ems ar e avai l abl e, and t o pl ace
or der s. (The "what items
are available" clause does not go with
the two phrases beginning with
"to.")

Revision: Cust omer s of t en cal l t he showr oomt o
i nqui r e about pr i ces,
check on t he avai l abi l i t y of cer t ai n
i t ems, and pl ace or der s.
Problem: Whi l e t he di al ysi s sol ut i on r emai ns i n
t he per i t oneal
cavi t y, t he di al ysi s i s achi eved, a
pr ocess t hat i ncl udes t he r emoval of
ni t r ogenous wast es and cor r ect i ng
el ect r ol yt e i mbal ances and f l ui d
over l oads. (The "removal" phrase and
the
"correcting" phrase are not parallel
to each other.)

Revision: Whi l e t he di al ysi s sol ut i on r emai ns i n
t he per i t oneal
cavi t y, t he di al ysi s i s achi eved, a
pr ocess t hat i ncl udes t he r emoval of
ni t r ogenous wast es and t he cor r ect i on
of el ect r ol yt e i mbal ances and f l ui d
over l oads.
Problem: Thi s r epor t i s i nt ended f or peopl e
wi t h some el ect r oni cs
backgr ound but have l i t t l e or no
knowl edge of geophysi cal
pr ospect i ng. (The "with" phrase is not
parallel with the
"have little" clause--this one is not
even grammatical.)

Revision: Thi s r epor t i s i nt ended f or peopl e
wi t h some el ect r oni cs
backgr ound but wi t h l i t t l e or no
knowl edge of geophysi cal pr ospect i ng.
Parallelism problems have to do when same types of phrasing are not used in the same
areas of a document: such as for list items in a specific list, or for all headings at a certain
level within a specific part of a document. At times, working on parallelism of phrasing is
trivial. However, in many instances, parallel phrasing can give readers important cues as
to how to interpret information. A jumble of dissimilar styles of phrasing for similar
elements can be confusing. Shown below are those different style:

See parallelism problems for some additional practice.
Subject-Verb Agreement
With subject-verb agreement problems, either a singular subject is matched with a plural
verb, or vice versa. (Remember that some singular verbs end in -s.) Sometimes it's hard
to spot the true subject, particularly in these cases:
When several words come between the subject and verb:
Agreement problems Revisions
The communi cat i ons bet ween
t he pr ogr ammer and t he r est
of t he company t ends t o be
r at her i nf or mal .
The communi cat i ons bet ween
t he pr ogr ammer and t he r est
of t he company t end t o be
r at her i nf or mal .
The pur pose of t he monor ai l s
have changed f r omone of
The pur pose of t he monor ai l s
has changed f r omone of
car r yi ng f ood t o one of
car r yi ng peopl e t o wor k i n
cr owded ur ban ar eas.
car r yi ng f ood t o one of
car r yi ng peopl e t o wor k i n
cr owded ur ban ar eas.
The shor t age of avai l abl e
i nf ant s and t he avai l abi l i t y
of chi l dr en wi t h speci al
needs has changed t he f ocus
of adopt i on f or many
par ent s.
The shor t age of avai l abl e
i nf ant s and t he avai l abi l i t y
of chi l dr en wi t h speci al
needs have changed t he f ocus
of adopt i on f or many
par ent s.
When there are two or more subjects joined by and or or:
Agreement problems Revisions
I n t he comput er ' s memor y i s
st or ed t he pr ogr amand t he
dat a t o be mani pul at ed by
t hat pr ogr am.
I n t he comput er ' s memor y ar e
st or ed t he pr ogr amand t he
dat a t o be mani pul at ed by
t hat pr ogr am.
Ei t her BASI C or Pascal ar e
t he hi gh- l evel comput er
l anguage you shoul d t ake
f i r st .
Ei t her BASI C or Pascal i s
t he hi gh- l evel comput er
l anguage you shoul d t ake
f i r st .
Skyr ocket i ng char ges f or
dat a pr epar at i on, t he need
t o keep pace wi t h r api dl y
i ncr easi ng amount s of dat a,
and r equi r ement s f or f ast
syst emr esponse has l ed t o a
sear ch f or mor e ef f i ci ent
i nput devi ces.
Skyr ocket i ng char ges f or
dat a pr epar at i on, t he need
t o keep pace wi t h r api dl y
i ncr easi ng amount s of dat a,
and r equi r ement s f or f ast
syst emr esponse have l ed t o
a sear ch f or mor e ef f i ci ent
i nput devi ces.
The magnet i c- i nk char act er -
r ecogni t i on devi ce and t he
opt i cal char act er -
r ecogni t i on devi ce i s t wo
i mpor t ant advances i n t he
pr epar at i on of bat ch i nput .
The magnet i c- i nk char act er -
r ecogni t i on devi ce and t he
opt i cal char act er -
r ecogni t i on devi ce ar e t wo
i mpor t ant advances i n t he
pr epar at i on of bat ch i nput .
When the normal subject-verb order is inverted:
Agreement problems Revisions
I n t he comput er ' s memor y i s I n t he comput er ' s memor y ar e
st or ed t he pr ogr amand t he
dat a t o be mani pul at ed by
t hat pr ogr am.
st or ed t he pr ogr amand t he
dat a t o be mani pul at ed by
t hat pr ogr am.
I nt r oduced i n 1968 by t he
Comput er Machi ne Cor por at i on
was t he concept of key- t o-
di sk pr ocessi ng and t he
concept of shar ed
pr ocessi ng.
I nt r oduced i n 1968 by t he
Comput er Machi ne Cor por at i on
wer e t he concept of key- t o-
di sk pr ocessi ng and t he
concept of shar ed
pr ocessi ng.
Equi val ent t o mor e t han 3000
punched car ds ar e t he si ngl e
di sket t e, f i r st i nt r oduced
i n 1972.
Equi val ent t o mor e t han 3000
punched car ds i s t he si ngl e
di sket t e, f i r st i nt r oduced
i n 1972.
Thr ough t he cent er of t he
cor e r uns sever al sense
wi r es.
Thr ough t he cent er of t he
cor e r un sever al sense
wi r es.
When the subject is a word like each, every, none, either, neither, no one, and
nobody, especially when followed by a plural object of a preposition:
Agreement problems Revisions
Each of t he st eps i n t he
pr ocess ar e t r eat ed i n a
separ at e chapt er of t hi s
r epor t .
Each of t he st eps i n t he
pr ocess i s t r eat ed i n a
separ at e chapt er of t hi s
r epor t .
Nei t her of t he t wo hi gh-
l evel l anguages of f er a
f aci l i t y f or desi gni ng your
own var i abl es.
Nei t her of t he t wo hi gh-
l evel l anguages of f er s a
f aci l i t y f or desi gni ng your
own var i abl es.
When the subject is a phrase or clause acting as a unit:
Agreement problems Revisions
Pr i nt i ng 54, 000 char s. per
60 seconds wer e consi der ed a
hi gh speed f or pr i nt er s at
one t i me.
Pr i nt i ng 54, 000 char s. per
60 seconds was consi der ed a
hi gh speed f or pr i nt er s at
one t i me.
Rever si ng t he di r ect i on of Rever si ng t he di r ect i on of
cur r ent s t hr ough t he wi r es
change t he magnet i c st at e of
t he cor e.
cur r ent s t hr ough t he wi r es
changes t he magnet i c st at e
of t he cor e.
What i s t r ul y amazi ng about
bi t s cel l s i n i nt egr at ed
ci r cui t s ar e t hat 30 cel l s
l i ned up si de by si de ar e
about as wi de as a human
hai r .
What i s t r ul y amazi ng about
bi t s cel l s i n i nt egr at ed
ci r cui t s i s t hat 30 cel l s
l i ned up si de by si de ar e
about as wi de as a human
hai r .
Pronoun Reference
Pronoun reference is an area that has caused international conflict and created major rifts
in the women's movement--so don't expect this little section to explain it all. A pronoun,
as you may know, is a word like "he," "they," "him," "them," "which," "this," "everyone,"
"each," and so on. It's like a variable in programming--it points to some other word that
holds its meaning. Problems arise when you can't figure out what the pronoun is pointing
to (its "reference") and when it doesn't "agree" in number or gender with what it is
pointing to. You may have experienced the first type of problem: you're reading along in
some incredibly technical thing, and it up and refers to something as "this." You look
back up at the sea of words you have just been laboriously reading through--you say "this
what?!" You have just experienced one form of the pronoun-reference problem. Here's
another example:
Problem: Laser s have al so been used t o st udy
t he r eact i on by whi ch
ni t r i c oxi de and ozone make ni t r ogen
di oxi de ( NO2) and mol ecul ar
oxygen. It pl ays an i mpor t ant r ol e i n
t he chemi st r y of t he ozone
l ayer t hat sur r ounds t he ear t h and
pr ot ect s us f r omt he sun' s har mf ul
ul t r avi ol et r adi at i on. ("It" what?)

Revision: Laser s have al so been used t o st udy
t he r eact i on by whi ch
ni t r i c oxi de and ozone make ni t r ogen
di oxi de ( NO2) and mol ecul ar oxygen.
This process pl ays an i mpor t ant r ol e
i n t he chemi st r y of t he ozone
l ayer t hat sur r ounds t he ear t h and
pr ot ect s us f r omt he sun' s har mf ul
ul t r avi ol et r adi at i on. (Okay, now we
see...)
The second kind of pronoun-reference problem arises over lack of agreement between the
pronoun and what it refers to. Here is one common example:
Problem: Mot or ol a has j ust announced t hei r new
Power PC chi p.

Revision: Mot or ol a has j ust announced i t s new
Power PC chi p.
The problem here is that "Motorola" is a singular thing, while "their" is a plural thing--
they don't agree in number! Now, maybe any dummy knows what's being said here, but
this is imprecise writing, and it can lead to serious problems, given the right situation.
Here is a second example:
Problem: These days, ever y st udent needs t o
own t hei r own comput er .

Revision 1: These days, st udent s need t o own
t hei r own comput er s.

Revision 2: These days, ever y st udent needs t o
own hi s or her own
comput er . (How politically
correct...)

Revision 3: These days, ever y st udent needs t o
own a comput er .
The problem in this example is that "student" does not agree with "their": one is singular;
the other, plural. Some self-proclaimed authorities have tried to call this usage
acceptable. However, it is imprecise--and we care greatly about precision in technical
writing. Maybe not in this example, but in other situations, we might look elsewhere in
the context for the plural noun we think is being referred to by "their." As you can see
from the revisions, there sometimes is no good way to fix the problem. (Things like
"h/she" have pretty much been booed off the stage.) Whenever it works, try converting
the singular noun to a plural--the plural pronoun will then be okay (but don't forget to
change the verb to plural).
Here are some additional examples (the reference word is underlined and the pronouns
are italicized):
Problem: NASA hoped t hat , by usi ng pr oduct i on
t ool i ng r at her t han by
maki ng each t ool i ndi vi dual l y, they
coul d save t i me and money.

Revision: NASA hoped t hat , by usi ng pr oduct i on
t ool i ng r at her t han
by maki ng each t ool i ndi vi dual l y, i t
coul d save t i me and money.

Problem: I f an ener gy ef f i ci ent syst emcan be
devel oped, el ect r i cal
vehi cl es coul d become as popul ar as
its convent i onal count er par t .

Revision: I f an ener gy- ef f i ci ent syst emcan be
devel oped, el ect r i cal
vehi cl es coul d become as popul ar as
t hei r convent i onal count er par t .

Problem: Cur r ent l y, Houst on has $328. 2 mi l l i on
i n their
1984- 1985 budget t o hel p f und a new
f or mof mass t r anspor t at i on.
Revision: Cur r ent l y, Houst on has $328. 2 mi l l i on
i n i t s 1984- 1985
budget t o hel p f und a new f or mof mass
t r anspor t at i on.
Problem: Aer obi c f i t ness pr ogr ams hel p t o
i mpr ove an empl oyee' s
physi cal condi t i on by st r engt heni ng
their ci r cul at or y, muscul ar , and
r espi r at or y syst ems.
Revision: Aer obi c f i t ness pr ogr ams hel p t o
i mpr ove an empl oyee' s
physi cal condi t i on by st r engt heni ng
hi s ci r cul at or y, muscul ar , and
r espi r at or y syst ems.
Problem: Amer i can i ndust r y shoul d i mpl ement
aer obi c f i t ness pr ogr ams
f or t he bet t er ment of their empl oyees
even i f t her e i s some
opposi t i on t o it at f i r st . (A double
dose of pronoun-reference
grief!)
Revision: Amer i can i ndust r y shoul d i mpl ement
aer obi c f i t ness
pr ogr ams f or t he bet t er ment of
i t s empl oyees even i f t her e i s some
opposi t i on t o i t at f i r st .
Pronoun Case (Who, Whom)
Yes, you too can learn the proper usage of who and whom. (This will soon be an exciting
new self-help seminar offered `round the country; look for it advertised late at night on a
cable channel.) Who is used in the same slots that words like he, she, they, and we are
used; whom is used in the same slots that him, her, them, and us are used. So if you can
run a little replacement test, you can figure out which to use. Here's the test:
1. Imagine that you start out with sentences like these (admittedly not an eloquent
crew but they'll do):
2. I t was t he NBS engi neer s [ who, whom?] Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce
3. cont act ed on J ul y 17.
4.
5. I t was t he NBS engi neer s [ who, whom?] per f or med t he t est s on
6. t he wal kways.
7.
8. Send a copy of t he r epor t t o [ whoever , whomever ?] want s one.
9.
10. No one i s sur e [ who, whom?] wi l l be t he next mayor .
11.
12. I t was t he NBS engi neer s t o [ who, whom?] Sen. Eagl et on' s
13. of f i ce made t he r equest f or t echni cal assi st ance.
14. Now, strike out all the words up to the who or whom including prepositions:
15. I t was t he NBS engi neer s [ who, whom?] Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce
16. cont act ed on J ul y 17.
17.
18. I t was t he NBS engi neer s [ who, whom?] per f or med t he t est s on
19. t he wal kways.
20.
21. Send a copy of t he r epor t t o [ whoever , whomever ?] want s one.
22.
23. No one i s sur e [ who, whom?] wi l l be t he next mayor .
24.
25. I t was t he NBS engi neer s t o [ who, whom?] Sen. Eagl et on' s
26. of f i ce made t he r equest f or t echni cal assi st ance.
27. Next, juggle the remaining words so that they make a complete sentence:
28. Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce cont act ed t he NBS engi neer s.
29.
30. The NBS engi neer s per f or med t he t est s on t he wal kways.
31.
32. [ Who, whom] want s one?
33.
34. [ Who, whom] wi l l be t he next mayor ?
35.
36. Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce made t he r equest f or t he t echni cal
37. assi st ance t o t he NBS engi neer s.
38. If it sounds right to substitute I, he, she, they, we, use who. If it sounds right to
substitute me, him, her, us, them, use whom:
39. Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce cont act ed them. => ( whom)
40.
41. They per f or med t he t est s on t he wal kways. => ( who)
42.
43. He want s one? => ( who)
44.
45. She wi l l be t he next mayor ? => ( who)
46.
47. Sen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce made t he r equest f or t he t echni cal
48. assi st ance t o them. => ( whom)
49. Here are the results:
50. I t was t he NBS engi neer s whomSen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce cont act ed
51. on J ul y 17.
52.
53. I t was t he NBS engi neer s who per f or med t he t est s on t he
54. wal kways.
55.
56. Send a copy of t he r epor t t o whoever want s one.
57.
58. No one i s sur e who wi l l be t he next mayor .
59.
60. I t was t he NBS engi neer s t o whomSen. Eagl et on' s of f i ce made
61. t he r equest f or t echni cal assi st ance.
This may not be the next Hoola-Hoop or Veg-a-Matic, but it works. And it works without
having to toss around terms like nominative case and objective case. Try it on your
friends... (Incidentally, the third example, which contains "whoever wants one," is
typically missed by people who pride themselves on their grammar. The rule about
always using whom when it comes after a preposition does not work! It's like those 10-
day miracle diets.)
Capitalization
One of the big problems in technical writing involves capitalization. Technical people,
developers, and other nonprofessional writers tend to use capital letters for everything
that feels importantparticularly the stuff that they've worked on. Problem is that this
practice breaks all our standard capitalization rules and, more importantly, makes it
harder to read. Most professionals in publishing, writing, and editing believe that
excessive capitalization is distracting and confusing for readers. Capitalization should not
be used for emphasis (use underscores or italics for that, or for really important things,
use special notices.
Capital letters should be used for proper names--formal, official names of things and
people. For example, Tandem Corporation is a proper name; Mosaic is a proper name of
a software product. However, a loose reference to the "development area" at IBM does
not need caps; it's not the official name of that area. Similarly, WordPerfect is a proper
name, but not its grammar-checking feature. In technical writing, the impulse is often to
use caps for the components of a thingfight it off! For example, if we were discussing
the disk drive, the monitor, the CPU unit, the modem, the mouse, or the printer of a
computing system, none of it should be capitalized. However, if we were talking about
the the Dell NL40 Notebook computer, the Microsoft Mouse, or the IBM 6091 Display,
then certainly caps are in order.
Of course, there are some exceptions. For example, in instructions, you want to reproduce
the capitalization style shown on buttons, knobs, and other physical features of products
as well as on the display screens of computer programs just as they are shown on the
hardware. If I have a Service button on my computer, I'd write it as Service or SERVICE,
whichever way it is shown on the machine.
A common misuse of capitalization involves acronyms. You know that whenever you use
an acronym in your text, you should spell it out first then show its acronym in
parentheses. Writers often want to put the spelled-out version in initial caps; you would
do so only if the spelled-out version were a proper name in its own right:
The Nor t h At l ant i c Tr eat y Or gani zat i on ( NATO) was f or med j ust
af t er Wor d War I I .

When you t ur n your comput er on, i t nor mal l y goes t hr ough a pr ocess
cal l ed i ni t i al pr ogr aml oad ( I PL) .
Here are the standard rules for caps:
Use capital letters for names of people, races, cities, regions, counties, states,
nations, languages, and other such proper names:
The Ear l y Bi r d sat el l i t e was l aunched by I nt el st , a
consor t i umof West er n count r i es i ncl udi ng t he Uni t ed
St at es, Fr ance, t he Uni t ed Ki ngdom, and Ger many.
Samuel Morse invented the coding system called the Morse code.
Among Muslims, Ramadan commemorates the first revelation of the
Koran and is celebrated by fasting.
The population of Quebec is largely French speaking.
The Middle East, culturally speaking, refers to those lands in that part
of the world that are predominantly Islamic in culture.
The Midwest includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.
in her sophomore semester Gilda took English, French, astronomy,
biology, geology and a special course called "Key Concepts in Western
Science."
Use capital letters for points of the compass only when they refer to well-
established regions, but not when they simply refer to a direction of travel:
I n t he 1970s and 1980s, t he maj or popul at i on and economi c
gr owt h r egi ons of t he Uni t ed St at es have been t he Sout h
and Sout hwest .
The dam is located to the west of the city.
Oil imports from South America have been decreasing recently.
Drive ten miles north from Baldwin City, Kansas, and you'll be in
Lawrence.
Use capital letters for titles of offices when the title precedes the name of an
officeholder but not when the title occurs alone. This rule is often ignored within
organizations that need to use capitalize titles of positions. Another exception to
this rule involves the president of the U.S.; some styles require this title to use a
capital letter, even when it occurs alone.
The f i r st el ect r oni c comput er was assembl ed i n t he year s
1940 t o 1942 by Pr of essor J ohn V. At anasof f and Cl i f f or d
Ber r y, a st udent , at I owa St at e Uni ver si t y.
A professor and a student assembled the world's first electronic
computer in the years between the wars.
In the U.S., the president holds the power of veto over any legislation
passed by the Congress.
Last week, mayors from several cities in the region met to discuss an
integrated system of health care.
Use capital letters for academic subjects only when they are part of a specific
course title or when they are derived from the name of a person, country, or
language. (This capitalization rule often get bent a little in resumes and
application letters. Typically, names of occupations and fields, and job titles get
initial caps. By standard capitalization rules, that's not correct, but the usage is so
strong in these two types of documents that it has become acceptable.)
She t ook a cour se i n wor l d hi st or y cal l ed " The Shapi ng of
West er n Thought " at Baker Uni ver si t y i n Kansas.
They consider Chemistry 301 a difficult course even though they are
all chemistry majors.
This semester Majorie plans to take French, finance, and physics.
Use capital letters for the days of the week, months, special days, and holidays
but not for the names of the seasons:
On Monday, J ul y 24, 1978, t hey cel ebr at ed her bi r t hday at
a l ocal r est aur ant .
Last fall they spent Thanksgiving in Denmark.
In the United States, the national independence day is J uly the Fourth;
in Mexico, it's called Cinco de Mayo.
Use capital letters for religions, religious groups, historical events, periods of
history, and historical documents:
The t el egr aph pl ayed an i mpor t ant r ol e i n t he Ci vi l War .
The term Protestantism is used to distinguish this faith from the other
major Christian faiths: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
At the Casablanca Conference, the Allies agreed to continue the war
until the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.
The Allies landed on Normandy Beach on J uly 6, 1944, a day known
as D-Day.
The Great Depression in the United States was supposedly precipitated
by the stock-market crash of 1929. Under compulsion by English
barons and the church, King J ohn signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
Use capital letters for organization names (commercial, governmental, and non-
profit) as well as their products and services:
I n t he l at e 1950s, t he U. S. Depar t ment of Def ense
i ni t i at ed a number of pr oj ect s, such as Pr oj ect Cour i er ,
whi ch f i nal l y r esul t ed i n t he I ni t i al Def ense
Communi cat i ons Sat el l i t e Pr ogr am( I DCSP) .
The IDCSP satellites were launched by the U.S. Air Force in 1966.
Saudia Arabia has its own air force and its own integrated defense
system.
After the FCC's 1971 adoption of a "limited skies" policy, three
domestic carriers initiated operations during 1974: American Satellite
Corporation, a subsidiary of Fairchild industries, Inc.; Americom of
RCA; and Western Union.
On March 24, 1980, Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh
asked the Union of Concerned Scientists to make an independent
evaluation of the krypton problem at the Three Mile Island nuclear
power plant. Recently, Apple Corporation introduced its Macintosh to
compete with IBM's Personal Computer.
Use capital letters for references to most numbered or lettered items (figures,
tables, chapters, parts, volumes, rooms, buildings, etc.):
I n Fi gur e 3 a si mpl e t el egr aph ar r angement i s shown.
Unfortunately, this small amount of krypton is uniformly mixed with
the roughly 2 million cubic feet of air in the sealed Three Mile Island
Unit 2 reactor containment building.
In this book, Chapter 6 discusses how to convert instructions written
by engineers into instructions that can be read and understood by
ordinary nonspecialists.
In Part I of this book, the basic patterns of technical writing and
compared to those of traditional English composition.
Use capital letters for objects that have individualized names:
The f i r st oper at i onal communi cat i ons sat el l i t e, Early
Bird, was l aunched i n 1965.
Until the Challenger space shuttle, expendable launch vehicles such as
the Thor Delta, Alpha-Centaur, and Titan were used for launching
space communications satellites.
The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in 1937 and it is one of the most
extraordinary bridges in the world.
Dr. Smith has her offices in the Woods Building.
Use capital letters for the earth, sun, moon, and universe when they are discussed
with other celestial bodies or systems:
The Sun i s 1. 4 kmf r omEar t h.
The theory that the Universe is constantly expanding is based on the
observation of red-shifts.
Use capital letters for most acronyms, although a few such as ac and dc are not.
When in doubt, check your dictionary. Use capital letters for the spelled-out
version of acronyms only if the spelled-out versions are proper nouns in their own
right.
I n 1969, an exper i ment at t he St anf or d Li near Accel er at or
( SLAC) shat t er ed pr ot ons wi t h el ect r ons.
In 1977 and 1978, NASA launched the first two High-Energy
Astronomy Observation (HEAO) satellites to study black holes. The
"brain" of the computer is the central processing unit (CPU).
Numbers vs. Words
In the preceding section on hyphens, it was pointed out that worrying too much about
hyphens will drive you crazy--so will numbers. The main hurdle to overcome is to learn
that in technical contexts, we use numerals in text, even ones below 10. In other words,
we break the rules that are taught in regular writing courses and that are used in normal
publishing and copyediting practice. That's because in the technical and scientific
context, we are vitally interested in numbers, statistical data, even if it's a 2 or 5 or--yes--
even a 0. The difficulty is in defining the rules. You should use numerals, not words,
when the number is a key value, an exact measurement value, or both. For example, in
the sentence "Our computer backup system uses 4 mm tape" the numeral is in order. Also
in "This recipe calls for 4 cups of unbleached flour." But consider this one: "There are
four key elements that define a desktop publishing system." A word, not a numeral, is
preferable here because--well, how to explain it? The number of elements is exact all
right, but it's just no big deal. Four, five, who cares? However, if I use 5 cups of flour, I'll
have a miserable, disgusting cake. To summarize the rules that we normally apply:
Don't start sentences with numerals--write the number out or, better yet, rephrase
the sentence so that it doesn't begin the sentence.
For decimal values less than 1, add a 0 before the decimal point: for example, .08
should be 0.08.
Make a firm decision on how to handle 0 and 1 when they refer to key, exact
values and stick with it. (Style varies wildly in technical writing on these two
villains.) Some technical styles choose to use words for these; they resign
themselves to the slight inconsistency but better readability.
Use numerals for important, exact values, even when those values are below 10.
Use words for numerical values that are unimportant, such as in the sentence
"There are six data types in the C programming language."
When you must use fractions, avoid the symbols that may be available in the
character set used by your software or typewriter. Construct the fraction like this:
5-1/4. Be sure and put the hyphen between the whole number and the fraction.
It would be nice if all fractions could be reset as decimals, but such is not the case
when you have things like 1/8 floating around. Stay consistent with either
decimals or fractions in these situations.
Don't make numerical values look more exact than they are. For example, don't
add ".00" to a dollar amount if the the amount is rounded or estimated.
For large amounts, you can write things like 36 million or 45 billion, but, for
some reason, not 23 thousand.
Apply these rules in specifically technical, scientific contexts only. Be sensitive to
what the standard practices are in the context in which you are writing.
Here are some examples where these rules are applied:
Some 19 mi l l i on t ons of sul phur di oxi de ar e
di schar ged f r omUS sour ces
al one each year , and anot her 14 mi l l i on t ons
f r omCanada. (Using the
number "19" and the word "million" indicates
an
approximate amount. "19,000,000" might make
some readers think
it was an exact amount.)

I t was not unt i l af t er December 1952, when
4000 peopl e di ed i n London f r om
ai r pol l ut i on i n j ust a f ew days, t hat r eal
gai ns i n pol l ut i on- cont r ol
l egi sl at i on wer e made.

The US Ar my' s st andar d ai r bor ne Doppl er
navi gat or wei ghs 28 l b ( 12. 7 kg) ,
r equi r es 89 Wof power , and oper at es at
13. 325- GHz f r equency.

Al l vi t r ai n of t he Eur opean cl assi f i cat i on,
i f mor e t han 14 mi cr omet er s
t hi ck, has been r egar ded as ant hr axyl on.

I n 1971, 11 count r i es account ed f or about 91
per cent of wor l d pr oduct i on of
coal .

The Depar t ment of t he I nt er i or has j ust
publ i shed a r epor t t hat r evi ews 65
di f f er ent coal gasi f i cat i on pr ocesses.

Combust i on t ur bi nes t ot al about 8%of t he
t ot al i nst al l ed capabi l i t y of
US ut i l i t y syst ems and suppl y l ess t han 3%
of t he t ot al ener gy gener at ed.

I nt er nal combust i on engi nes i n smal l power
pl ant s account f or about 1%of
t he t ot al power - syst emgener at i ng capabi l i t y
of t he US.

The wat er - cement r at i o wi l l gener al l y r ange
f r om4 gal of wat er per sack of
cement t o about 9 gal per sack. (These are
exact values here; in
technical writing, use the numeral even if
it is below 10.)

The pr obl emi s l ocat ed i n pi st on number 6.
(When there are enumerated items
or parts, technical writing uses the number,
as in this example. But notice
that no "#" or "No." is used.)

The si gnal occur s i n 6- second i nt er val s.

The or der i s f or 6- , 8- , and 12- f oot t wo- by-
f our s.

Use Code 3 i f a syst emshut down occur s.

Mi ned coal s commonl y cont ai n bet ween 5 and
15 per cent mi ner al
mat t er .

The above i l l ust r at i on shows a 20- uni t
coaxi al cabl e wi t h 9 wor ki ng coaxi al
pai r s and 2 st andby coaxi al s, whi ch
aut omat i cal l y swi t ch i n i f t he
el ect r oni cs of t he r egul ar ci r cui t s f ai l .

Ther e ar e 59 di f f er ent speci es of t he cof f ee
shr ub, but onl y 4 ar e of
commer ci al i mpor t ance.

Most gr i nds of cof f ee cont ai n par t i cl es
r angi ng i n si ze f r om0. 023 t o 0. 055
i nches i n di amet er .

Usi ng car r i er f r equenci es bet ween 0. 535 MHz
and 1. 605 MHz i n t he US, AM
br oadcast i ng st at i ons spr ang up al l over t he
count r y begi nni ng i n t he
1910s.

As a base f r omwhi ch t o wor k, 2- 1/ 2 t o 3 gal
of wat er ar e needed f or each
sack of cement f or compl et e hydr at i on and
maxi mumst r engt h. (These are
exact values; therefore, in the technical-
writing context, we use
numerals. Notice how fractional values are
handled: put a hyphen between
the whole number and the fraction to prevent
misreading.)

The or der f or t wel ve 30- f oot beams was
pl aced yest er day.

The or der was f or 30 f i f t een- gal l on t ubs.

They used si x 8- pound sacks of nai l s.

The mi cr opr ocessor s of t he 70s and 80s
oper at ed under t he cont r ol of cl ocks
r unni ng at 1 t o 5 MHz, t hat i s, 1 t o 5
mi l l i on count s per second.

Your eye has a bandwi dt h of 370 t r i l l i on Hz,
t he vi si bl e spect r um.

Tr ansmi ssi on r at es on ETHERNET r ange f r om1
t o 10 megabi t s per second
( 0. 125 t o 1. 25 mi l l i on byt es per second) .

I n 1978, t he sat el l i t e car r i er s' r evenues
wer e about $88 mi l l i on, and by
1986, t hey ar e expect ed t o r each $800
mi l l i on.

Most communi cat i ons sat el l i t es ar e i n
geost at i onar y or bi t : at an al t i t ude
of 22, 300 mi l es over t he sur f ace of t he
ear t h and at a di st ance of 26, 260
mi l es f r omt he cent er of t he ear t h ( t he
ear t h' s r adi us bei ng 3960 mi l es) .

Aggr egat es const i t ut e about 70 per cent of a
concr et e mi x.

Uni f or mcompact i on of 95%or bet t er of
st andar d AASHO densi t i es i s
r ecommended.

I n t hi s book, Chapt er 7 di scusses t he
di f f er ent audi ences of t echni cal
pr ose and t r ansl at i on t echni ques f or
communi cat i ng ef f ect i vel y wi t h t he
l ess speci al i zed ones.

The wheel s of t he f our - wheel t r act or gi ve i t
i ncr eased speed over t he
Cr awl er , but because of t he wei ght
di st r i but i on over f our wheel s r at her
t han over t wo wheel s or t r acks, t hi s vehi cl e
has l ess t r act i on.

Hundr eds of t housands of peopl e wi l l have
pur chased mi cr ocomput er s by t he
end of 1980. Tens of mi l l i ons of t hemwi l l
bought t hemby t he end of t he
cent ur y.

Ther e ar e t wo t el ephones i n ser vi ce t oday
f or ever y t hr ee peopl e i n t he
US.

I n 1965, Dr . Gor don Moor e announced hi s
" l aw" t hat t he compl exi t y
of a chi p woul d doubl e ever y year f or t en
year s. (Use the word
"ten" here because it is not an exact
amount.)

The t ypi cal st and- al one mi cr ocomput er syst em
consi st s of seven physi cal
component s. (Use the word "seven" here
because, even though it
seems like an exact amount, it is not a key
value. It doesn't have the same
significance as the "7"would have in "7
quarts of
oil.")

I f you ar e usi ng page- zer o addr essi ng, use a
RAM f or memor y page zer o.

Pr i mar y f uel cel l s ar e t hose t hr ough whi ch
r eact ant s ar e passed onl y one
t i me.

Bef or e r echar gi ng, a zi nc- car bon bat t er y
must have a wor ki ng vol t age not
l ess t han one vol t . (Even in technical-
writing contexts, rules for one
and zero vary. Just pick a style and stay
with it. Using the word
"one" is the standard in this example.)

J apan has r oughl y one- t hi r d of t he US
pr oduct i on of dr y bat t er i es. (In
running text, always write out fraction like
this, and hyphenate
them. However, you'd still write "5-1/2
inches.")

The r adi al f r act ur es ar e so ext ensi ve t hat
t hey ar e t he domi nant st r uct ur al
el ement over hal f of Mar s' s sur f ace. (And
just to be sure,
"half" by itself in running text is always a
word.)

A nanosecond i s one- bi l l i ont h of a second.

I nsi de t he UP ar e t hr ee 16- bi t r egi st er s.
(When you have two separate
numerical values side by side, one has to be
a word, and the other a
numeral. Styles vary here, but make the
numeral the higher number. Contrast
with the next example.)

Dat a f r omt he f r equency count er t ake t he
f or mof 16 seven- bi t ASCI I wor ds.

Sal es of bat t er i es have i ncr eased f r om$510
mi l l i on on t he aver age dur i ng
1957- 1959 t o $867 mi l l i on i n 1966 and ar e
pr oj ect ed t o exceed $1. 8 bi l l i on
i n 1980.

The speed of l i ght i s r oughl y 300 mi l l i on
met er s per second.

Fi f t y- t hr ee r epr esent at i ves of di f f er ent
sof t war e devel opment compani es
showed up at t he meet i ng. (Never start a
sentence with a numeral in any
writing context. With this example, some
rewriting might be a wise idea to
get the numerical out of the beginning of
the sentence, as in the following
rewrite.)

At t he meet i ng, 53 r epr esent at i ves of
di f f er ent sof t war e devel opment
compani es showed up.
Symbols and Abbreviations
In technical-writing contexts, you may often have to decide whether to use " or ' for
"inches" or "feet" or whether to use "inches," "in," or "in."
First of all, remember that symbols and abbreviations are distracting to readers; they are
different from the normal flow of words. However, there are plenty of cases where the
written-out version is more distracting than the symbol or abbreviation. Also, the context
(specifically, technical or nontechnical) has a lot to do with which to use.
Imagine a technical document which has only one or two references to numerical
measurements in inches. There is no reason to use symbols or abbreviations here--just
write the thing out. But imagine a technical document with numerous feet and inch
references: using symbols or abbreviations in this case is better, more readable, more
efficient for both reader and writer. But which? Imagine the amount of foot and inch
references there would be in a carpentry project (for example, a dog house). In this case,
the symbols, " and ' would be greatly preferable. However, this would be an extreme
case; otherwise, use the abbreviations.
Which are the standard symbols and abbreviations to use? Go with the standards in the
field in which you are writing, or with those found in a standard reference book such as a
dictionary. Don't make them up yourself (for example, "mtrs" for meters)!
What about plurals? Very few abbreviations take an s to indicate plural: for example 5 in.
means 5 inches. For the few that you think might take the s, check a dictionary.
What about obscure abbreviations and symbols? If you are concerned that readers might
not recognize the abbreviation or symbol, write its full name in regular text and then put
the abbreviation and symbol in parentheses just after the the first occurrence of that full
name.
Here are some examples of abbreviations or symbols in text:
Hi gh r esol ut i on di spl ays use l ar ger vi deo
bandwi dt hs, up t o 30 MHz
or mor e.

Most t ouch- sensi t i ve di spl ays use a mat r i x
of ei t her
LED/ phot odi odes or t r anspar ent capaci t or
ar r ays t o det ect a
physi cal t ouch.

The par t of t he memor y t hat i s easi l y
al t er abl e by t he oper at or
consi st s of RAM chi ps.

A sat el l i t e i n geost at i onar y or bi t l ooks at
t he ear t h wi t h a cone
angl e of 17. 3 cor r espondi ng t o an ar c of
18, 080 kmal ong t he
equat or .

The ar c f r om53 Wt o 139 Wwi l l cover 48
st at es ( excl udi ng Al aska
and Hawai i ) and i s sai d t o pr ovi de conus
cover age.

Fai r chi l d I ndust r i es, I nc. , was an ear l y
par t i ci pant i n commer ci al
sat el l i t es.

The voi ce was compr essed f r omt he usual 64-
kb/ s pul se code
modul at i on ( PCM) t o 32 kb/ s per channel by
near - i nst ant aneous
compandi ng ( a modi f i ed PCM t echni que) .

Ter r est r i al mi cr owave r adi o communi cat i ons
r equi r e r epeat er s spaced
ever y 20 t o 40 mi f r omeach ot her .

Over a per i od of sever al days t he spacecr af t
i s t r acked f r omt he
gr ound and posi t i oned on st at i on ( i . e. , i n
t he pr eassi gned or bi t al
spot ) i n or der t o commence oper at i ons.

A vel oci t y i ncr ement of appr oxi mat el y 155
f t / s per year i s r equi r ed
t o cor r ect dr i f t pr obl ems i n sat el l i t es.

The anci ent bat t er y- l i ke obj ect s made by t he
Par t hi ans i n 250 BC
wer e t hi n sheet s of copper sol der ed i nt o a
cyl i nder 1. 125 cml ong
and 2. 6 cmi n di amet er .

The st andar d el ect r odes ar e t he nor mal and
t he 0. 1 nor mal ( N)
cal omel el ect r odes i n whi ch t he syst emi s
Hg| KCl sol ut i on sat ur at ed
wi t h HgCl .

Such bat t er i es cont ai n 4400 cc of wat er i n
whi ch NaOH i s di ssol ved.

Wat er pr essur e i n t he heat r ecover y l oop can
be as much as 25 psi g.

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