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Writing in the Technical Fields
許欽雄
Chin-Hsiung Hsu
[email protected]
The Electronic Design Automation Laboratory
Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Taiwan University
Taipei 106, Taiwan
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
1
Outline
․Letters
․Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Guidelines for Speakers of English as a Second
Language
․Guidelines for Writing to Speakers of English as a
Second Language
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
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Letters
․Full Block Format

Line up everything on the same left margin
․Modified Block Format

Move three parts to the right of the center of the page:
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the date line
the complimentary close (the “sincerely” part)
the signature
․Modified Block with Paragraph Indentations Format
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GIEE, NTU
Paragraph indentations
The EDA Lab
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FullParagraph
Block
Format
Modified Block
with
Indentations Format
Modified
Block
Format
May 17, 19xx
Mr. Bob Smith, Director of Operations
Harcourt Dental Group
4667 Woonsocket Drive
Elodie, RI 02095
Dear Mr. Smith:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXX .
Sincerely,
Matthew Ellens
Sales Associate
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
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Letter Protocol (proper manners)
․How to address the person in the “Dear” section
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“Dear Bob”?
“Dear Mr. Smith”?
Apply guidelines or use the more formal approach
․Complimentary closes
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GIEE, NTU
Followed by a comma
Only the first word begins with an uppercase letter
Example: Sincerely yours,
The EDA Lab
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Forecast the Purpose of the Letter
․At the start of the letter:

Link your letter to a previous letter or other kind of
communication

Helping readers understand the occasion for your letter
․In the first paragraph:


Announce the purpose of your letter
A brief first paragraph is easier to read
․In the closing paragraph:

Add personal comments
․Achieving a Natural Tone


GIEE, NTU
Relax
Use the phrases you ordinarily would
The EDA Lab
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Outline
․Letters
․Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Guidelines for Speakers of English as a Second
Language
․Guidelines for Writing to Speakers of English as a
Second Language
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
7
Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Amount, number.
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
Amount is used for noncounting items
Number refers to counting items
․Adapt, adopt.
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
Adapt means to adjust or to modify
Adopt means to accept
․Affect, effect.
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Affect is a verb: “How will the news affect him?”
Effect is most commonly a noun
Effect is also (rarely) a verb meaning to bring about or cause to
happen
․Already, all ready.

GIEE, NTU
“The report had already been sent to the printer when the writer
discovered that it was not all ready.”
The EDA Lab
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Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Among, between.


Among is used for relationships of more than two items
Between is used for only two items
․Assure, ensure, insure.
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To assure means to put someone’s mind at ease
To ensure and to insure both mean to make sure
․Can, may, might.
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Can refers to ability
May refers to permission
Might refers to possibility
․Criteria, criterion.
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
GIEE, NTU
Criteria is plural
Criterion is singular
The EDA Lab
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Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Effective, efficient.
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Effective means that the item does what it is meant to do
Efficient also carries the sense of accomplishing the goal
without using more resources than necessary
․Fewer, less.
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
Fewer is used for counting items
Less is used for noncounting items
․i.e., e.g.
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i.e., means “that is”
e.g., mean “for example”
․its, it’s. (whose, who’s. your, you’re)
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GIEE, NTU
Its is the possessive pronoun
It’s is the contraction of it is
The EDA Lab
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Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․-ize.

Writers and readers can’t stand new ones (such as prioritize)
when there are perfectly fine words already (such as rand)
․Lay, lie.
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Lay is a transitive verb meaning to place
The complete conjugation of lay is lay, laid, laid, laying
Lie is an intransitive verb meaning to recline
The complete conjugation of lie is lie, lay, lain, lying
․Precede, proceed.
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Precede means to come before
Proceed means to move forward
․Shall, will.

GIEE, NTU
Shall is used to suggest a legal obligation
The EDA Lab
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Outline
․Letters
․Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Guidelines for Speakers of English as a Second
Language
․Guidelines for Writing to Speakers of English as a
Second Language
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
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Guidelines
․Basic characteristics of a sentence
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It starts with a capital letter and ends with a period, a question
mark, or an exclamation point
It has a subject
It has a verb
It has a standard word order (subject-verb-object)
(It has independent clause)
․Linking ideas by coordination
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Use a semicolon
Use a comma and one of the coordinating conjunctions
Combine two separate sentences into one
Use transitional words and phrases within and between sentences

GIEE, NTU
The 486 chip has already replaced the 386. In fact, it’s hard to find a
386 in a new computer.
The EDA Lab
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Guidelines
․Linking ideas by subordination

De-emphasize one of sentences
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Combine two separate sentences into one
Use a subordinating word or phrase
․Verb tenses
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Simple past, present, and future
An action in progress at a known time


An action completed before a known time
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We had started to write the proposal when we got your call.
An action in progress until a known time

GIEE, NTU
We were updating our directory when the power failure occurred.
We had been working on the reorganization when the news of the
merger was publicized.
The EDA Lab
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Guidelines
․ Agreement between the subject and the verb
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Pronouns that end in –body or –one are singular
Quantifiers (something, each, and every) are singular
․ Articles
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Singular proper nouns and Plural proper nouns
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Countable common nouns and uncountable common nouns
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Taiwan
The United States
A desk
Integrity
The specific form takes “the”; the nonspecific form takes either “a” or “an”
․ Adjectives
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Adjectives can be placed before the nouns they modify or later in the
sentence
Adjectives of one or two syllables take special endings to create the
comparative and superlative forms
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
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Guidelines
․Adverbs
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Modify verbs
Modify adjectives
Adverbs that describe how an action takes place or the whole
sentence can be placed in different locations in the sentence

Except the location between the verb and direct the object
․-ing forms of verbs
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GIEE, NTU
As part of a verb in a sentence
To add extra information in a sentence
Serve as an adjective
Serve as a noun
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Guidelines
․Conditions (if)
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Conditions of fact
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Future prediction
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Contrary to fact
If I were president of the company, I would be much more
aggressive.
Past speculation

GIEE, NTU
If we win this contract, we will have to add three more engineers.
Present-future speculation


If you see “Unrecoverable Application Error, “ the program has
crashed.
If we had won this contract, we would have lad to add three more
engineers.
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Outline
․Letters
․Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
․Guidelines for Speakers of English as a Second
Language
․Guidelines for Writing to Speakers of English as a
Second Language
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
18
Guidelines
․Try to use the most common words of English

Use “improve” rather than “meliorate”
․Do not create a new word by using a common word in
an uncommon way
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
Weak: Let me caveat the advice I gave you in my last letter.
Better: Let me add a cautionary statement about the advice I
gave in my last letter.
․Use clear, action-specific phrases

Instead of “making contact with” someone, “telephone” the
person
․Avoid complicated phrases
․Learn basic spelling differences between American
English and British English
GIEE, NTU
The EDA Lab
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Guidelines
․Use standard grammar
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
Weak: Send the original calculations. Not the updates.
Better: Send the original calculations; do not send the updates.
․Do not leave out punctuation
․Avoid figures of speech, especially clichés
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Weak: We want to hit the ground running when the project is
released in January.
Better: We want to be fully prepared when the product is
released in January.
․Avoid sports expressions
․Avoid an overly familiar tone

GIEE, NTU
Use last names rather than first manes unless you know the
person very well
The EDA Lab
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