Don’t Use Weak Verbs

rogersgeorge on July 28th, 2019

If you can, avoid using “make,” “do,” and any form of “to be” in your writing. Those verbs are ambiguous, and ambiguity is the enemy of good writing. Except in poetry and lies.

Here’s an example with “make.”

Frank and Ernest Comic Strip for May 28, 2019 — https://www.gocomics.com/frank-and-ernest/2019/05/28

I admit, the choices aren’t graceful.

Manufacture them fast enough
Engineer them to go fast enough

But what matters is that you not be ambiguous!

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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