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Unless writing for a scientific journal, or some other such formal setting, your goal of clear communication will be best served by using a casual, conversation
by thisishugo 14y ago
Unless writing for a scientific journal, or some other such formal setting, your goal of clear communication will be best served by using a casual, conversational style that resonates as closely as possible with how you would talk to your reader in person.
That means prepositions are very much something you can end a sentence with. And you can start one with a conjunctive too, if it feels right. The rules of grammar are more like the pirate code than an ISO standard - they're more what you might call guidelines, really.
- jeffpersonified 14y agoAll is dependent on audience.
- nollidge 14y agoAgreed. Grammar's just norms of communication, and norms depend on context. So treat the violation of them as such - sometimes it matters, sometimes it don't.
- sitkack 14y agoApropos, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY it would seem this whole topic is rather inflammable.
- mikebike 14y agoI think we'd be better served using such styles in scientific journals more often. As an example, here's a wonderfully written article by the late statistician, Jacob Cohen: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~sternh/courses/210/cohen94_pval.pdf http://www.ics.uci.edu/~sternh/courses/210/cohen94_pval.pdf
- disgruntledphd2 14y agoJust to note, although he wrote far more on statistics, he was a psychologist born and bred.