The Art of Imprecise Word Choice: Using Pronouns for Clarity and Concision
Pronouns are
a time-saving foundation of our language, and most of us use them every day. Using these pronouns like I, we, our, us, and you helps
to convey a point
of view and is a common form of
communication. We say I to talk about ourselves, we to discuss things we have done with others, and you to directly communicate with listeners.
While
this technique of using pronouns is acceptable in informal communication, when writing in
APA style, many of these pronouns should be avoided or used only in specific
ways. This is a result of APA’s emphasis on clarity and concision. This post, then, offers a series
of tips for using first-person and second-person pronouns effectively to convey a scholarly voice in your APA style academic writing.
Tip 1: Use first-person singular pronouns to
increase clarity and show what you’ve done.
First-person
singular pronouns include words such as I
and me. These pronouns are
appropriate in many cases, and they can be used to increase clarity and
concision with writing. For example,
saying I allows you to avoid writing
in passive voice and it also eliminates the need to say “the
researcher” or “the author” when talking about your own work. As an
illustration, consider this sentence:
An analysis was performed, and the author found a positive correlation.
When
reading this sentence, you might wonder: Who performed
the analysis? Which author are you
talking about? These sentences are confusing because the subject of the sentence is unclear. To make the subject of the sentence clear,
the pronoun I can be used. Here is how this sentence would read if
using I appropriately:
I performed an analysis and found a positive correlation.
Since APA
is all about clarity, using I in
certain cases can help you adhere to APA format by improving your clarity. To
learn more, watch this webinar on Appropriate Use of First Person and Avoiding Bias or this overview video on honing your point of view according to APA guidelines.
Tip 2: Only use first-person plural pronouns when
you’re writing with a co-author.
First-person
plural pronouns include words such as we,
our, and us. If you and a
colleague or several-colleagues are co-authoring an article, using the term we can increase clarity. Just as you should say I when writing about something you did
(see tip 1 above), you should write we when writing collaboratively and describing
something you and your co-authors did. For example, the sample sentence from
Tip 1 would look like this if there were co-authors:
We performed an analysis and found a positive correlation.
Don’t shy
away from using we and our when you’re collaborating with other
authors on a paper. However, since most Walden paper assignments are
single-authored, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to use we very often in your course assignments.
Tip 3: Do not use first-person plural
pronouns to refer to your reader or to yourself and others.
Unless
you are writing with a co-author, pronouns such as we, our, and us are not
appropriate when writing in APA style format. This is because these words put the reader into a group with you, the
writer, and they make assumptions about who your reader is. APA publications have vast audiences, so it’s
not always appropriate to make those generalizations. It can be tempting to say
we in order to relate to your reader.
However, this reduces clarity and can isolate your reader if you make incorrect
assumptions. For example, consider this
sentence:
We need to work together to
increase communication at all levels of health care administration.
As a
reader, you might be wondering: Who needs
to work together? Who is this sentence
referring to? Do I need to work together with someone on this? These questions
come up because we isn’t precise
enough. Here are some different ways this sentence could be revised:
Nurses and managers need to
work together to increase communication at all levels of health care
administration.
My co-workers and I need to
work together to increase communication at all levels of health care
administration.
To
increase clarity in situations like this, we
can be replaced with more specific nouns and pronouns. So, when you find
yourself writing we, our, or us, think hard: Who are you really
talking about? Then, replace these first-person plural pronouns with more precise words.
Tip 4: Do not use second-person pronouns in
your APA style academic writing.
Second-person
pronouns include words like you and your. These pronouns should be avoided
in scholarly writing because, like we above,
they can result in inaccurate assumptions about the reader. Here’s an example
of second-person pronouns being used ineffectively:
To create a safe space for the
patient, you can adjust your body and rearrange your office to have a more
welcoming feel.
In this
sentence, it’s unclear who should be doing these actions, and depending on who
the reader is, you might not be an
appropriate representation of who should act. A more specific noun would
increase clarity. Thus, this sentence could be re-written like this:
To create a safe space for the
patient, counselors can adjust their bodies and rearrange their offices to have
a more welcoming feel.
In
situations like this, you can replace second-person pronouns with either more
specific nouns or with third-person pronouns such as their, they, he or she.
These are excellent methods for removing second-person pronouns from your
writing.
None of
this is an exact science, and so much of word choice comes down to audience and
purpose and genre. So, the most important thing to keep in mind is that one of
the cornerstones of APA style is clarity and concision. Using pronouns
appropriately will help you produce clear and concise academic writing.
Jes Philbrook is a Writing Instructor in the Walden University Writing Center. She lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband and two cats. She is a huge fan of using all of the pronouns in her informal communication, as you can tell from this post, and she is eager to help students succeed in their academic lives through effective communication.
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Can you also comment on the use of the indefinite pronoun, "it?" I often encourage student not to use it, but there are too many example of it in the literature.
ReplyDeleteHi! Indefinite pronouns can create clarity issues when it is unclear what they refer back to. The use of them in writing, however, is not prohibited. At Walden we adhere to APA style guidelines, which have recommendations for some pronoun use, but not the indefinite pronoun "it." A possible option might be to encourage students to replace "it" with what they are referring to X number of times in a piece of writing. For example, if they have 20 occurrences of "it" in an essay, you could challenge them to replace 10. Specific is always better, but "it" itself is not incorrect. ~ Melissa
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