Formal English

The English that you should use when writing a paper or thesis should be formal (like a legal document) but also clear (unlike a legal document). There are certain things that can be done in spoken English or in written English in newspapers, magazines, or lecture notes (or web pages like this) which are not appropriate for formal writing.

• Don't start a sentence with `And', `Also', `But', `So', `Or', `Even so'. Instead use `In addition', `However', `Hence', `Consequently', `Alternatively', `Nevertheless'.

• Don't start a sentence with `Therefore'. Instead write, for example, `We therefore...'.

• Don't start a sentence with `Then' or `Now' unless it is a command.

• Don't use `don't', or any other shortened negative such as `isn't', `hasn't', `wasn't', etc. Use `does not', `is not', etc. instead.

• Generally try to avoid `'s'. E.g. Instead of `the wavefront's curvature' use either `the curvature of the wavefront' or `the wavefront curvature'. There are exceptions to this. There are some cases where they are always used such as Laws e.g. `Bedford's Law', or where the alternative seems clumsy e.g. `today's stock market prices' is better than `the stock market prices of today'.

• Don't use `!' or `&' or `/'. It is also very unusual to see `?' in a paper. Don't put questions in a paper unless you really know what you are doing.

• Don't use e.g. or i.e. or etc.

• When referring to the number of countable objects, use words rather than figures when the amount is less than twenty. E.g. Don't write ``we used 3 methods'' - instead write ``we used three methods''.

• Don't use `OK'. Use `acceptably', `permissible', `satisfactory', etc instead.

• Don't use `got'. Instead use `obtained'.

• If you can, try to use the passive voice for some of the time when describing your results. Using `we' in every sentence is a bit boring.

• List things properly using `and' between the last two items. E.g. Don't do `we used three methods A, B, C.' Instead you should write either `we used three methods: A, B, and C.' or `we used three methods, namely, A, B, and C.'

• Use small letters for disciplines or theorems, e.g. mean-value theorem, `Unlike quantum mechanics and relativity, nonlinear science covers systems of every scale' and not `Unlike Quantum Mechanics...'.

• You cannot have a paragraph that is just one sentence.