E-Prime
· 346 words · 2 min read
During my recent fascination with Robert Anton Wilson↗, I stumbled on a variant of English known as E-Prime or often shortened to E´. Writers who employ E-Prime avoid all forms of the verb “to be”, including be, being, been, am, is, are, was, were along with their positive and negative contractions (isn’t, we’re, etc.) Proponents of E-Prime suggest that its use can strengthen writing and clarify thinking. Chiefly, writing in passive voice using E-Prime becomes quite difficult.
Of the various papers I read about E-Prime, the few that struck me the most were those that contained some practical advice about using E-Prime in writing and everyday speech.
Kellogg, E. W. “SPEAKING IN E-PRIME: An Experimental Method for Integrating General Semantics into Daily Life.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics 44, no. 2 (1987): 118–28. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42579334↗.
Kellogg, E. W., and D. David Bourland. “WORKING WITH E-PRIME: SOME PRACTICAL NOTES.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics 47, no. 4 (1990): 376–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42577258↗.
In particular, Kellogg seems to “put his money where his mouth is” and offer some practical tips for implementing E-Prime into daily life. He goes as far as speaking in E-Prime.
One exercise stood out to me for its editing utility. First, write something in normal English.
I am a marketer.
Then rewrite a few variants of it in E-Prime:
I work as a marketer.
My profession requires marketing and communications skills.
At work, I handle tasks related to digital marketing and communications.
And eventually choose your favorite version or some combination of them.
I specialize in digital marketing and communications at work.
You’ll notice when you try this that the first few tries at rewriting are awkward. Then eventually, you solve the is-less problem while adding some clarity and directness to your original statement.
Try it yourself! Edit an email or text message to E-Prime before sending it.
It makes sense to me that Wilson admired E-Prime, given his position on binary, Aristotelian thinking. While I don’t think E-Prime should be strictly adhered to in my own writing, I enjoy it as an editing exercise.