CAH on E-Prime
Definitions
E-Prime: n. a subset of the English language consisting of all words
other than forms of "to be."
E-Primalist: n. person who advocates/uses/digs E-Prime
E-Primal: adj. relating to E-Prime
E-Primalize: v.t. to revise with the purpose of removing "to
be" forms
Symbolic Representation
E' = E - B
where
E = {all English words},
B = {am, is, are, was,
were, be, being, been}, and
E' = "E-Prime."
|
CAH's E-Prime Guidelines for MHS Practical Writing coursework |
||||
| When a sentence contains a form of to be followed by... |
...this grammatical element... |
...you should... |
...because... | |
| 1 |
a noun |
REVISE | to be + PN commits what E-Primalists call a fallacy of identity | |
| 2 |
an adjective |
REVISE | to be + PA commits what E-Primalists call a fallacy of predication | |
| 3 |
a past participle |
REVISE | the passive voice is wimpy (evades question of responsibility) and wordy. | |
| 4 |
a present participle |
consider revising |
technically, any to be form violates the E-Prime rule, but sometimes you need the progressive tense for precision. | |
Examples (and Argument on the Progressive Tense)
1. John is a wheat farmer
--> John runs a wheat farm or John raises wheat for a living.
2. Mary was unhappy with her performance --> Mary felt unhappy about her performance or (better) Mary's performance disappointed her.
3. The decision was made too hastily --> The decision arose too hastily or (better) The chairman made the decision too hastily.
4a. I am living in a huge apartment --> I live in a huge apartment.
but compare the following two sentences:
4b. I was reading
the last page of the novel when the timer went off.
4c. I read the last page of the novel when the timer went off.
(4b) and (4c) have distinct meanings, indicating
that the progressive tense of the verb serves a distinct, useful purpose in our
language and that we would lose some specificity if we shed that tense. The
progressive tense does not appear to commit any of the sins E-Primalists ascribe
to to be in the other constructions: it does not wrongly imply any sort
of permanent, universal state knowable only to God; rather, the progressive tense
indicates an action in progress, a non-static situation.
Some E-Primalists, though, insist on purity. They analogize
our use of to be to smoking or drinking: to kick the habit, one has to
quit cold turkey. Even if the progressive tense use of to be does not
violate the principles on which E-Primalists base their language, the to be
forms
introduced by the progressive tense could incline the speaker to sloppiness in
her efforts to avoid to be forms in other, more clear-cut E-Prime
situations. Thus, those pursuing E-Primal perfection should consider changing
(4b):
4b'. While I read the last page, the timer went off.
That revision makes me a little uneasy -- one could argue that the revision causes some slight but significant change in the content of the sentence. But in even that uneasiness lies one of the real benefits of using E-Prime in the English classroom: E-Primalization requires speakers and writers to think about what they want to say.
Philosophical Note: I list above the reasons E-Primalists offer to justify removing to be forms from sentences. I do not necessarily agree with all of their philosophical premises; as a matter of fact, I reject the value relativism that undergirds much E-Primalist thinking. However, I find E-Prime functions as an excellent pedagogical tool to train students to pay close attention to their writing and to practice their revision skills