This guide is for the specialist who writes for non-specialists: the HR officer drafting a benefits notice, the engineer writing release notes customers will actually read, the charity manager explaining eligibility rules on a website. You know your subject well. The trouble is that what feels precise to you reads as dense to someone in a hurry. Plain language is a set of habits that closes that gap, and none of them requires “dumbing down”.
What plain language means
The US government’s plain language guidance, now hosted on Digital.gov, defines plain language as content that is clear and easy to understand. In the United States it is also a legal duty for federal agencies: the Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires that content for the public is written for its specific audience.
The same guide states the first rule simply: write for your audience. It also rejects a common myth. Writing plainly does not mean writing for a child. Its own example: do not write for an eighth-grade class if your readers are PhD candidates, small business owners or working parents.
Habit 1: decide who you are writing for
Before drafting, answer three questions:
- Who will read this, and what do they already know?
- What do they need to do or decide after reading?
- What will they be doing while they read it: at a desk, on a phone, under stress?
A notice explaining a change to pension contributions reads differently for payroll staff than for new employees. The facts are the same. The vocabulary, order and level of detail are not.
Write one sentence about the reader
Put it at the top of your draft and delete it before publishing. For example: “New starters in their first month who have never had a workplace pension and want to know whether to opt out.” Every later choice can be tested against that sentence.
Habit 2: use the active voice
Digital.gov’s writing guidance says active voice makes it clear who should do what, and calls passive voice one of the biggest problems in government writing. It offers a simple test: passive sentences usually contain a form of to be (is, was, were, have been) plus a past participle, often ending in -ed.
| Passive | Active |
|---|---|
| The form must be submitted by Friday. | Submit the form by Friday. |
| New regulations were proposed. | We proposed new regulations. |
| Mistakes were made in the invoice. | We made mistakes in the invoice. |
| Your account will be reviewed. | Our team will review your account. |
The guide allows exceptions. When there is genuinely no actor, as when one legal event follows another automatically, a passive sentence can be the best choice.
Habit 3: prefer the present tense
The same guide recommends the present tense as the simplest and strongest form of a verb. Conditional and future forms make the reader work harder.
- Instead of: These sections describe types of information that would satisfy the requirements.
- Say: These sections tell you how to meet the requirements.
Use other tenses when accuracy demands it, for example when describing what will happen if a deadline is missed.
Habit 4: uncover hidden verbs
A hidden verb, or nominalisation, is a verb turned into a noun that then needs another verb to prop it up. Digital.gov lists the tell-tale endings: -ment, -tion, -sion, -ance, often paired with weak verbs such as make, give, have, reach and take.
- conduct an analysis of → analyse
- make a decision → decide
- provide assistance to → help
- reach an agreement → agree
- is responsible for management of → manages
If a sentence contains “the … of” around a long noun, look for the verb hiding inside it.
Habit 5: keep sentences, paragraphs and sections short
The guide’s clear and short page recommends one idea per sentence. It cites writing experts who suggest paragraphs of no more than 150 words, in three to eight sentences, and never longer than 250 words. It also says an occasional one-sentence paragraph is fine, and recommends varying paragraph length so the writing does not feel choppy.
Breaking a long sentence apart
- Before: If you take less than your share of production in a month but pay royalties on your full share, you will owe no additional royalty when you later take more than your share to balance your account.
- After: Suppose you pay royalties on your full share but take less than that share in a month. In this case, you can balance your account later without paying more royalty.
This mirrors the government guide’s own example: an if clause becomes its own sentence starting with suppose, and the next sentence starts with in this case.
Organise for the reader’s question
Digital.gov’s principles page lists further habits: start with a topic sentence, organise the information so readers know what to expect, summarise long documents up front, and use lists and tables where they help. Tables work for more than numbers. A table of “if this, then that” rules is often easier to scan than three paragraphs.
Put the action first
Readers of a notice, email or help page usually want to know what to do. Lead with it. Background and reasons can follow for the readers who want them.
Plain language in everyday work writing
Emails
State the request in the first two lines. Put the deadline in the same sentence as the action.
Web pages
Use headings that answer questions (“How do I apply?”) rather than labels (“Application process”).
Reports
Open with a short summary of findings and decisions needed. Move methodology to the end or an appendix.
Policies
Address the reader as you and the organisation as we. It removes a layer of abstraction and makes responsibilities obvious.
A worked rewrite
- Original (53 words): It should be noted that, with regard to the reimbursement of travel expenses incurred by employees, the submission of receipts is required in all cases, and failure to provide such documentation within a period of thirty days following the date of travel may result in the claim being rejected by the finance department.
- Plain version (25 words): Send your receipts to finance within 30 days of your trip. If you send them later, we may not be able to pay your claim.
Same rule, half the words, and the reader knows exactly what to do.
Test it on a real reader
Digital.gov’s guide gives testing its own section, alongside writing and design, because the writer is the worst judge of their own clarity. You do not need a usability lab.
1. Give the draft to someone who matches your reader sentence, not a colleague who already knows the subject.
2. Ask them to tell you, in their own words, what the document asks them to do.
3. Watch where they slow down, reread or ask a question.
4. Rewrite those spots first.
Even one test reader usually finds the sentence you thought was obvious.
Plain language checklist
- One sentence describing the reader, written before you start
- The main action or answer in the first paragraph
- Active voice unless there is genuinely no actor
- Present tense wherever accuracy allows
- Hidden verbs uncovered (-tion, -ment plus make, give, reach)
- One idea per sentence; paragraphs under about 150 words
- Headings phrased as the reader’s questions
- Lists and tables for steps, options and rules
Takeaway
Plain language means writing for a specific reader so they understand on the first read. Name the reader, lead with the action, use active verbs in the present tense, uncover hidden verbs and keep each unit short. None of this lowers the level of your content; it lowers the effort needed to use it.
