Sentence length

Sentences should be short and clear, with a maximum of about 22 words

When writing your manuscript in English, you should always try to write short and clear sentences. ESL authors tend to write long sentences, as many of their native languages use longer sentences compared to English.

 

Shorter sentences are easier to understand and will help you communicate your message more accurately.

 

Two key points to keep in mind:

  1. Only introduce one idea per sentence; other ideas can go in a new sentence.
  2. Aim for no more than 22 words per sentence. For non-scientific or non-technical English, 15 words are the ideal sentence length. However, because scientific writing demands greater precision slightly longer sentences may be required.

 

Writing concisely means focusing on your message and avoiding wordiness and redundancy. You can read more about wordiness and redundancy in our Top tips.

 

Download the poster to read more about sentence construction.