E-Prime facts for kids

E-Prime (short for English-Prime) is a special way of writing English. When you write in E-Prime, you avoid using any form of the verb "to be." This means you don't use words like am, is, are, was, were, been, or being. You also avoid contractions like isn't, aren't, I'm, or it's.

Some people believe that writing in E-Prime can help you think more clearly and make your writing stronger. Others are not so sure if it helps that much.

The Story of E-Prime

How E-Prime Started

A man named D. David Bourland Jr. created E-Prime in the late 1940s. He had studied with Alfred Korzybski, who developed a field called general semantics. General semantics explores how language affects our thinking and behavior.

Bourland first wrote about E-Prime in an essay in 1965. This idea caused some debate. Some people thought Bourland was saying the verb "to be" was always bad, but he was mostly talking about how it was used in certain ways.

Books About E-Prime

Bourland later put together three books filled with essays that supported his new idea.

• The first book, published in 1991, was called To Be or Not: An E-Prime Anthology. Paul Dennithorne Johnston helped him edit it.
• The second book, More E-Prime: To Be or Not II, came out in 1994. Jeremy Klein joined as a third editor.
• The third book, E-Prime III: a third anthology, was published in 1997. Bourland and Johnston edited this one together.

Understanding "To Be"

Different Jobs of "To Be"

The verb "to be" does many different jobs in English. It can show:

• Identity: What something is.
  • The cat is my only pet.
• Group Membership: What group something belongs to.
  • Garfield is a cat.
• Description: What something is like.
  • The cat is furry.
• Ownership: Who something belongs to.
  • The cat is theirs.
• Action: What someone is doing (as a helping verb).
  • The cat is sleeping.
• Existence: That something exists.
  • There is a cat.
• Location: Where something is.
  • The cat is nowhere to be found.

Bourland believed that the "identity" and "description" uses of "to be" could cause problems. However, he suggested avoiding all forms of "to be" to make things simpler. For example, instead of saying "There is a cat," you could say "A cat exists" or "A cat sits there."

Words That Can Replace "To Be"

Many other verbs can take the place of "to be." These include words like taste, feel, smell, sound, grow, remain, rest, stay, and turn.

E-Prime in Action

Let's look at some examples of how sentences change when you rewrite them in E-Prime.

Here are more examples of how to rewrite sentences without "to be":

• "The cat is my only pet" becomes: "I have only a pet cat."
• "Garfield is a cat" becomes: "Garfield belongs to the cat species."
• "The cat is furry" becomes: "The cat feels furry" or "The cat has fur."
• "The cat is sleeping" becomes: "The cat sleeps."
• "There is a cat" becomes: "I know of a cat."
• "The cat is on the mat" becomes: "The cat sits on the mat."

Why Use E-Prime?

Clearer Thinking and Writing

Supporters of E-Prime, like Bourland, suggest that using it can make your language less bossy. This can help prevent misunderstandings or arguments.

Some experts say that misusing "to be" can make people sound like they are stating facts that are just their opinions. E-Prime encourages you to describe what you observe or how you feel, rather than making strong, unchangeable statements.

Helping with Feelings

Alfred Korzybski once asked his students to stop using "to be" when talking about their feelings. For example, instead of "I am depressed," students would say "I feel depressed when..." or "I tend to make myself depressed about..." Korzybski noticed that students who did this often improved their grades.

Albert Ellis, a famous psychologist, also liked using E-Prime when people talked about their feelings. He believed it helped them see their problems as temporary and feel more in control. He thought it helped people focus on what they could do.

Challenges of E-Prime

Is It Always Better?

Many writers have questioned if E-Prime always makes writing clearer or reduces unfair judgments. They point out that communication without "to be" can still be unclear. It might even hide prejudices, making them harder to spot or argue against.

Some arguments against E-Prime include:

• Not Always Relevant: Some people think that special writing techniques like E-Prime are not the main point of general semantics.
• Harder Than It Seems: It might be harder to avoid all forms of "to be" than just avoiding the specific uses that cause problems.
• Less Interesting: Removing a whole group of sentences might make writing less interesting because you have fewer choices.
• Context Matters: Often, the way you use "to be" is fine because the situation makes it clear. For example, "He is a judge" is usually clear when someone asks about a person's job.
• Hiding Identity: Even without "to be," you can still imply strong identities. For example, "The silly ban on copula continues" still assumes something is silly without saying "it is silly."

An article from the United States Department of State suggested that forcing students to avoid "to be" in every assignment might stop them from learning other important writing skills.

See also

In Spanish: E-Prime para niños