Every adverb you use is highlighted in blue. The Hemingway Editor thinks less of adverbs than White, whose most famous work is Charlotte’s Web, thinks of adjectives. The adjective hasn’t been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.” White, an author and grammarian, once said, “write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. It used a variety of similar words rather than echoing exactly the same words. Hopefully, you think the first version, which used “use,” “type,” and “include” to describe your action and “recommend,” “suggests,” and “requests” for the editor’s response, was better.

Use the word “economical,” and the editor will recommend “cheap.” Use the word “eliminate,” and the editor will recommend “cut.” Use the word “utilize,” and the editor will recommend “use.” These sentences could have been virtually identical. Each sentence sets up a comparison between what you type into the Hemingway Editor and how it responds. As an example, consider the above paragraph. The point is not to limit your vocabulary, but to be conscious about the words you pick. Use the word “economical,” and the Hemingway Editor will recommend “cheap.” Type the word “eliminate,” and it suggests “cut, drop, or end.” Here is a good one: Include the pretentious “utilize,” and it requests the far better “use.” The Hemingway editor highlights words in purple when it thinks there are simpler alternatives. Consider the Words and Phrases You Choose Too much spice, and lots of folks won’t want it. If you have no spice, dinner might be bland. Think of them like spice added to a gourmet meal. In general, limit the use of comparatively complex sentences. The Hemingway Editor gives its namesake a score of 10 for the passage, but did note how hard the last sentence might be to read.

He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton. The final sentence in this section has several subjects, predicates, and clauses. The next sentence has two subjects, “I” and “it,” and two predicates, “am impressed” and “meant.”ĭo not think that I am very much impressed by that as a boxing title, but it meant a lot to Cohn. Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton. It has one subject, “Robert Cohn,” and one predicate, “was.” The first sentence is simple in structure. The aim is not to rewrite everything, but rather to make good choices. The Hemingway Editor highlights areas of your copy for possible rewrite. As an example, consider a few of the opening lines from Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. The aim is not to eliminate compound or complex sentences, but rather to limit them. While a sentence highlighted in pink is very hard to read.

A sentence highlighted in pale yellow is hard to read, according to the editor.

If you use the Hemingway Editor to help clarify what you write, it will highlight some long or, relatively, more complicated sentences. And, finally, a compound complex sentence combines these last two.Įach of these common sentence structures will, and perhaps should, appear in your written content marketing. A complex sentence has more than one clause. A compound sentence, as you may recall, has more than one subject or predicate. In English grammar, there are specific terms to describe sentence structure.Ī simple sentence has only one subject and predicate, and represents a complete thought. Use Complicated Sentence Structures with Care Limiting these may improve the quality of content you write, and, in turn, help improve the results of your content marketing. The Hemingway Editor examines the words you write, looking for complex sentences, challenging phrases, adverbs, and passive voice. Hemingway used clear language to write engaging content. Hemingway’s style could help your content marketing.

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