Writing Tip

Avoid Using the Pattern A Causes B to Be C or A Causes B

Difficulty Level: Basic

Recommendation: Avoid using the pattern A causes B to be C or A causes B.

Sometimes we use adjectives and nouns that have “verbal thrust” that we can harvest to enliven a sentence. The verbal thrust that I’m talking about is inherent in either A) an adjective in the form of a past participle of a verb, B) an adjective that has a verbal counterpart, or C) a noun that has a verbal counterpart.

A

We frequently use the past participles of verbs as adjectives. For example, the past participle of relax is relaxed, and this can be used as an adjective readily enough, as in: “The presenter created a relaxed atmosphere.”

However, one use of past participles creates a low-energy sentence. I have encountered this sentence formula many times:

A (noun) causes B (noun) to be C (past participle used as an adjective).

That verbal thrust in the past participle can be re-animated to make this a more active and direct sentence:

A Cs B.

Here’s a real-world example from a report that I recently edited:

“The stress causes the effects of flaws in various insulators to be accelerated.”

Accelerated is the past participle of the verb accelerate, so it has lots of verbal thrust. Here’s the revised version:

“The stress accelerates the effects of flaws in various insulators.”

Whether the recovered verb should be cast in the present or past tense depends upon the tense of the verb cause. If it is in the past tense, then the recovered verb should also be in the past tense. If in the present tense, then so should be the recovered verb.

The resulting sentence is cleaner and more direct. However, be sure to check the result to make sure that you have not changed the meaning of the sentence after you transform it.

B

The adjective in “A causes B to be C” may also be a normal adjective that has a verbal counterpart, as in “My neighbor causes me to be angry” versus “My neighbor angers me.”

C

A related pattern is A causes B, where B is a noun that has a verbal counterpart:

Consider a real-world example:

This program may benefit the public by reducing the possibility that a cyber incident would cause an interruption to the operation of the power grid.

A more direct and verbal way of saying this is a cyber incident would interrupt the operation of the power grid. Interruption, a noun, has interrupt as its verbal counterpart.

Conclusion

It’s usually better to be verby than nouny.