Version at: 11/05/2018, 02:28 vs. version at: 11/05/2018, 02:29
11# How To Write Good Sentences #
22
33Before you read this page, be sure to read the following:
44
55* [A Quick Start Guide for New Contributors](quick-start)
66* [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
77* [FAQ](faq)
88
99In particular, the Rules and Guidelines tell you what is required in a contribution, such as proper capitalization and pronunciation, and what is not allowed, such as copyrighted text or emoji.
1010
1111## What Makes a Good Contribution? #
1212
1313At Tatoeba, unlike in a dictionary, people write sentences, not individual words. However, many contributions are not sentences in the traditional meaning of the word. Some are series of two or more consecutive sentences, while others are sentence fragments. This page is meant to define what makes a good sentence in the Tatoeba sense. For clarity, the term "contribution" will be used to stand for "Tatoeba sentence" (that is, an item that has its own number), while "sentence" will be used in its traditional sense.
1414
1515The questions that you should ask yourself before adding a contribution are "Will this contribution help non-native speakers? If it might confuse them, can I reduce the chance of confusion? If it might offend people, can I reword it or give people a way to filter it out?"
1616
1717## Criteria ##
1818Contributions that meet the following criteria are generally helpful and do not require tags:
1919
2020- clear
2121- self-contained, or referring to a context that can be easily imagined
2222- likely
2323- written in a current, standard dialect of the language
2424- natural
2525- unlikely to offend
2626
2727Contributions that do not meet all of those criteria may or may not be helpful. They can be made more helpful by:
2828
2929- adding context to the contribution itself (for instance, by adding words, or turning it into a dialogue)
3030- adding tags (for example, "archaic", "controversial", "poetic", "vulgar")
3131
3232### Clear ###
3333
3434Clear sentences are easy to understand. When the meaning of text is unclear, even if it is grammatically correct, it becomes distracting.
3535
3636### Self-Contained ###
3737
3838The following types of contributions are self-contained or refer to a context that can be easily imagined:
3939
4040- a well-formed sentence ("Run!"; "I see."; "I touched the ball first.")
4141- a sentence fragment that is a likely utterance ("Wrong again!"; "No, the red ball, not the blue one.")
4242- a coherent dialogue consisting of a sequence of well-formed sentences and/or likely sentence fragments whose meaning is clear ("You tricked me." "Only because you tricked me first.")
4343
4444The following are not self-contained:
4545
4646- an unlikely fragment in isolation ("Red elephants and blue zebras.")
4747- a fragment that contains too few or too many words to serve as a self-contained unit ("Better than." "The bottom of the one that.")
4848
4949### Likely ###
5050
5151Likely text is language that one can easily imagine being spoken or written:
5252
5353- I wanted people to like me.
5454- I'd still like to have coffee with you.
5555
5656Unlikely text, whether or not it is grammatical, is distracting. An example is this sentence (composed by the linguist Noam Chomsky):
5757
5858- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
5959
6060### Standard dialect ###
6161
6262A standard dialect covers a great deal of variation, from formal:
6363
6464- The proposal made by the committee has yet to be adopted.
6565
6666to informal:
6767
6868- That's awesome!
6969
7070However, it excludes archaic language and slang that is not generally familiar.
7171
7272### Natural ###
7373
7474Natural contributions use syntax, structure, and word choice typical of native speakers using a standard dialect. The following contributions would violate one part or another of that criterion:
7575
7676- repetitive where a native speaker would avoid repetition ("We have a cat. We are fond of the cat.")
7777- setting up a structure that is mostly but not fully parallel ("I like reading, watching movies, and to listen to music." instead of "I like reading, watching movies, and listening to music." or "I like to read, watch movies, and listen to music.")
7878- including a word that would generally be omitted by a native speaker (as in "grape" in "We drank grape wine all day.")
7979- including comma splices in languages (like English) that discourage them ("I ran around all day in the heat, it wasn't much fun.")
8080
8181If you must translate a contribution with one of these issues, make sure your translation does not have the same issue. However, it's best to stay away from some such contributions in the first place.
8282
8383### Unlikely to Offend ###
8484
8585Contributions that are unlikely to offend are those that do not:
8686
8787- violate the [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
88- use language that would be considered vulgar or sexual
89
88- use language that would be considered sexual or vulgar
9089Contributions that use sexual or vulgar language are permitted, but should be tagged accordingly ("sexual", "vulgar"). This will allow users to filter them out if they want. Naturally, avoiding sexual or vulgar language will make your contributions useful to the largest number of people visiting Tatoeba.
9190
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Version at: 11/05/2018, 02:28

# How To Write Good Sentences #

Before you read this page, be sure to read the following: 

* [A Quick Start Guide for New Contributors](quick-start)
* [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
* [FAQ](faq)

In particular, the Rules and Guidelines tell you what is required in a contribution, such as proper capitalization and pronunciation, and what is not allowed, such as copyrighted text or emoji.

## What Makes a Good Contribution? #

At Tatoeba, unlike in a dictionary, people write sentences, not individual words. However, many contributions are not sentences in the traditional meaning of the word. Some are series of two or more consecutive sentences, while others are sentence fragments. This page is meant to define what makes a good sentence in the Tatoeba sense. For clarity, the term "contribution" will be used to stand for "Tatoeba sentence" (that is, an item that has its own number), while "sentence" will be used in its traditional sense.

The questions that you should ask yourself before adding a contribution are "Will this contribution help non-native speakers? If it might confuse them, can I reduce the chance of confusion? If it might offend people, can I reword it or give people a way to filter it out?" 

## Criteria ##
Contributions that meet the following criteria are generally helpful and do not require tags: 

- clear
- self-contained, or referring to a context that can be easily imagined
- likely
- written in a current, standard dialect of the language
- natural
- unlikely to offend

Contributions that do not meet all of those criteria may or may not be helpful. They can be made more helpful by:

- adding context to the contribution itself (for instance, by adding words, or turning it into a dialogue)
- adding tags (for example, "archaic", "controversial", "poetic", "vulgar")

### Clear ###

Clear sentences are easy to understand. When the meaning of text is unclear, even if it is grammatically correct, it becomes distracting.

### Self-Contained ###

The following types of contributions are self-contained or refer to a context that can be easily imagined:

- a well-formed sentence ("Run!"; "I see."; "I touched the ball first.")
- a sentence fragment that is a likely utterance ("Wrong again!"; "No, the red ball, not the blue one.")
- a coherent dialogue consisting of a sequence of well-formed sentences and/or likely sentence fragments whose meaning is clear ("You tricked me." "Only because you tricked me first.")

The following are not self-contained:

- an unlikely fragment in isolation ("Red elephants and blue zebras.")
- a fragment that contains too few or too many words to serve as a self-contained unit ("Better than." "The bottom of the one that.")

### Likely ###

Likely text is language that one can easily imagine being spoken or written: 

- I wanted people to like me.
- I'd still like to have coffee with you.

Unlikely text, whether or not it is grammatical, is distracting. An example is this sentence (composed by the linguist Noam Chomsky):

- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

### Standard dialect ###

A standard dialect covers a great deal of variation, from formal:

- The proposal made by the committee has yet to be adopted.

to informal:

- That's awesome!

However, it excludes archaic language and slang that is not generally familiar.  

### Natural ###

Natural contributions use syntax, structure, and word choice typical of native speakers using a standard dialect. The following contributions would violate one part or another of that criterion:

- repetitive where a native speaker would avoid repetition ("We have a cat. We are fond of the cat.")
- setting up a structure that is mostly but not fully parallel ("I like reading, watching movies, and to listen to music." instead of "I like reading, watching movies, and listening to music." or "I like to read, watch movies, and listen to music.")
- including a word that would generally be omitted by a native speaker (as in "grape" in "We drank grape wine all day.")
- including comma splices in languages (like English) that discourage them ("I ran around all day in the heat, it wasn't much fun.")

If you must translate a contribution with one of these issues, make sure your translation does not have the same issue. However, it's best to stay away from some such contributions in the first place.
  
### Unlikely to Offend ###

Contributions that are unlikely to offend are those that do not:

- violate the [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
- use language that would be considered vulgar or sexual

Contributions that use sexual or vulgar language are permitted, but should be tagged accordingly ("sexual", "vulgar"). This will allow users to filter them out if they want. Naturally, avoiding sexual or vulgar language will make your contributions useful to the largest number of people visiting Tatoeba.

version at: 11/05/2018, 02:29

# How To Write Good Sentences #

Before you read this page, be sure to read the following: 

* [A Quick Start Guide for New Contributors](quick-start)
* [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
* [FAQ](faq)

In particular, the Rules and Guidelines tell you what is required in a contribution, such as proper capitalization and pronunciation, and what is not allowed, such as copyrighted text or emoji.

## What Makes a Good Contribution? #

At Tatoeba, unlike in a dictionary, people write sentences, not individual words. However, many contributions are not sentences in the traditional meaning of the word. Some are series of two or more consecutive sentences, while others are sentence fragments. This page is meant to define what makes a good sentence in the Tatoeba sense. For clarity, the term "contribution" will be used to stand for "Tatoeba sentence" (that is, an item that has its own number), while "sentence" will be used in its traditional sense.

The questions that you should ask yourself before adding a contribution are "Will this contribution help non-native speakers? If it might confuse them, can I reduce the chance of confusion? If it might offend people, can I reword it or give people a way to filter it out?" 

## Criteria ##
Contributions that meet the following criteria are generally helpful and do not require tags: 

- clear
- self-contained, or referring to a context that can be easily imagined
- likely
- written in a current, standard dialect of the language
- natural
- unlikely to offend

Contributions that do not meet all of those criteria may or may not be helpful. They can be made more helpful by:

- adding context to the contribution itself (for instance, by adding words, or turning it into a dialogue)
- adding tags (for example, "archaic", "controversial", "poetic", "vulgar")

### Clear ###

Clear sentences are easy to understand. When the meaning of text is unclear, even if it is grammatically correct, it becomes distracting.

### Self-Contained ###

The following types of contributions are self-contained or refer to a context that can be easily imagined:

- a well-formed sentence ("Run!"; "I see."; "I touched the ball first.")
- a sentence fragment that is a likely utterance ("Wrong again!"; "No, the red ball, not the blue one.")
- a coherent dialogue consisting of a sequence of well-formed sentences and/or likely sentence fragments whose meaning is clear ("You tricked me." "Only because you tricked me first.")

The following are not self-contained:

- an unlikely fragment in isolation ("Red elephants and blue zebras.")
- a fragment that contains too few or too many words to serve as a self-contained unit ("Better than." "The bottom of the one that.")

### Likely ###

Likely text is language that one can easily imagine being spoken or written: 

- I wanted people to like me.
- I'd still like to have coffee with you.

Unlikely text, whether or not it is grammatical, is distracting. An example is this sentence (composed by the linguist Noam Chomsky):

- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

### Standard dialect ###

A standard dialect covers a great deal of variation, from formal:

- The proposal made by the committee has yet to be adopted.

to informal:

- That's awesome!

However, it excludes archaic language and slang that is not generally familiar.  

### Natural ###

Natural contributions use syntax, structure, and word choice typical of native speakers using a standard dialect. The following contributions would violate one part or another of that criterion:

- repetitive where a native speaker would avoid repetition ("We have a cat. We are fond of the cat.")
- setting up a structure that is mostly but not fully parallel ("I like reading, watching movies, and to listen to music." instead of "I like reading, watching movies, and listening to music." or "I like to read, watch movies, and listen to music.")
- including a word that would generally be omitted by a native speaker (as in "grape" in "We drank grape wine all day.")
- including comma splices in languages (like English) that discourage them ("I ran around all day in the heat, it wasn't much fun.")

If you must translate a contribution with one of these issues, make sure your translation does not have the same issue. However, it's best to stay away from some such contributions in the first place.
  
### Unlikely to Offend ###

Contributions that are unlikely to offend are those that do not:

- violate the [Rules and Guidelines](guidelines)
- use language that would be considered sexual or vulgar
Contributions that use sexual or vulgar language are permitted, but should be tagged accordingly ("sexual", "vulgar"). This will allow users to filter them out if they want. Naturally, avoiding sexual or vulgar language will make your contributions useful to the largest number of people visiting Tatoeba.

Note

The lines in green are the lines that have been added in the new version. The lines in red are those that have been removed.