Precision in writing helps prevent misunderstandings

Precision.

We demand precision in devices we buy, contracts we sign, rules of games we play.

Yet some people resist rules of grammar. Those rules help us to be precise — to write exactly what we mean, so that no one can misunderstand us.

The price of imprecision and misunderstanding can be very high, in either personal or business transactions.

Think about virtues in writing, among them a smooth flow that helps make meaning clear.

Consider this interruption of smooth flow: Peggy loved riding her bike, climbing trees and dolls.

That's a classic example of non-parallel construction. Peggy's first two loves are expressed with verbs ending in "ing." Parallel construction requires her third love to be expressed as "playing with dolls."

A nuanced example: Two weeks ago, one of the country's most distinguished thinkers about law, Yale Kamisar, died; his work on criminal law procedure, begun at the University of Minnesota in the late 1950s, led to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1966 Miranda decision, guaranteeing rights of people arrested on suspicion of having committed a crime.

A newspaper obituary about Kamisar said, "... criminal defendants had to be informed of their rights before being questioned, especially their rights to remain silent and to legal counsel."

An accurate account, but weakened by unparallel construction.

Better to write, "... criminal defendants had to be informed of their rights before being questioned, especially their rights to remain silent and to retain legal counsel."

The original version uses a verb — "to remain" — to cite the first of two guaranteed rights; citation of the second right should come in the parallel form: with a verb.

But remember: Feel free to break a rule to create a powerful effect.

Feedback Department: Please send me any writing gaffes that strike your eye.