Section 6 - Verb tense 6.1 - Verb tense Be consistent in the use of tense. When you begin in the past, stay in the past: The evaluation mission noted that the beneficiary schools had few teaching materials. A common error is the use of the present perfect to describe an event that has already ended. The correct verb tense for this case is past simple: Between 2003 and 2005, the enrolment rate fell from 54 percent to 43 percent. NOT: Between 2003 and 2005, the enrolment rate has fallen from 54 percent to 43 percent. The subjunctive The subjunctive mood expresses a wished-for, hypothetical or contingent relationship between subject and predicate, as for example in "... if I were you ..." or "... be that as it may ...". It is used after verbs such as "recommend" and "suggest": The Board recommends that WFP be proactive in developing partnerships. We suggest that he take leave of absence until the matter has been resolved. The subjunctive is usually used after "if": If a further emergency were to occur during this period. When using the conditional would, be sure to use the subjunctive as well: If funding were [subjunctive] provided, the project would [conditional] be able to proceed. WFP would [conditional] have to end its operations if the decision were [subjunctive] to be negative. Section 7 - Usage
corporate-wide, as in"…a corporate-wide policy decision…". Any decision on policy will by its nature affect the whole organization -- and WFP is not a corporation. detailed (analysis). An analysis must by nature pay attention to detail. duly, as in "... duly authorized ..." or "... duly signed ...". Unnecessary. effective(ly), as in " … proposals for effective strategies to address the problem …". Avoid. Nobody is going to propose ineffective strategies; in any case, effectiveness is determined after the event. efforts, as in "… WFP will continue its advocacy efforts for …". Unnecessary. events, as in "… is affected by recurrent flood events …". Unnecessary. food commodity. Do not use commodity as a synonym for "food". Use "food item(s)" if you need to specify, just as "non-food item(s)" is used. The OED defines a commodity as "... a thing that is an object of trade, esp. a raw material or agricultural crop". furthermore, in addition, moreover, similarly. Usually redundant. including, as in "… all beneficiaries, including women and children …". Unnecessary. mutual (agreement). An agreement is by definition mutual. necessary, as in "… ensure that staff have the necessary skills to …". Unnecessary. respective(ly), as in "… will report to their respective departments …". Avoid constructions such as "… rose by 2.5 percent and 3.6 percent in 2004 and 2005 respectively …". Use "… rose by 2.5 percent in 2004 and by 3.6 percent in 2005 …". some, approximately, more than, over, as in "... targeting approximately 600,000 beneficiaries ...". Unnecessary. specific, as in "... must give specific reasons ..." or "... in the specific event of an emergency ...". Unnecessary.
strengthen. Prefer "enhance", "improve", "increase" etc. as applicable. For example "... to increase coverage ...", "... to improve understanding ...", "... to enhance its nutritive value ...". talk the talk/walk the walk. Difficult to translate. traffic lights. The term means "a system to identify different states or situations"; prefer "monitoring system" or "early-warning plan" or whatever accurately conveys your meaning. window, as in "window of opportunity". Commonly misused. Expressions in Latin and other languages AVOID USE ad hoc (= for this purpose) as required e.g. (exemplum gratis) for example; for instance i.e. (id est) that is; in other words inter alia among other things (it's almost always redundant) modus operandi way of working; method of implementation post- after; subsequent vis- à-vi s with regard to; regarding 20.2 – Miscellaneous As, since, because and for. As and since are used when the reason is already well known or is less important than the rest of the sentence; they often begin the sentence. Use because to avoid possible confusion with the notion of time. Because is generally used when the reason is the most important part of the sentence. Use it rather than as or since. For suggests that the reason is given as an afterthought, and its clause never comes at the beginning of the sentence. Avoid it. As well as. As well as means and not only; it does not mean and additionally; therefore the phrase that follows must be the most important or basic element: "The programme will accomplish A and B as well as [i.e. and not only] C." It is NOT a solution for adding a last item after a penultimate item containing the word and. Use it sparingly; and is usually sufficient.
Association, group, organization. Don’t alternate these terms for the same entities; choose whichever is appropriate and stick to it. Biennial, bi-annual. Biennial clearly means "once in a biennium" or "once every two years". But DO NOT use the ambiguous bi-annual: it can be taken to mean either "twice a year" or "once every two years". Bi-monthly, bi-weekly. DO NOT use these ambiguous terms: bi-monthly can mean either "twice a month" or "once every two months". The same applies to Between or among. Between can only be used with two factors. When you have three or more factors, use among. Compared with or compared to. Use compared with when comparing like things: "When compared with last year’s yield, this year’s harvest shows a 10-percent increase." Use compared to when comparing unlike things: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare). Concerned. Putting concerned before the noun risks conveying the sense that the parties etc. are worried. The preferable placement is after – the parties concerned, the countries concerned – because the meaning is "the parties that are concerned". False intensifiers. Do not use very, particularly, extremely, etc. with words such as critical, crucial, decisive, fundamental, unique or usual. Something either is crucial, unique, etc. or it is not; there’s no degree and therefore no need for intensifiers. In general, avoid intensifiers: they are subjective terms that dilute meaning. Fewer or less. Use fewer only when referring to items that are countable: "There are fewer people here today than there were yesterday." Less is used for uncountable quantities: "He has put less effort into this job." Level. Use the before an adjective qualifying level, as in "At the national level", not "at national level". Male/Female. Use men and women as adjectives when referring to people, not male and female (exception: male or female members of a family or household): “household headed by women” (NOT “female-headed household”). Mobilize. Does NOT mean animate, encourage or stimulate. It means "organize for service or action", "render movable", "bring into circulation".