The first conditional describes a real or likely situation in the future. It has two parts: an if-clause (the condition) and a result clause (what will happen). The key rule: after if, use the present simple — not a future form. The result clause uses will + a base verb.
Continue reading Structure: ‘The first conditional’
A reporting verb is any verb that introduces what someone said, found, acknowledged, or recommended. In aviation English — especially in investigation reports and regulatory correspondence — these verbs carry considerable weight. They tell the reader not just that something was said, but how it was said and what it implies. Choosing between stated, acknowledged, and revealed is not a stylistic preference; each describes a different communicative act.
During the NTSB hearings on the Boeing MD-11 engine pylon failure in Louisville, every reporting verb shaped the reader’s interpretation: Boeing acknowledging that replacement had been framed as advisory is a very different thing from Boeing stating a technical fact.
Continue reading Structure: ‘Reporting verbs’
Skilled writers — particularly in journalism, safety reporting and academic prose — often replace full subordinate clauses with shorter participle clauses. The result is denser, more formal prose that packs context, cause and chronology into half the words.
Continue reading Structure: ‘Participle clauses’
A pilot reading an FAA airworthiness directive does not just read the words — they read the strength of the obligation each verb carries. Must, should and may sit on a sliding scale from legal requirement to optional suggestion, and confusing them can change a polite recommendation into a regulatory demand or vice versa.
Continue reading Structure: ‘Modals of obligation’
The passive voice reverses the usual sentence structure: instead of saying who performed an action, it focuses on what was done — and often omits the actor entirely. Active: “Boeing confirmed the deal.” Passive: “The deal was confirmed by Boeing.” In formal prose the agent (by Boeing) is usually dropped, since the action or outcome is the point, not who carried it out.
Continue reading Structure: ‘The passive voice in formal writing’
A time clause is a dependent clause that tells us when something happened. It is introduced by a time conjunction such as when, before, after, while, or as soon as. On its own a time clause is incomplete — it always attaches to a main clause to show how two events are related in time.
Continue reading Structure: ‘Time clauses’