E-Prime

The term E-Prime refers a subset of english proposed built upon the principles of General Semantics set out by Alfred Korzybski. In E-Prime excludes variations of the verb “to be” including be, is, am, are, was, were, and been. In practice, the use of E-Prime “fosters a worldview in which the user perceives situations as changeable rather than static, and where verbal formulations derived from experience indicate possibilities rather than certainties.” (“Speaking in e-prime: An experimental method for integrating general semantics into daily life”, EW Kellogg, 1987)

In “To be or not to be: E-Prime as a tool for critical thinking”, David Bourland lays out in a simple form the rule-set for E-prime, stating: in E-Prime one simply does without 20 or so of these lexical items; specifically, the “to be” family:

• be
• is
• am
• are
• was
• were
• been
• being

plus contractions:

• ’m
• ’s
• ’re

plus various archaic and dialectual forms:

• war
• wert
• beest
• amn’t
• ain’t

E-Prime addresses the use of to be in two forms: the is of Identity, and is of Predication.

In the case of the is of identity, the proponents of E-Prime point to the inadequacies introduced when one says someone is something. Not only is it ambiguous, it is incomplete. Here I suggest E-Prime assists in not only being clearer, but also encouraging a holistic perspective. Paraphrasing Bourland: the is of identity does not represent a valid higher order abstraction which could come from observations, but rather a possibly incorrect and certainly inadequate abbreviation of the larger picture.

In the case of subject-predicate forms such as “the earth is flat” (and once again quoting Bourland):

• Everything in the “real world” changes : sometimes so rapidly that we may not notice the changes directly (as in the case of a table which appears solid), sometimes so slowly that we can (as in the case of a river).
• Every person, as well as every “thing " undergoes such changes.
• One particular verb in English-“to be”-carries with it archaic associations and implications of permanence and static existence that we do not find in the “real world.”

Bourland goes on to state that there exist other uses of to be other than the is of Identity and is of Predication:

• Auxiliary. (John is reading. Ivan is plotting. The rose is wilting.)
• Existence. (I am. Descartes was. You may be, but then again…)
• Location. (John is here. That is neither here nor there.) However, by strictly adhering the discipline of E-Prime on can more easily avoid temptation to slip in the is of identity or is of Predication.

In Speaking in E-Prime, Kellog states:

In essence, E -prime consists of a more descriptive and extensionally oriented
derivative of English, that automatically tends to bring the user back to the level
of first person experience.

Suggested translation strategies

From Speaking in E-Prime…

Suggestion #1

If you find it difficult to compose a sentence in E-Prime, refer to the basic “silent level” experience and describe the actual event.

STATEMENT	POSSIBLE E-PRIME TRANSLATION
The World of Null-A is a great book!	I really enjoyed reading the book The World of NullA!
I am fine.	I feel fine.
This food is good.	This food tastes good.

Suggestion #2

Take an “is” statement at a high level of abstraction/assumption and bring it down to earth. Remove the assumptions and work with what you have left.

STATEMENT	POSSIBLE E-PRIME TRANSLATION
Joan is smart.	Joan makes $500,000 a year.
Cleve is smart.	Cleve scored 160 on an I.Q. test.
Linda is helpful.	Linda helped me.

Suggestion #3

Replace the “is” with an action verb.

STATEMENT	POSSIBLE E-PRIME TRANSLATION
David is a doctor.	David practices medicine
He is a car mechanic.	He repairs cars.
Risa is a teacher.	Risa teaches Epistemics.

Suggestion #4

Say what you mean.

STATEMENT	POSSIBLE E-PRIME TRANSLATION
Is Leia there?	Can I speak with Leia?
What is your name?	What do you call yourself?
How are you?	How do you feel?

Suggestion #5

Change the sentence from the passive to the active voice.

STATEMENT	POSSIBLE E-PRIME TRANSLATION
It was done.	Olof did it.
The experiment was conducted.	Mike conducted the experiment.
Jack was blessed.	The Pope blessed Jack

An E-Prime Cheat Sheet

## Don't use:
- be
- is
- am
- are
- was
- were
- been
- being (as a verb)
- 'm (I'm)
- 's (it's)
- 're (you're)

## Try not to overuse:
- seem(s)
- appear(s)
- feel(s)
- act(s)
- look(s)
- might