error · Section 1: Words
Rule 1.7: Do not use technical nouns as verbs
Use a technical noun only as a noun (or as an adjective inside a different technical noun) — never convert it into a verb.
What a checker looks for
A clear deviation from the rule.
- Flag a technical noun (e.g. 'oil', 'snow', 'engine', 'wire') being used as a verb.
- When the same word could be both a technical noun and a technical verb (rule 1.12) in different categories, confirm which sense is intended — only the noun-used-as-verb direction violates this rule.
How to fix it
Restructure the sentence so the technical noun is used only as a noun, typically with an approved verb such as 'apply', 'use', or 'put' (e.g. 'oil the surfaces' -> 'apply oil to the surfaces').
Constraints on the fix
- Keep the instruction's meaning and required action identical.
Examples
Not STE: Oil the steel surfaces.
STE: Apply oil to the steel surfaces.
Related rules
Where this fits in AI governance
A rule a checker can test is a rule a model can be held to. The same discipline, on the governance side of this site.
- Hallucination
An approved word used in an unapproved sense is the controlled-language version of a plausible wrong answer. - Misinformation and confabulation
The register entry for text that reads correctly and is not. - Output validation guardrails
A controlled language is a checkable output constraint. This is the control that treats model output as something to be checked rather than trusted.
Source
ASD-STE100 Issue 9, Section 1 - Words, page 1-1-11.
This page is commentary and does not reproduce the standard. About this rule pack.