error · Section 4: Sentences
Rule 4.2: Do not omit words or use contractions to shorten sentences
Write every sentence with all of its parts — do not omit nouns, verbs, subjects, or articles to make the sentence shorter, and do not use contractions such as "don't" or "isn't". Omitted words and contractions make a sentence shorter but not easier to read, and can create ambiguity.
What a checker looks for
A clear deviation from the rule.
- Flag any contraction (don't, isn't, aren't, can't, won't, etc.); it must always be written as the full two-word form.
- Flag sentences with an omitted subject, verb, or noun that leaves the actor or action ambiguous (e.g. a conditional clause like "If installed, remove the shims" that does not state what is installed).
- Flag omitted articles before nouns where the omission creates ambiguity, especially between two coordinated nouns (e.g. "Remove the bolt and stop", where "stop" without an article could be misread as a verb).
What this rule does not cover
- Omitting the article before all but the first noun in a long series, per rule 4.5, is a separate, permitted construction and not a violation of this rule.
How to fix it
Expand every contraction to its full form, and restore any omitted subject, verb, or article so the sentence is complete and unambiguous.
Constraints on the fix
- Preserve the original meaning and polarity exactly when expanding a contraction ("don't" becomes "do not", not "do").
Examples
Not STE: Rotary switch to INPUT.
STE: Set the rotary switch to INPUT.
Not STE: If your hands are wet, don't touch the USB power adapter.
STE: If your hands are wet, do not touch the USB power adapter.
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.
- Testing AI systems
Sentence-length and structure rules are the part of the standard a script can check without a model. - LLM governance, operationally
Prompt, rule pack and model version are the assembly that determines the output. Governing the output means governing the assembly. - 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 4 - Sentences, page 1-4-3.
This page is commentary and does not reproduce the standard. About this rule pack.