warning · Section 6: Descriptive writing
Rule 6.2: Use key words and key phrases to give your text a logical structure
Use key words and key phrases — the same terminology repeated exactly — to connect a sentence to the ideas introduced earlier in the paragraph (not necessarily only the immediately preceding sentence), and use approved connecting words or phrases (for example, "and," "but," "then," "thus," "as a result," "at the same time") as one method, among others, to signal how a sentence relates to an earlier one. This gives the text a logical, easy-to-follow structure.
This rule needs human judgement. A checker can flag candidates; it cannot decide.
What a checker looks for
Usually a deviation, and context can excuse it.
- Flag a sentence that does not repeat a key word/phrase from an earlier sentence in the paragraph and does not otherwise signal its relationship to what came before — the rule's positive requirement is consistent key-word/key-phrase repetition and connector use, not merely avoiding ambiguity.
- Flag a term that was introduced earlier in the paragraph and is then referred to with different wording instead of being repeated exactly (this reinforces rule 1.11 at the level of paragraph flow).
- Flag a sentence expressing a result, contrast, addition, or simultaneous event that does not use an approved connecting word/phrase or repeated key term to signal that relationship.
- (Detector heuristic, non-normative) When triage capacity is limited, prioritize cases where the missing link makes the relationship genuinely unclear over purely stylistic gaps — but this does not redefine the rule itself as ambiguity-only.
What this rule does not cover
- The first (topic) sentence of a new paragraph is expected to introduce new information and is not required to repeat a key word from the prior paragraph.
- A sentence that links back to an earlier sentence in the chain (not only the immediately preceding one) is compliant — exact key-word repetition in every adjacent pair is not mandatory.
- A short sequence of simple, self-explanatory sentences whose relationship is already clear from context does not need an explicit connecting word between every pair.
How to fix it
Where a reference is ambiguous, reuse the exact key word or key phrase from the earlier sentence it refers to instead of a synonym. Where a logical relationship is unclear, insert an approved connecting word or phrase to make it explicit.
Constraints on the fix
- Do not substitute a synonym for an already-clear reference just for variety — when repetition is needed for clarity, the repeated term must be identical to the one used earlier (see rule 1.11).
- Do not insert a connecting word into every sentence pair regardless of need — only where the relationship is otherwise unclear.
Examples
Not STE: The Instrument Landing System (the system) on the aircraft shows data that helps the pilot during the approach to the runway. The unit displays the deviations from the localizer course and the glideslope path.
STE: The Instrument Landing System (the system) on the aircraft shows data that helps the pilot during the approach to the runway. This system shows the pilot the deviations from the localizer course and the glideslope path.
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.
- Explainability
Descriptive writing rules exist so that a description can be verified against the thing described. The same demand, made of a model. - 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 6 - Descriptive writing, page 1-6-2.
This page is commentary and does not reproduce the standard. About this rule pack.