E Prime - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

# E Prime

### From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

E Prime is a way of speaking English without using the verb "to be". Instead, an E Prime speaker or writer uses different verbs like "to become," "to remain," and "to equal".

### [edit] What E Prime is

D. David Bourland, Jr. first suggested E Prime in 1965. Bourland had studied the philosophy (way of thinking) of General Semantics. The main idea of General Semantics is that people can never know what is real. People can only know what they themselves see, hear, touch, taste, smell, think, and feel. Believers in General Semantics and E Prime believe that it is wrong to say "This cat is soft." Instead, E Prime users say "This cat feels soft."

### [edit] What E Prime is not

E Prime and General Semantics are not different languages or forms of English. Instead, they are ways of thinking and talking about the world.

Although languages like Arabic and Cantonese do not have a separate verb for "to be", they do have the idea of "being". For example, an English speaker might say "This apple is red." An Arabic speaker might say "This apple red." Both languages can be used to express the idea of a red apple. An E Prime user, on the other hand, can only state that "This apple looks red to me."

Many teachers of English encourage students to use verbs other than "to be". These teachers believe that using other verbs makes writing clearer and more interesting. Again, these teachers may not agree with the ideas of General Semantics or E Prime. They just want to improve their students' writing.

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Category: English language

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