Computer processes for analyzing and improving document readability
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of reducing writing problems in existing prose, the method comprising:
- scanning a sentence to determine whether a particular writing problem exists in the sentence, said scanning comprising determining if at least one sign is present, the sign indicating a possible occurrence or absence of the writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it”
, wherein determining if at least one sign is present comprises searching for one or more of the following signs;
“
it”
as part of a contraction, a “
to be”
verb within five words of “
it”
, “
that”
“
who”
or “
which”
following the “
to be”
verb, “
not until”
, a verb immediately followed by “
n'"'"'t until”
, “
that”
between “
until” and
the end of the sentence, “
that”
appearing between commas, “
that”
appearing immediately after “
that”
;
identifying a past tense verb within three words of the term “
that”
; and
specifying a proposed edit, the proposed edit changing the sentence in a way that addresses the writing problem, the proposed edit comprising;
an edit relating to converting the past tense verb to first person present tense and further relating to at least one of the following options;
replacing “
that”
with a form of the verb “
to do”
to create a first provisional sentence;
deleting the word “
not” and
the word “
that” and
inserting “
did not”
in front of the present tense verb to create a second provisional sentence; and
an edit relating to moving all the words that follow “
that”
to a position immediately before the word “
until”
;
said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are systems and methods for analyzing and improving document readability. For example, a method of reducing writing problems in existing prose is disclosed that can deal with problems related to the word “it” in text. Such a method can include the following steps: scanning prose to determine whether a particular writing problem exists in the prose; determining if at least one sign is present, the sign indicating a possible occurrence or absence of the writing problem, the sign comprising the word “it”; and specifying a proposed edit to a user of the method, the proposed edit changing the prose in a way that addresses the writing problem. Various other rules for improving text are also disclosed.
35 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of reducing writing problems in existing prose, the method comprising:
-
scanning a sentence to determine whether a particular writing problem exists in the sentence, said scanning comprising determining if at least one sign is present, the sign indicating a possible occurrence or absence of the writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it”
, wherein determining if at least one sign is present comprises searching for one or more of the following signs;
“
it”
as part of a contraction, a “
to be”
verb within five words of “
it”
, “
that”
“
who”
or “
which”
following the “
to be”
verb, “
not until”
, a verb immediately followed by “
n'"'"'t until”
, “
that”
between “
until” and
the end of the sentence, “
that”
appearing between commas, “
that”
appearing immediately after “
that”
;identifying a past tense verb within three words of the term “
that”
; andspecifying a proposed edit, the proposed edit changing the sentence in a way that addresses the writing problem, the proposed edit comprising; an edit relating to converting the past tense verb to first person present tense and further relating to at least one of the following options; replacing “
that”
with a form of the verb “
to do”
to create a first provisional sentence;deleting the word “
not” and
the word “
that” and
inserting “
did not”
in front of the present tense verb to create a second provisional sentence; andan edit relating to moving all the words that follow “
that”
to a position immediately before the word “
until”
;said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. Non-transitory computer storage that stores executable code that directs a computer system to perform a process that comprises:
-
scanning a sentence to assess whether a writing problem exists in the sentence, said scanning comprising determining if at least one sign is present, the sign indicating a possible occurrence or absence of a writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it”
, wherein determining if at least one sign is present comprises searching for one or more of the following signs;
“
it”
as part of a contraction, a “
to be”
verb within five words of “
it”
, “
that”
“
who”
or “
which”
following the “
to be”
verb, “
who”
following the “
to be”
verb, “
not until”
, a verb immediately followed by “
n'"'"'t until”
, “
that”
between “
until” and
the end of the sentence, “
that”
appearing between commas, “
that”
appearing immediately after “
that”
;identifying a past tense verb in the sentence within three words of the term “
that”
; andspecifying an edit that changes the sentence in a way that addresses a writing problem identified from said scanning, the edit comprising an edit relating to converting the past tense verb to first person present tense and further relating to at least one of the following options; replacing “
that”
with “
did”
to create a first provisional sentence;deleting the word “
not” and
the word “
that” and
inserting “
did not”
in front of the present tense verb to create a second provisional sentence; andan edit relating to moving all the words that follow “
that”
to a position immediately before the word “
until”
. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
8. A method of reducing writing problems in prose, the method comprising:
-
scanning a sentence for at least one sign; determining that a sign is present in the sentence, the sign representing a possible occurrence of a writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it” and
two commas appearing between a “
to be”
verb and the word “
that”
; andidentifying, in connection with the sign, an edit that changes the sentence in a way that addresses the writing problem, the edit comprising deletion of all of the words from “
it”
through “
that”
, except for the words between the two commas;said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. Non-transitory computer storage that stores executable code that, when executed by a computer system, is capable of causing the computer system to at least:
-
scan a sentence for at least one sign; determine that a sign is present in the sentence, the sign representing a possible occurrence of a writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it” and
two commas appearing between a “
to be”
verb and the word “
that”
; andidentify, in connection with the sign, an edit that changes the sentence in a way that addresses the writing problem, the edit comprising deletion of all of the words from “
it”
through “
that”
, except for the words between the two commas. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. A method of reducing writing problems in prose, the method comprising:
-
scanning a sentence for at least one sign; detecting a sign in the sentence, the sign representing a possible occurrence of a writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it”
;determining that the detected occurrence of “
it”
is part of a phrase that begins with “
it”
, ends with “
that”
, and includes a “
to be”
verb; andwhen all words between the “
to be”
verb and “
that”
are determined to be verbs (including participles, help verbs, and infinitives), adverbs, and adjectives, deleting, or proposing the deletion of, the phrase beginning with “
it” and
ending with “
that”
;said method performed by a computer system that comprises one or more computers. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
-
-
18. Non-transitory computer storage that stores executable code that, when executed by a computer system, is capable of causing the computer system to at least:
-
scan a sentence for at least one sign; detect a sign in the sentence, the sign representing a possible occurrence of a writing problem, the sign comprising the word “
it”
;determine that the detected occurrence of “
it”
is part of a phrase that begins with “
it”
, ends with “
that”
, and includes a “
to be”
verb; andspecify an edit that comprises deleting said phrase, said edit being conditional on a determination that all words between the “
to be”
verb and “
that”
are verbs (including participles, help verbs, and infinitives), adverbs, and adjectives. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeWordrake Holdings, LLC
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Original AssigneeWordrake Holdings, LLC
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InventorsKinder, Gary W.
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Primary Examiner(s)Sked; Matthew J
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Application NumberUS11/853,648Time in Patent Office1,463 DaysField of SearchNoneUS Class Current704/9CPC Class CodesG06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed obje...G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or ...G06F 40/237 Lexical toolsG06F 40/253 Grammatical analysis; Style...G06F 40/40 Processing or translation o...
