Inappropriate Shifts in Person

Section 6.15.3

Inappropriate Shifts in Person

Be consistent in your choice of person. A shift in person without reason will confuse your reader. For example, if you begin a description in the first person, do not shift to thesecond person.

Unacceptable

We once had an ecosystem that wecalled the Everglades. Now you have a big wetland out there,and still call it the Everglades. But it's not. It no longer has the definingcharacteristics of the original Everglades.

Acceptable

We once had an ecosystem that wecalled the Everglades. Now we have a big wetland out there,and still call it the Everglades. But it's not. It no longer has the definingcharacteristics of the original Everglades.

--Norman Boucher, "Back to the Everglades," Technology Review(modified)

## Inappropriate Shifts in Person ##

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