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**ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English**

### **What is the purpose of STE?**

The purpose of STE is to tell technical writers how to write technical texts in a clear, simple, and unambiguous manner that readers throughout the world will find easy to understand. STE is not a treatise on the English language or technical writing. Thus, linguistic and grammar aspects are not fully included in this document because they are explained in other language reference books and guidelines.

### **Which words are available to the writer?**

STE has a controlled dictionary that gives the words that are most frequently used in technical writing.

The approved words were selected because they were simple and easy to recognize. In general, each word has only one meaning and is approved with only one part of speech. For example, "to fall" has the approved meaning of "to move down by the force of gravity," and not "to decrease."

When there are synonyms in English, STE selects one synonym and does not include the others. For example, STE uses "start" instead of "begin," "commence," "initiate," or "originate."

STE approved meanings and spelling are based on American English and the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.

Writers can use the approved words in the dictionary as a core vocabulary. Writers can also use noun terms and verb terms that are applicable to their companies, industries, or subject fields. STE identifies these terms as "technical nouns" and "technical verbs" and gives the necessary rules to use these terms correctly.

### **Does STE give rules for abbreviations?**

No. Industries, companies, and projects can use different abbreviations. Thus, rules for abbreviations are not necessary in STE.

### **Does STE regulate text formatting?**

No. STE regulates the way to express the content. It does not regulate formatting, for example, typeface, numbering, and lettering. Usually, these requirements are included in the applicable specifications for technical publications, style guides, and other official directives.

### **Does STE regulate units of measurement?**

No. There are different methods to show units of measurement in a technical text. Projects and companies must decide which one to use. Usually, these requirements are included in the applicable specifications for technical publications, style guides, and other official directives.

### **Can STE be used alone?**

No. It is intended to be used with other applicable specifications for technical publications, style guides, and official directives. A high standard of professionalism is necessary to use STE correctly.

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**ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English**

### **Can STE be used for oral communication?**

STE was developed for technical documentation only. But the rules and a controlled dictionary can help oral communication in meetings and presentations.

### **Can STE be used to teach a writer English?**

No. STE is not an English course book. STE will help the writer give complex information in a form that is easy to understand. Writing clearly is a complex task, and it is necessary to have a high level of fluency in English to write STE correctly.

### **Can STE help technical translation?**

Yes. One of the primary objectives of STE is to make translation easier. If the permitted words, the meanings of such words, and the types of sentence constructions in a text are controlled, the difference between texts will decrease to a minimum. Thus, it is easier for translators, neural machine translation engines, and Large Language Models (LLM) to translate text written in STE into the target language.

### **Can writers get training in STE and find supporting authoring tools?**

There are organizations, companies, and individuals that market and give training courses in how to use STE, and there are producers of authoring tools that support STE.

Neither ASD, the Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG), nor any organization or company associated with the production of STE intend or imply any warranty or endorsement to these organizations, companies, and individuals that give training or produce authoring tools.

For training only, the above statement is not applicable to organizations, companies, and individuals who, through official agreements, are accredited by ASD to give authorized training.

For more information, refer to the STEMG website at www.asd-ste100.org.

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### **History of ASD-STE100**

The first release of STE was as the AECMA Simplified English Guide, PSC-85-16598. This is the full list of all released issues, revisions and changes.

||Release
date|Identification|Scope|

||---|---|---|
||1986-02-15|First release|The guide included writing rules (part 1) and the dictionary (part 2)|
||1986-09-15|Change 1|Guide revised|
||1987-06-01|Change 2|Examples of function words and nouns (part 3) added|
||1988-06-15|Change 3|Examples of verbs (part 3) added|
||1988-12-30|Change 4|Examples of adjectives and adverbs (part 3) added|
||1989-12-01|Change 5|Reformatted version of change 4. No changes to the content|
||1995-09-15|Issue 1|Guide fully revised. Original part 2 removed and part 3 became part 2|

||1998-01-15|Issue 1,
Revision 1|Updates and amendments|
||2001-01-15|Issue 1,
Revision 2|Updates and amendments|

||2004-01-15|Issue 2|Guide fully revised|
||2005-01-15|Issue 3|New issue released as ASD-STE100. No changes to the content|
||2007-01-15|Issue 4|Specification revised|
||2010-04-15|Issue 5|Specification revised|
||2013-01-15|Issue 6|Specification revised|
||2017-01-25|Issue 7|Specification fully revised, primary focus on the writing rules (part 1)|
||2021-04-30|Issue 8|Specification revised, primary focus on the dictionary (part 2)|

||2025-01-15|Issue 9|New issue released as a standard.
Primary focus on harmonization of terminology with ISO standards|

### **Maintenance of ASD-STE100**

The ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG) is responsible for the development, production, publication, maintenance, and management of ASD-STE100.

The group primarily includes experts from ASD countries, along with an international team of experts from countries that are not members of ASD. There are also national and multi-country STE Support Teams (STEST) that assist the STEMG in its work. For more information, refer to www.asd-ste100.org.

### **Distribution of ASD-STE100**

ASD-STE100 is available free of charge to all writers and users through the STEMG website <u>www.asd-ste100.org</u> or through the ASD www.asd-europe.org and ASD-STAN websites www.asd- <u>stan.org.</u> Unauthorized distribution of ASD-STE100, direct or through different websites or portals, is strictly prohibited without written permission from the STEMG.

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### **Change forms**

STE is a living language. For its continuous improvement, feedback from users is necessary. Users can give their feedback through a change form (refer to the example on the next page), which is also available in electronic format on the STEMG website.

Use this change form to write your change request, comments, or recommendations. Then, send it to <u>stemg@asd-ste100.org, to a national coordinator, or an associate expert of the STEMG. For</u> more information, refer to www.asd-ste100.org.

The STEMG has records of all change forms and their assessments. The change forms are discussed in STEMG meetings, and the next issue of ASD-STE100 will include the agreed changes. The STEMG usually sends information to the originators of the change forms about the related STEMG assessments and decisions.

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