Avoid stacks of modifiers

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When two or more modifiers appear before a noun, the meaning of the phrase often becomes ambiguous.

Using a hyphen in the right place can sometimes resolve the ambiguity. However, the phrase remains difficult to read and hard to understand.

For this reason: If there are two or more modifiers before a noun, always try to rephrase the sentence.

No:

Typical data conversion problem areas include ….

Yes:

Typical data-conversion problem areas include ….

Top:

Areas in which users typically have problems when converting data include ….

No:

more effective methods

Yes:

methods that are more effective

or:

more methods that are effective


Avoid strings of nouns