Newspaper English
Seminar1
1/11 /02
Judy Yoneoka
Ⅰ. Introduction
A story in an English newspaper generally consists of three parts. They are
“headline, lead and body”. The headline is the most interesting of them, because its
grammar and usage are very characteristic. When we first read headlines, we often
can’t understand its meaning.
This paper will examine the headlines of newspaper English. First, the
grammar of headlines will be introduced and next, usage.
Ⅱ. Grammar
Ⅱ-Ⅰ. The past tense and present perfect
A thing of the past is commonly written in the past tense in body of newspaper. But in
headline, the present tense is used instead of the past tense in order to show the movement of the
newest news clearly. And it gives a vivid impression to readers. For example, “Government admits
economic slump”, “Chrysler posts 8.2% sales jump”, “Pakistan Cabinet authorizes nuclear bomb
test”The past present tense is always used in headline in this way.
Ⅱ-Ⅱ. The future tense
We usually use an auxiliary verb such as ‘will’and ‘shall’in case of form of the future
tense. But in headline, it is a common to take the form ‘to + verb’instead of ‘be going to + verb’
or ‘will + verb’In other words, an auxiliary verb and the verb ‘be’is omitted. For example,
“Kajiyama to enter LDP race”, “Travelers to get 25% stake in Japanese Brokerage House”,
“Japan to stand by planes in S'pore for airlift”Rewriting these sentences, “Kajiyama (is going) to
enter LDP race”, “Travelers (will) get 25% stake in Japanese Brokerage House”, “Japan (will)
1
stand by planes in S'pore for airlift”
Ⅱ-Ⅲ. Omission of the verb“be”
In headline, the verb ‘be’such as ‘is’and ‘are' after subject is omitted. ‘be’+ present
participle, ‘be’+ past participle , this ‘be’is omitted. Besides ‘be’in the form of ‘be +
adjective’ and ‘be + preposition + subject’ is omitted also. The verb ‘be’in parentheses in
the sentences that follow is omitted. “Prompt action (is) necessary to save Earth”, “Syria (is)
willing to talk peace if Israel leaves Golan Heights”, “Japan's cities (are) still most pricey”
Ⅱ-Ⅳ. The present progressive
The verb ‘ing’of the future tense and the present progressive means that a thing is in
progress or near future. On that occasion, the verb “be”is omitted and only present participle is
used. I gave some examples below. The verb ‘be’in parentheses is omitted. “Fewer students (are)
getting work visas”, “Roadside land prices (are) still falling”, “Quakes (that are) ratting resort
to continue”
Ⅱ-Ⅴ. The passive voice
We often see the past tense or the past participle in headlines. However, it is hard to
distinguish the past tense from the past participle if the form of the past tense is the same as the past
participle. For example, play-played-played, feel-felt-felt, spend-spent-spent. But actually, most of
them are not past tense but past participle. And the verb ‘be’is omitted. This is so-called in the
passive voice grammatically. It is unusual to be used past tense in headlines. “Trans-Pacific sailing
record (is) broken”, “Sales of imported olives (are) banned”, “JAL (is) mired in sokaiya scandal”
2
Ⅲ. Usage
Ⅲ-Ⅰ. Omission of the function word
We can find some characteristics of vocabulary in headlines. First, content word (verb,
noun, adjective, adverb) is used very often, while function word (article, pronoun, conjunction and
so on) is omitted in most cases. So we need to make up for function word to understand meaning
when we read headlines. I gave some examples.“(The) U.S. Marines to hold live-fire drills”,“(A)
Woman wins health insurance suit”, “(An) Earthquake rattles central Taiwan” In these sentences,
both definite article and indefinite article are not used.
“EX-residents of Etorofu pay (their) annual visit to graves of kin”, “Israel hikes (its)
defense spending by $543 mil.”, “Chinese woman seeks (her) redress” In these sentences, a
pronoun in parentheses is omitted.
“Marx, Lenin fade from literary scene”, “Maine, California budget crises worsen”,
“Avalanche buries 14 kid's kills seven in Italian Alps”In this case, conjunction (and) is omitted
and comma(,) is used in place of ‘and’.
Ⅲ-Ⅱ. Use of characteristic word
Secondly, there is characteristic word in headlines. For example, BOJ=Bank of Japan,
UNHCR=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, USTR=United States Trade
Representatives, N-Arms=Nuclear Arms, IMF=International Monetary Fund, Int'l=International,
Gov't=Goverment. If the term is long, an abbreviated word or a shortening word is used in this way.
And the verb and a noun in headlines prefer shortest word. I gave some examples.
ban=prohibition, Aussie=Australia, aim=purpose, go=match, aid=assistant, blast=explosion,
cut=reduction, cop=catch, drop=decrease, eye=intend, aid=assist, dip=come down go=match,
deal=arrangement, body=organization, gain=increase, eye=intend, dip=come down, free=release,
3
cop=catch, drop=decrease, aid=assist.
Ⅳ. Conclusion
Although the space of newspaper is limited, newspaper gives us much
information. And headline is the most important part, because it is impressive. If
headline is interesting, we will want to read story. So we should understand grammar
and usage of Newspaper English more. If we do that, we will be able to read English
newspaper without difficulty.
4
Annotated Bibliography
１．Honna Nobuyuki: eijishinbun no yomikata (how to read an English newspaper)有斐閣;
1982
２．Kamiya Naoyoshi: eijishinbun ga surasura yomeru (We can read an English newspaper
fluentry)三修社; 1990
３．Keith Williams: The English newspaper; an illustrated history to 1900 Snoring Wood books;
1977
４．Murata Shoumei: dakara eigowa muzukashii (so English is difficult) Japan times; 1981
５．Murata Shoumei: eijishinbun no yomikata (how to read an English newspaper) Japan times;
1980
６．Ohsawa Shigeru: eijishinbun no yomikata (how to read an English newspaper)南雲堂; 1969
７．Siamese Yoshitsugu: eijishinbun wo yomu (we read an English newspaper)丸善；1999.5
８．Yokoo Wakako: yasashii eijisinbun no yomikata (how to read an easy English newspaper)
Japan times; 1991
5
6