Grammar

With these practical guidelines for dealing with common grammatical hazards, you can produce professional and higher-quality content for Dynatrace that effectively communicates your message.

Sentences and fragments

A sentence is a grammatically complete idea. While a sentence can be of any length, shorter sentences are easier to read. Sentences end with a closing punctuation mark (.,?, or !) followed by a single space.

note

When a sentence is used as a title or heading, don't insert a closing punctuation mark.

Sentence structure

A sentence consists of a subject and a predicate.

The subject of a sentence is the noun (person, place, or thing) that performs an action. The subject can also be expressed as a pronoun (for example, "you," "they," or "it").

Imperative sentences with an implied subject can consist of a single word (for example, "Run!" or "Stop!").

The predicate of a sentence describes the action taken by the subject of the sentence. The predicate comprises a verb and an object.

Consider the example sentence, "The driver stopped the car." The subject of this sentence (a noun) is "the driver." The predicate of the sentence is "stopped (a verb) the car (the object of the sentence)."

Sentences, however short, are grammatically complete ideas. See how to identify complete sentences in the examples below.

Sentence?	Example	Subject	Predicate	Explanation
✅	I’m here.	I	(am) here
✅	She says so.	She	says so
✅	It is.	It	is
❌	I like.	I		This isn't a sentence because it lacks a complete predicate; the verb "like" is missing an object.
✅	Drive!	(You)	drive	The subject ("you") of this one-word sentence is implied.

How to identify sentence fragments

Sentence fragments, however long, should not end with a closing punctuation mark. See how to identify complex sentence fragments with modifying phrases and clauses in the examples below.

Sentence?	Example	Explanation
❌	The version the customer deployed.	"the customer deployed" is an adjective clause that describes the noun "version."
✅	This is the version the customer deployed.	This is a complete sentence where the subject is "this" and the predicate is "is the version the customer deployed."
❌	The Dynatrace entity ID of the key user action.	This is a noun phrase without a verb or object.
❌	To add a service to monitoring.	This introductory adverb phrase explains why the action needs to be performed.
❌	The sum of all individual layout shift scores assigned for every unexpected layout shift occurring during a load action.	"...assigned for every unexpected layout shift occurring during a load action" is an adjective clause that describes the noun phrase "the sum of all individual layout shift scores."

Use sentence fragments for definitions

Sentence fragments work well for definitions.

✅ TCP connect time: The time taken to establish the TCP connection

You can use an em dash (without a preceding or trailing space) to add a complete sentence to a definition fragment.

✅ TCP connect time: The time taken to establish the TCP connection—if there are multiple TCP connections because of a redirect, this is the total time of TCP connection attempts.

When the definition list is in tabular format, you can also use a standalone paragraph for the definition fragment.

✅ TCP connect time: The time taken to establish the TCP connection
If there are multiple TCP connections because of a redirect, this is the total time of TCP connection attempts.

Commas

Commas contribute more to the reader's understanding than any other punctuation mark because they indicate how a sentence is structured. The placement of commas can radically alter the meaning of a sentence. For complete details on comma usage, see Punctuation.

Plural nouns as adjectives

When a noun is used as an adjective to describe another noun, it's generally written in the singular form (for example, "user-session analysis") rather than the plural form (for example, "user-sessions analysis"). Don’t add a trailing "s" to nouns that are used as adjectives.

In the examples below, note that a singular noun functions as an adjective. Avoid adding a trailing "s" as this results in a plural adjective.

✅ Metric browser
❌ Metrics browser
✅ Management-zone configuration
❌ Management-zones configuration
✅ Root cause analysis
❌ Root causes analysis
✅ Credential vault
❌ Credentials vault

Exceptions to this rule are page names, tab labels, and other named UI elements that exist in plural form. There are also some nouns that are usually plural; these remain in the plural form when acting as adjectives.

✅ Services page
✅ Frequency and locations tab
✅ Problems list

Which of the terms below is the best way to express the autodiscovery of host groups?

• host group’s autodiscovery
• host groups’ autodiscovery
• host groups autodiscovery
• host group autodiscovery

Consider how the form of the word "group" alters the meaning of each term—see the explanations below.

Example	Explanation
❌ host group’s autodiscovery	This implies autodiscovery by a specific host group.
❌ host groups’ autodiscovery	This implies autodiscovery by a set of host groups.
❌ host groups autodiscovery	Contains a plural adjective.
✅ host group autodiscovery	This phrase correctly denotes "the autodiscovery of host groups." It uses a singular noun as a modifying adjective.

Contractions

Contractions are shortened words or phrases commonly used in English to make speech and writing more efficient and informal. They’re created by combining two words and replacing certain letters with an apostrophe ('). Dynatrace style uses contractions in written communications to convey a conversational tone.

Here are commonly used contractions that are appropriate for Dynatrace content.

✅ I'm (I am)
✅ it’s (it is)
✅ what’s (what is)
✅ that’s (that is)
✅ we’re (we are)
✅ they’re (they are)
✅ let’s (let us)
✅ aren’t (are not)
✅ can’t (can not or cannot)
✅ don’t (do not)
✅ isn’t (is not)
✅ didn’t (did not)
✅ wasn’t (was not)
✅ doesn’t (does not)
✅ hasn’t (has not)
✅ haven’t (have not)

Some contractions are uncommon and awkward. Don't use the following contractions.

❌ it’ll (it will)
❌ it’d (it would)
❌ they’d (they had or they would)
❌ there’d (there would)
❌ mustn’t (must not)
❌ shan’t (shall not)
❌ would’ve (would have)
❌ could’ve (could have)
❌ should’ve (should have)
❌ needn’t (need not)
❌ mayn’t (may not)
❌ who’d (who did or who would)

When to spell out negative contractions

Negative contractions (for example, "don't" and "doesn't") are easy to misread while scanning, particularly by international users. Therefore, for maximum clarity, spell out contractions, especially negative contractions, when writing warnings, alerts, or system limitations.

✅ Do not use a metric expression to convert the unit of the data.
❌ Don't use a metric expression to convert the unit of the data.
✅ Deletion cannot be reversed!
❌ Deletion can't be reversed!
✅ API Edge for Private Cloud is not supported.
❌ API Edge for Private Cloud isn't supported.

Active voice

In the active voice, the person or thing performing the action is the subject of the sentence and the person or thing receiving the action is the object. Sentences in the active voice are structured as follows.

[Person or thing performing the action] + [verb] + [person or thing receiving the action]

Examples of active voice

• [The user][adjusts] [the settings].
• [The program manager][drives] [strategic initiatives].

In the passive voice, the focus is on the recipient of the action rather than the doer. Sentences in the passive voice are structured as follows.

[Person or thing receiving the action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [person or thing performing the action]

Examples of passive voice

• [The settings][are] [adjusted][by the user].
• [The strategic initiatives][are] [driven][by the program manager].

Write in the active voice

Converting passive voice to active voice makes sentences more direct, concise, and engaging. The subject performing the action takes center stage. Passive voice, on the other hand, makes sentences longer, more difficult to understand, and harder to translate. Active voice conveys authority and transparency, while passive voice can sound defensive.

Here are examples of the appropriate use of active voice along with their passive voice equivalents.

✅ The monitoring system identified the problem.
❌ The problem was identified by the monitoring system.

✅ The support team investigated the incident.
❌ The incident was investigated by the support team.

✅ All three formats support the same request payloads.
❌ The same request payloads are supported in all three formats.

When to use passive voice

There are appropriate uses for passive voice in Dynatrace style. Passive voice is preferable when the actor of an action is not as important as the action itself, for example, in warnings or glossary definitions.

✅ Deletion cannot be reversed.
❌ You cannot reverse deletion.
✅ The use of dynamic identifiers is not supported.
❌ We don’t support dynamic identifiers.
✅ The <domain>\<username> format is not supported for the username in HTTP monitors.
❌ Dynatrace doesn't support the <domain>\<username> format.
✅ An alert was triggered when the threshold was exceeded.
❌ The threshold triggered an alert when it was exceeded.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Transitive and intransitive verbs are types of verbs defined by their relationship with direct objects. Transitive verbs are action verbs that require a direct object to complete their meaning. A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the verb’s action. In a sentence with a transitive verb, the action is directed toward the direct object.

In this example, the transitive verb "instruments" requires the object "hosts" to make sense.

✅ OneAgent instruments hosts automatically.

Intransitive verbs, on the other hand, don’t require a direct object to complete their meaning. They express an action or state that doesn't transfer to an object.

The intransitive verb "crashed" does not require a direct object in this sentence.

✅ The system crashed unexpectedly.

It stands alone and expresses the action of the system crashing without transferring the action to an object.

Don't use transitive verbs as intransitive verbs

"Render" and "install" are examples of transitive verbs that are often mistakenly used as intransitive verbs. Note that passive voice works well in these examples while active voice ("renders") doesn't.

❌ Wait till the image renders.
✅ Wait till the image is rendered.
✅ Wait till the browser renders the image.
❌ Wait while your program installs.
✅ Wait while your program is installed.

Verb tenses

Use only simple tenses (past, present, and future) and avoid progressive tenses as far as possible. The present tense is the most appropriate for most feature descriptions, general system behavior, and general statements.

Future tense

Future tense, rather than present tense, is appropriate when describing an action or event that will occur in the future (for example, an upcoming software release or feature deprecation).

✅ We'll deprecate the classic User Sessions page in an upcoming release.
✅ The new product will be released in Q3.

Future tense is also useful to warn users about possible outcomes of their actions.

✅ You'll be locked out after five unsuccessful login attempts.
✅ The system will lock you out after five unsuccessful login attempts.
✅ After five unsuccessful login attempts, the system will lock you out.

If-then statements

When a statement beginning with "if" describes a general truth, such as standard system behavior, use present tense rather than future tense in the main clause.

✅ If the configuration is incorrect, the app crashes.
✅ If you monitor more than 1,000 concurrent processes, the system displays a warning.
✅ If you’re not the owner of a credential, you see a cautionary message.

When an outcome is not ensured, use future tense in the main clause. This form is useful for warning messages.

✅ If you don't focus on customer experience, your business will struggle.
✅ If you practice, you will get better.
✅ If you have more than five unsuccessful login attempts, the system will lock you out.