# AI Tells Reference

Reference for naturalize. This file is lookup material, not a skill. It groups common surface signatures by the four passes naturalize runs.

Load this file once per pass. Check only the active family. If a pattern is present, either remove it or keep it for a stated reason.

---

## 1. Vocabulary

### Common stock words

delve, tapestry, realm, embark, unpack, seamless, nuanced (when used as tone rather than precision), navigate (when used figuratively as a polish signal rather than to name actual navigation)

### Common helper verbs and signal phrases

serves as, showcases, underscores, highlights, illustrates, embodies, encapsulates

### Examples

- ❌ "Let's delve into the details."
- ✅ "Let's look at the details."
- ❌ "The dashboard showcases three trends."
- ✅ "The dashboard shows three trends."
- ❌ "This memo serves as a guide."
- ✅ "This memo is a guide."

### Legitimate uses

- Keep the word when it names the thing exactly. navigate is correct for interfaces and routes. embark is fine when the prose is intentionally literary.
- Keep a listed word when a plainer replacement would lose meaning, not when it would only lower the tone.
- Keep a helper verb when it does more than fill space. Most do not.

### Test

Does the word name the thing, or does it mostly announce a polished register?

---

## 2. Rhythm

### Common sentence-shape habits

- trailing -ing tails that add mood more than meaning
  - Example shape: "The team shipped the fix, changing the way users work."
- forced triads when the content is actually two things
  - Example shape: "fast, reliable, and scalable" when the third item adds nothing
- default contrast formulas
  - Example shapes: "not X but Y", "it's not just X — it's Y", "after all"

### Examples

- ❌ "The team shipped the fix, changing the way users work."
- ✅ "The team shipped the fix and changed how users work."
- ✅ "The team shipped the fix." (if the tail was filler)
- ❌ "The system is fast, reliable, and scalable." (when only the first two matter)
- ✅ "The system is fast and reliable."
- ❌ "It's not a tool — it's a mindset."
- ✅ "It's a mindset."

### Legitimate uses

- Keep the triad when the content is really three things.
- Keep the -ing tail when the consequence is the point of the sentence.
- Keep the contrast formula when the contrast prevents an actual misunderstanding.
- Keep deliberate rhythm in prose whose style openly depends on rhythm. The tell is default rhythm, not chosen rhythm.

### Test

Does the sentence shape carry meaning, or is the meaning being bent to fit a familiar shape?

---

## 3. Repetition

### Common reuse problems

- synonym cycling for the same referent
  - Example: system → tool → platform when the writer means the same thing each time
- variation-for-variation
  - Example: company → firm → organization with no change in meaning
- elegant variation that loses precision

### Examples

- ❌ "The system handles errors. The tool manages failures. The platform processes exceptions."
- ✅ "The system handles errors. It also handles failures and exceptions."
- ❌ "The CEO announced the plan. The executive explained the strategy. The leader described the approach."
- ✅ "The CEO announced the plan and explained the strategy."

### Legitimate uses

- Change the word when the meaning changes. error and exception are not the same thing in some contexts.
- Use pronouns freely. it, they, and this are not synonym cycling.
- Vary wording for sound only when sound is part of the piece's aim, not because repetition felt embarrassing.

### Test

Is the new word a new meaning, or just the old meaning wearing a new jacket?

---

## 4. Register

### Common register mismatches

- no contractions in casual prose
- contractions in formal prose where the surrounding register is fully formal
- mid-piece drift from casual to formal or formal to casual without purpose
- fancy diction in a plain venue

### Examples

- ❌ "It is not a big deal." (casual blog)
- ✅ "It's not a big deal."
- ❌ "We've resolved the issue." (formal report)
- ✅ "We have resolved the issue."
- ❌ "The update was seamless and impactful." (plain status note)
- ✅ "The update went smoothly and fixed the problem."

### Legitimate uses

- Keep a register shift when it is clearly deliberate.
- Keep no-contraction prose in legal, academic, and other fully formal contexts.
- Keep contractions in informal and personal contexts unless the writer's voice deliberately avoids them.

### Test

Does the wording match the audience and occasion, or does it slide toward generic polish?

---

## Cross-family notes

If one edit removes more than one tell, make it once in the earliest active pass: vocabulary → rhythm → repetition → register.

Anything that changes the claim, the proof, the scope, or the document shape is not this reference's job. Hand it back to write.
