Sentence Types

SNOMED CT Editorial Guide - Version for Education Authoring Courses and Certifications Only,
based on the January 2025 International Release.
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Sentence Types

Concepts should be names or short noun phrases. Full statements or sentences are unacceptable. 

Procedure concepts should not contain phrases that can be categorized as a sentence function type, i.e. imperative, declarative, interrogative, or exclamatory. A procedure description should be a noun phrase that names the procedure, and should not contain information that it was done, or is to be ordered, carried out, or planned.

  • For example,

    • 11227005 |Excision of ganglion of tendon sheath of hand (procedure)| is a noun phrase giving the proper description for the procedure

  • Unacceptable example,

    • Hand tendon ganglion excised (situation) indicates the procedure was done, as a past tense declarative statement

      • This is a situation with explicit context, not a procedure. 

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