Word Choice – Assistance In Versus Assistance With

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Christina’s question: “Which sentence is correct — Thank you for your assistance in this matter or Thank you for your assistance on this matter?” BizWritingTip response: Unfortunately, neither sentence is correct. “Assistance on” is incorrect. The prepositions following assistance are “in,” “with,” or “to.”Although many writers interchange them, “assistance with” is used to indicate helping someone with someone or something. “Assistance in” indicates […]

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Grammar Tip – Abbreviations That End a Sentence

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Linden’s question: “Must the abbreviation ‘Ltd’ have a period after it? If you do use a period after it, how do you deal with the end of the sentence? Are there two periods, one for the abbreviation and one for the sentence?” BizWritingTip response:  Any abbreviation composed of upper and lower case letters should have […]

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Word Choice – Beat Versus Beaten

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Paulo’s question: “A famous supermarket announces that ‘We won’t be beat’ when referring to their unbeatable prices. Why beat and not beaten?” BizWritingTip response: Beat is more commonly used in conversational English. However, a grammatical purist would say the phrase “can’t be …” must be followed by the past participle beaten. Therefore, the supermarket should say its prices “can’t be beaten.” But as […]

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Writing Style – Commas After But?

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Taranjit’s question:  “Should we put a comma after ‘but’ in the following sentence: I am sorry to hear you’re leaving the department. But (comma?) I know you will enjoy your new position.” BizWritingTip response: Good question. If your connecting word is only one syllable (e.g., and or but), do not place a comma after it. […]

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Writing Style – Contractions in Minutes

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Marg’s question: “My manager says I can’t use contractions in my minutes. What do you think?”BizWritingTip response: First, contractions are words that are shortened by replacing a letter or letters with an apostrophe. Examples Cannot = can’t It is/it has = it’s We will = we’ll Contractions are not wrong, but they are considered a less […]

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Word Choice – Recur Versus Reoccur

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Paul’s question: “What is the difference between ‘recur’ and ‘reoccur’?” BizWritingTip response: If you say something recurs you are saying the event happens repeatedly – at regular intervals. Example We see a recurrence of flu symptoms in our patients beginning in December. (Flu happens every year.) How should we handle the recurring problem of all staff wanting to take their vacations during […]

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Writing Style – Smothered Verbs

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Paul’s question: “My manager was talking about smothered verbs last week. What are they and why should we avoid them?”BizWritingTip response: Smothered verbs deal with style. There is nothing wrong with them grammatically. Smothered verbs are created when writers take our strong English verbs and turn them into nouns. They then have to insert another verb […]

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Openings for Emails

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Bev’s question: “In my company, we have been told to start any email response to our customers with ‘Thank you for your email.’ What do you think?”BizwritingTip response: There is nothing wrong with the sentence in terms of grammar or etiquette. But I don’t like it for a number of reasons. First, what are you thanking […]

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Word Choice – Between Versus Among

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Joanna’s question: “When do you use ‘among’ and when do you use ‘between’?” BizWritingTip response: The basic rule is to use between when referring to two persons or things andamong when you are referring to more than two. Examples I divided the workload between Gerry and Susan. I divided the workload between the two new staff members. I divided the workload among Gerry, Susan, and […]

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Word Choice – Plead Versus Pled

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Kelly’s question: “Can you please comment on ‘plead’ versus ‘pled’?” BizWritingTip response: According to the Oxford dictionary, to plead is to “make an earnest appeal; to maintain (a cause) esp. in a law court.” Example She will plead not guilty of the charges. The past tense of plead is either pled or pleaded. Pled is American English and pleaded is British English. Examples She pleaded guilty of the charges […]

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