Anne’s question: “We would like to ask you for the proper punctuation. In the sentence, ‘We have talked to other CCAC’s about their experience,’ should it be CCAC’s or CCACs?” BizWritingTip response: This is a great question dealing with a common error. To pluralize capital letters and abbreviations ending in capital letters, just add a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Jenny’s question: “Would you please comment on the use of apostrophes in names on plaques outside family homes. I see many of these signs that use the family name with an apostrophe as in The Wilson’s. Is this correct? This usage makes me think that the house belongs to The Wilson.” BizWritingTip response: You are absolutely right. The Wilson’s is wrong. […]
Jennifer’s question: “A bone of contention has arisen as to whether ‘dislike’ is synonymous with ‘do not like.’ For example, I maintain that the statements ‘We do not like tardiness’ and ‘We dislike tardiness’ are synonymous.” BizWritingTip response: I understand your rationale. According to the dictionary, both phrases – dislike and do not like — have the same meaning. However, […]
Ketta’s question: “Could you please provide some examples of the proper usage for ‘try to’ and ‘try and’?” BizWritingTip response: According to the Oxford Dictionary, try means to “make an effort with a view of success.” Traditionally, when the first verb is a strong request, it is followed by the word “to” and the verb. […]
We thought you might enjoy the following poem sent to us by one of our readers. Thank you Debbie! Wonderful English from Around the World Only the English could have invented this language… We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes, But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes. One fowl is […]
Here are a few reminders to ensure your documents are clear and concise: Keep your average sentence length to 18 words. Avoid sentences that require more than four pieces of punctuation. Keep opening paragraphs under four lines in a print document and under three lines in a screen document. Keep body paragraphs under eight lines […]