Pat’s question: “Could you please discuss the grammatical misuse of the word ‘yourself.’ For example, I have heard people answer the question ‘How are you?’ by saying ‘Fine. And yourself?’ Shouldn’t it be ‘Fine. And you?’ ” BizwritingTip response: You are correct. “Yourself” is a reflexive pronoun. Reflexive pronouns are those that end in –self […]
Jason’s Question: “My question is regarding the usage of the word ‘got.’ My wife constantly corrects anyone that uses the word ‘got’ in a sentence because she believes this is bad grammar.” BizWritingTip response: Years ago, “have got” and “have gotten” were commonly used in English. About 300 years ago, the British dropped the “got” […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I often hear people make the following statement: ‘This one is different than that one.’ I think it should be ‘from’ and not ‘than.’ Please clarify this when you can.” BizWritingTip response: You are correct. Different from is the way to contrast two items. Examples My findings are different from hers. Vancouver is different from Montreal. This one is different from that […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Are ‘former’ and ‘latter’ still good words to use in the business world?” BizWritingTip response: Former and latter are both adjectives. They should only be used when referring to two people or things. Former refers to the first of the two things mentioned. Latter is used for the last item. Examples I can meet you at the main or the branch […]
Several BizWritingTip readers have commented on the news story regarding the decision of a city in England to ban apostrophes from street signs. Apparently, the politicians in Birmingham have decided apostrophes on signs are dated and confusing. The decision was the result of decades of debate and confusion surrounding punctuation on signs for local landmarks, […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I never know when it is correct to use the word ‘whose.’ Can you please clarify this word’s proper usage?” BizWritingTip response: “Whose” is the possessive form for the word “who.” It will always be followed by a noun (person, place or thing). Examples Whose proposal was chosen? Whose idea was it? In […]
Pam’s question: “I am responsible for editing various financial documents. In the explanations provided, examples are often included. Can you please clarify the use of eg and ie and how to punctuate them?” BizWritingTip response: The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin id est. Translated it means “that is.” Think of it as saying “in […]
Contractions can cause problems for some writers. Here’s a common error: let’s versus lets. Let’s is the contraction for “let us.” Lets is a form of the verb to let, meaning “to allow to.” Example (Incorrect) The new software program let’s us collect more data on our customers. (This sentence would, therefore, mean “The new software program let us us to collect more […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I wonder if you could write one about the use of ‘complement’ and ‘compliment.’ It seems the misuse of these words, in my opinion, is increasing. Is there an American variation influencing this or perhaps both can now be used interchangeably?” BizWritingTip response: You are right. These words are often confused. However, “complement” […]
BizWritingTip reader: “People write dates as Jan 12th, 2011, and others write Jan 12, 2011 or 12th Jan, 2011. Under what circumstances do we need the ‘th’ after the date and is the comma always needed before the year?” BizWritingTip response: For standard business writing in Canada, a semi-formal approach to writing dates is recommended. […]