Posts

Writing Style – To Capitalize or Not to Capitalize

BizWritingTip reader: “In my line of work, I often write letters to committee members and physicians something like this: ‘We are pleased to hear that you accepted Gayle Sawyer into the Internal Medicine Program.’ “My question is should the word program have a capital letter? We have noticed on occasions that program was typed with […]

Word Choice – Into, in, or in to

BizWritingTip reader: “When do you use in versus into? I also have seen in to. Are they interchangeable?” BizWritingTip response: These are tricky questions – often requiring some thought on the part of the writer. The preposition “into” is used to imply movement or change or contact. Examples (correct) Please have the brochure translated into French. (This statement implies […]

Spelling

There are numerous English words that have the same meaning but are spelled/spelt differently. For example, in Britain and in many other English speaking countries people write “centre” and “organize.” But in the U.S., writers use “center” and “organise.” Why? The reason is interesting. In the early 1900s, the American industrialist/philanthropist Andrew Carnegie believed English […]

Grammar Tip – Punctuation With Lists

What punctuation should I use with a bulleted or a numbered list? This is a commonly-asked question. Although many writers like to use bulleted lists in their business documents, list writing is difficult. You must be consistent. Your lists must contain all sentence fragments or all complete sentences. Your lists should never be a mixture […]

Grammar Tip – Commas and “and”

BizWritingTip reader: When is it ok to use a comma before “and”? BizWritingTip response: Many people tell me that they have been told never to put a comma before “and.” However, as we all know, never say “never.” When listing a series of ideas in a sentence, you separate the thoughts with commas. But when you […]

Grammar Tip – Commas With Introductory Thoughts

Mary Ann’s question: “Should there be a comma in the following sentence: ‘If you’re driving tired you’re driving impaired’?” BizWritingTip response: Years ago, writers were told to place a comma wherever they would take a breath. But this could sometimes be confusing as people don’t always have the same breathing patterns. And people learning English […]

Grammar Tip – Most Is or Most Are

Deane’s question: “Is it okay to write ‘Most of the population speaks English.’ Or should it be ‘Most of the population speak English.’ BizWritingTip response: This question deals with subject and verb agreement and collective nouns. Words such as all, none, any, some, more and most are considered pronouns. The verb following may be singular […]