Deane’s question: “In sports, news nouns, such as ‘summit’ and ‘medal,’ are often treated as if they were verbs. For example, someone will write: ‘I don’t expect them to medal in that tournament,’ or ‘he is expected to summit Mount Everest this afternoon.’ Is this correct in formal writing?” BizWritingTip response: What you are concerned about even has a name. […]
Kathryn’s question: “When starting a sentence with a number, should it be printed numerically or alphabetically?” BizWritingTip response: Here is a great example of how technology drives changes in our writing. The rule in this instance was quite simple. If a number started a sentence, you had to write it out. And you would always rearrange […]
Tammy’s question: “I’ve always thought that it is not appropriate to start a sentence using ‘but.’ What are your thoughts?” BizWritingTip response: Starting a sentence with but is not a grammar error. It is a style issue. In the academic world, the writing style is formal. Therefore, starting a sentence with but would be inappropriate […]
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 […]
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 […]
Jean’s question: “Could you please provide some guidance with regard to the closing on a business letter. My colleagues are no longer comfortable with “Yours sincerely” or “Yours truly” and, to add fat to the fire, they are seeing business letters with no closing at all — just the person’s name, title, and contact information. Is this the current […]
Betty’s question: “When should divisions with a department and staff titles be capitalized?” BizWritingTip response: Organizations often have their own style guides that list the words they want capitalized. If your organization does not have a style guide, here are some basic rules from The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling book and The Chicago Manual […]
Diane’s question : “How should you sign off at the end of an email? Some people don’t sign off but just use their signature box, which includes their full name. Others place their first name above the signature box.” BizWritingTip response: Either way is correct. It’s all about the tone you want to create. If you […]
Klaus’s Question: “Here is something I’ve wondered about since I’ve seen it used both ways. When showing lack of concern, which is correct, ‘I could care less’ or ‘I couldn’t care less’?” BizWritingTip response: The expression “I could care less” has caused a great deal of criticism for many years. The original phrase “I couldn’t […]
Kirk’s question: “I am drafting a thank-you letter to two men. In the address portion of the letter, do I write Mr. X and Mr. Y or do I write Messrs. X and Y? And similarly, if the letter was addressed to two women is it correct to use Mmes.?” BizWritingTip response: Here is another […]