A BizWritingTip reader asked me to explain the difference between talked to and spoke to. Both words are the past tenses of words with similar meanings. Spoke to means “held a conversation with.” Talked to means “communicated ideas, information, or feelings in spoken words.” However, talked to is deemed a little more forceful as it […]
Whenever I conduct a grammar workshop, a participant will invariably ask, “How many spaces should you leave after a period?” The answer is one — for a computer. (You use two spaces after a period when working on a typewriter.) It is amazing how concerned some people are about this issue. Frankly, I don’t seriously […]
Aarani’s question: “I always find myself wondering whether to use ‘I’ or ‘we.’ I was writing an email just a few minutes ago and wrote ‘I appreciate your help.’ This was directed to an external contact. Would it be better to use ‘I’ or ‘we’ — as in my collective team/company?” BizWritingTip response: “I” means […]
When people take a writing course, they expect to hear a lot about the importance of clarity and conciseness. However, in my mind they are out of date on their emphasis. Fifteen years ago, everyone was concerned about plain language and getting a message completely on one page. And often times to do this, they […]
I had a question from a BizWritingTip reader recently. She wrote: “I always have trouble using ‘can’ and ‘could’ in a sentence. Could you please provide some examples?” Well, not only could I provide some examples, I can. The word “can” expresses power or ability. Example I can provide the answer to your question.?I can […]
How do people read letters and emails? Remember today’s readers are skimmers, and they want key information quickly. They also try to quickly prioritize a message to determine how much time they need to spend on it.??Because letters have been around so long, people are familiar with their layout. Busy people tend to read the […]
Many people are confused about when to use “which” and when to use “that.” Often times, it is a subjective call on the part of the writer. “Which” means the words following are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. In other words, the information adds a new element the reader may not need. […]
Marion’s question: “It would be helpful if you dealt with the correct usage of the verb ‘comprise.’ I believe it is incorrectly used in the example from another BizWritingTip: ‘The NAFTA Secretariat is comprised of a Canadian Section, a Mexican Section and a United States Section.’ ” BizWritingTip response: Back in the days of the dinosaurs, […]
Terry’s question: “I tend to not use the word ‘the’ in front of acronyms, but I see this used in documents more and more. Which is correct: ‘REIP provides regional outreach services to Northeastern Ontario’ or ‘The REIP provides regional outreach services to Northeastern Ontario’? If the word ‘program’ is added after REIP, I would use ‘the.’ ” BizWritingTip response: Grammatically, […]
Nat’s question: “Lately, I have seen quite a few people write ‘I will talk to it at the meeting,’ meaning a particular subject. This sounds weird to me. You can talk to someone but you should talk about a particular subject. Please enlighten me.” BizWritingTip response: You are absolutely right. The phrase “talk to” is used […]