BizWritingTip reader: “Will you please clarify the correct use of ‘that’ versus ‘which’ in qualifying sentences? It seems to me people often use ‘which’ when they should be using ‘that.’ ” BizWritingTip response: It’s interesting that I have received three separate requests for this information in the past two weeks. So although I have dealt […]
BizWritingTip reader: “One of my pet peeves around the office is when people refer to themselves as ‘myself’ in a sentence, as in this example, ‘The list was put together by myself.’ I would use ‘me’ here; am I correct?” BizWritingTip response: You have just hit on one of my pet peeves also: me versus myself. I grind […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I was recently told that in a written document numbers should be displayed in written form for values of nine or less and numerically for values of 10 or larger; is this correct?” BizWritingTip response: Yes, this is Canadian style. Spell out whole numbers below 10 and use figures for 10 and above. […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I have heard that it is now acceptable to place a comma before the ‘and’ in a list in a sentence. Is this something that was changed recently? Can you help me out?” BizWritingTip response: When a sentence contains three or more items in a series, place a comma before the “and” to […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I have heard that it is now acceptable to place a comma before the ‘and’ in a list in a sentence. Is this something that was changed recently? Can you help me out?” BizWritingTip response: When a sentence contains three or more items in a series, place a comma before the “and” to […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Can you explain the use of apostrophes with words ending in ‘s’? I often forget, e.g., Louis Braille’s system of writing or Louis’ system.” BizWritingTip response: This is a grammar issue that has many writers baffled. But you are correct with your suggestions. To make singular or plural nouns that do not already […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I noticed in your last tip that you used a.m. instead of AM. Was there a reason for this?” BizWritingTip response: According to both the Oxford Canadian Dictionary and The Canadian Press Stylebook, the designations for morning and afternoon are written in the lowercase with periods between each letter. Examples 10 a.m. 3:15 p.m. Note: There […]
Antonio’s question: “Do you think you could help me in my personal battle against the wrong use of ‘me,’ both in how it’s used and where it’s placed? I am sure you hear ‘me and my cousin went to the movies,’ ‘me and my friend had lunch together’ and on and on… and you want to scream […]
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 question: “In our organization, we have a department called Children’s Services. Is this correct? I thought the apostrophe indicates ownership. In this case, the children do not own the services. The department provides the services for children.” BizWritingTip response: Your question is not a simple one to answer. There are a couple of points that […]