The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar has declared March 4, National Grammar Day. How do you celebrate it? Speak well! Write well! Read well! And on March 4, if you see a sign with an appalling apostrophe, send a kind note to the owner. If your local radio announcer says “between you and I,” set […]
In a previous post, we discussed some of the rules surrounding hyphens, and I promised to provide more guidelines in this BizWritingTip. I did say not to put a hyphen between a compound adjective (two adjectives) when the first word ends in “ly.” Examples (correct) Environmentally friendly packaging Poorly written report There is, however, an exception: When […]
Marlene’s question: “I hear people say ‘zero dollars.’ If it’s zero, shouldn’t it be ‘zero dollar’?” BizWritingTip response: “Zero” can be used as a noun, verb or adjective. Examples (correct) Turn the dial to zero. (Zero is a singular noun.) We all got zeros on the test. (Zero is a plural noun.) She quickly zeroed in […]
BizWritingTip reader: “So what is correct: Let’s discuss it in the morning or lets discuss it in the morning?” BizWritingTip response: Many business people associate apostrophes with possession. However, the apostrophe was initially used in the 16th century to indicate the omission of letters. It turns words into a contraction. (It wasn’t until the 17th century that printers […]
A BizWritingTip reader has asked us to review the best practices for sending letters to people you don’t know. In years past, it was acceptable to begin a letter to someone you didn’t know with Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Ladies and Gentlemen. (Note: There is no “e”on madam.) However, the North American business culture is […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I was wondering if you can provide an abbreviated guide as to which words are hyphenated. I think you provided a short piece on this some time ago, but I since learned there are other rules also.” BizWritingTip response: This is quite a complicated grammar question involving a number of rules and exceptions. […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Do you have an opinion on the construction ‘Bob’s information was different than mine’? I see it all the time and do not like it. I would write ‘Bob’s information was different from mine,’ but I appear to be one of the few who feel this way.” BizWritingTip response: The phrases different from and different than are […]
A BizWritingTip reader wrote: I often see sentences that end in a preposition or hear commercials that do the same. Am I out of touch? Is this acceptable? Not when I went to school. It makes me wonder just how much attention is given to the correct use of the English language in both written […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Can you please advise which sentence is correct? ‘Other information remain unchanged.’ Or, ‘Other information remains unchanged.’ Is the word ‘information’ considered a plural or singular noun?” BizWritingTip response: The word “information” is deemed an uncountable noun. In other words, you cannot count it on your fingers. Uncountable nouns take a singular verb. […]
Seng’s question: “When referring to a person who may be delegated a task, would you write designate or designee? For example, the manager or designate/designee is responsible for approving the report.” BizWritingTip response: Designate is a verb meaning “to appoint” or “to mark or point out clearly.” Examples Who was designated to write the report? […]