Brenda’s question: “I understand that ‘licence’ is a noun and ‘license’ is a verb. Our question is about the word licencing/licensing. For example, would you say ‘Microsoft will be licencing users next year’ or ‘Microsoft will be licensing users next year’?” BizWritingTip response: The word “licensing” is always spelt with an “s.” Example (correct) Microsoft will be licensing users next […]
According to Wikipedia, “Season’s Greetings” is a term that wishes people well over the holiday season regardless of their religious beliefs. We tend to use the phrase more in writing than in speaking. It first appeared on winter season greeting cards along with “Merry Christmas,” “Compliments of the Season,” and “Christmas Greetings” in the late 19th […]
Monique’s question: “I understand that hyphenation must be used between two words that form one adjective. However, if the words are a person’s name what would be the correct way of writing it, for example, Dag-Hammerskjöld-Honorary-Medal or Dag Hammerskjöld-Honorary Medal?” BizWritingTip response: You are correct on the basic rule. If two or three words form an […]
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 […]
Matt’s question: “I have a question on the use of ‘on line’ vs. ‘online.’ In a recent blog post you spelled it ‘on line.’ Was this correct?” BizWritingTip response: You got me. Thank you. I learn a lot from my readers. Although you often see the two spellings interchanged, I should have written it as one word […]
Nicole’s question: “I recently received an email from an employee looking for clarity between he and they. If you are not sure of the gender would you say ‘He will attend training’ or ‘They will attend training’?” BizWritingTip response: The answer to this question has changed over time. In the past, writers used the pronouns he, his, him or himself […]
Mary’s question: “Is it always appropriate to send a ‘thank you’ email as a response to any email providing information? I am receiving more and more of these. It seems to me that email senders could set up automatic receipt notices if they wanted to be sure that their emails were received.” BizWritingTip response: I did […]
Robert’s question: “We are having a debate in our office as to whether it is acceptable to use ‘r’ for ‘are’ and other similar shortcuts when sending emails internally.” BizWritingTip response: Emails are a standard form of business communication, and they should be treated the same as any business document. People expect to read them […]
Evelyn’s question: “Can you please describe when to use ‘whomever’ and when to use ‘whoever’?” BizWritingTip response: If I said whoever is a pronoun in the nominative form and whomever is a pronoun in the objective form would it help? I thought not. But let me show you a trick to help you easily determine […]
Danielle’s question: “We are having a debate in the office as to whether you can use a colon after the word ‘including’ in the middle of a sentence. Can you please help us?” BizWritingTip response: A colon signals to the reader that an explanation follows. You can only use a colon if a complete sentence precedes […]