Odesh’s question: “When would you use the word ‘pupil’ as opposed to ‘student’? I thought ‘pupil’ was more British and referred to younger people. ‘Student’ would refer to people in high school and university.” BizWritingTip response: According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, a pupil is “a person taught by another, esp. a schoolchild or student.” […]
BizWritingTip reader: I was under the impression that the past tense of “to hang” was “hung,” but I often hear people saying “hanged.” It doesn’t sound right to me. Please help. BizWritingTip response: Things are hung but people are hanged. In other words, when you are using the word in the sense of “to suspend,” then hung is the correct […]
Are you puzzled about the rules for numbers? If you are, you are not alone. People, organizations, and grammar and style books all seem to have their own preferences. British English recommends writing out all numbers under 100, but, according to The Canadian Press Stylebook, you should use words for numbers between one and nine. […]
You’re probably now asking yourself what a gerund is. A gerund is a word that ends in “ing.” It is normally a verb, but it is now being used as a noun. For example, I like writing. (Writing is a gerund.) The trick with a gerund is that if a noun or pronoun precedes it, […]
Jane’s comment: “In an earlier tip you said, ‘Which word is the most appropriate?’ Surely you meant to say, ‘Which is the more appropriate’ since you were comparing only two words (‘first’ versus ‘firstly’). Or, like so many other examples of misuse of the English language, has this too now entered into the growing list of […]
Fans of the TV show Sex in the City may remember the episode when Carrie compares herself to her ex-boyfriend’s fiancé. The new woman is younger, prettier, richer, and better educated. Carrie is devastated until – she receives a thank-you note. The “better” woman does not know the difference between their and there. Obviously, Carrie is not a […]
A cliché is a phrase or expression that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or purpose. The word originates from the era of block printing, when lazy printers would cut out frequently-used pieces of type, store them in a drawer, and bring them out again when the phrase reappeared.Initially refreshing, […]
One of the most common grammar errors you see and hear today is the me, myself and I problem. If you know the correct way of using these words, it is irritating to find them used incorrectly. One of my workshop participants said that the misuse is like having someone scrape their fingernails on a blackboard. At my local […]
Deborah’s question: “I see and hear in the media, and in conversations the word ‘less’ being used instead of ‘fewer.’ It is a pet peeve of mine, and I see it on T.V., in print, on packaging, and I hear it on the radio – the CBC no less! Has there been a change in […]
With today’s North American business readers, less is usually better. In other words, in Canada and the U.S. — in a business setting — readers prefer writers to use fewer words to convey information. A prime example is the past tense of verbs. Example (past tense) I edited the report. However, people who were educated […]