BizWritingTip reader: “I have seen ‘till and ‘til. Which is correct?” BizWritingTip response: First of all, ‘till is incorrect. According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, the correct word is till (no apostrophe); it is an accepted variant of until and “may be used interchangeably with it except at the beginning of a sentence.” The decision as to whether to use till or until is often decided by the way […]
Linden’s question: “The verb I always have trouble with is ‘lay’ and its past tense and past participle. Can you provide some guidance?” BizwritingTip response: “Lay” and “lie” are two verbs that fall into the irregular category. In other words, the normal rules for changing their tenses do not apply. But let’s start with their […]
BizWritingTip reader: “In a prior BizWritingTip, you wrote: ‘None of these mechanisms have the ability to improve our reading skills.’ Isn’t this an error in subject and verb agreement? Shouldn’t it be: none of these mechanisms has the ability”? BizWritingTip response: In very formal writing, “none” takes a singular verb. However, in business writing, “none” […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Can you tell me the real difference between assume and presume? I know presume has a more negative connotation, but the dictionary definitions for them are so similar. The wordassume has been given such a bad rap over the years with the bad joke about what assuming does. What is the correct usage of these words?” According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, assume […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I always believed that you should use who when you are referring to people and that when referring to things. However, these two words seem interchangeable now. What is correct?” BizWritingTip response: A few reference books say you can use both words interchangeably. However, conventional thinking supports your understanding. Use who (and its related forms, whose and whom) to refer to people. […]
BizWritingTip reader: “My colleagues and I were astounded to learn that “learnt” is an acceptable British variation of “learned,” to express past learning. It is accepted by MS Word in its “Spell-check.” However, the MS Word thesaurus does not offer a synonym. Is this widely used and accepted as proper English in North America, or […]
Arun’s question: “I have noticed that sometimes the word ‘peoples’ is used instead of ‘people.’ What is the difference? I always thought that ‘people’ is plural.” BizWritingTip response: As long as I am answering this question, we might as well start with the word “person.” A person is an individual human being. It comes from […]
BizWritingTip reader: “When do you use in versus into? I also have seen in to. Are they interchangeable?” BizWritingTip response: These are tricky questions – often requiring some thought on the part of the writer. The preposition “into” is used to imply movement or change or contact. Examples (correct) Please have the brochure translated into French. (This statement implies […]
Muhammed’s question: “I have read that The Associated Press has officially killed off ‘e-mail’ in favour of ‘email’ in their official style guide. What are your thoughts?” BizWritingTip response: My first thought is that whatever I write will irritate someone. E-mail is the original spelling of the word. Normally, all English words that use a […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Please do a piece that explains when to use ‘between’ and ‘among.’ Increasingly, ‘between’ is used when ‘among’ should be used. I was taught that ‘between’ references two people and ‘among’ references three or more. In fact, even Sesame Street taught this.” BizWritingTip response: Yes, Jean, you and Sesame Street are correct – […]