Deane’s question: “Should terms such as francophone and anglophone be capitalized. I don’t think so as they do not refer to races of people per se. However, especially in the case of francophone, people in government and in the press often write Francophone.” BizWritingTip response: My first inclination was to say “no.” Do not capitalize […]
Angela’s question: “Can you please describe when to use ‘reoccur’ and when to use ‘recur.’ Are they interchangeable?” BizWritingTip response: Aha more controversial words! The dictionary defines “recur” as a verb meaning “to occur again” or “be repeated.” (“Recurrence” is the noun.) Examples Lightning recurred throughout the night. (It happened often.) It is a recurring […]
Daniel’s question: “I am not sure which is the right spelling: coworkers or co-workers?” BiztipWritingTip response: Unfortunately, this question is still being debated. Both the CP (Canadian Press) and the AP (Associated Press) stylebooks recommend co-worker. So does the dictionary associated with the MicroSoft Word program. But The Chicago Manual of Style and The Economist’s […]
Claire’s question: “What is the correct use of the expression ‘as well’ versus using ‘also’?” BizWritingTip response: Also is an adverb meaning “in addition, likewise, besides, moreover.” As well is an idiom and is defined as “also, in addition, to an equal extent, too.” Although these words appear similar, do not interchange them. Also is […]
Suzanne’s question: “I often struggle with the use of quotation marks in conjunction with periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. I was educated in Scotland, and we sometimes put them outside.” BizWritingTip response: Yes, the North American English rule for using periods with quotation marks is now different from the British English rule. North American […]
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 […]
Judy’s question: “When writing about a sports team, such as the North Stars, is the accompanying verb singular or plural? Should it be ‘the North Stars consists’ or ‘the North Stars consist’?” BizWritingTip response: When referring to a collective noun, such as a team, use a singular verb. Example (correct) The team is playing tonight. […]
Jo’s question: “Which is correct? ‘There was lightning and thunder last night,’ or ‘there were lightning and thunder.’ ” BizWritingTip response: This question relates to subject and verb agreement. When a sentence begins with there or here, the actual subject is considered to be the word or words following the verb. Use a singular verb if the […]
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 […]
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 […]