Pamela’s question: “I often see ‘onsite’ used as one word. Shouldn’t ‘on site’ be two words with the hyphen inserted if you are using the word as an adjective, such as on-site meeting? Is ‘onsite’ ever one word?” BizWritingTip response: There is a tendency now to drop hyphens from words. But according to the Merriam Webster and […]
Pam’s question: “Please do a future issue on ‘if’ versus ‘whether.’ When asked to review documents, I often see my associates using ‘if’’ incorrectly. I would like to be able to give them a simple explanation.” BizWritingTip response: There are several rules regarding “if” and “whether.” I have tried to simplify them as much as possible. The […]
Paulo’s question: “In the sense of protection from danger, are the words ‘security’ and ‘safety’ interchangeable?” BizWritingTip response: People often confuse these words. Although the thought process is close, the words are not interchangeable. Safe comes from the Latin word salvus meaning “uninjured, healthy.” Secure comes from Latin securus, “free from care.” “Security” refers to […]
Todd’s question: “Would you hyphenate ‘cost effective’ in the following sentence? ‘He has designed cost effective training and consulting programs.’” BizWritingTip response: Words change according to their use in sentences. Normally, you would consider the word “cost” as a noun or as a verb. In the sentence provided, “cost” is now serving as an adjective […]
Anne’s question: “We would like to ask you for the proper punctuation. In the sentence, ‘We have talked to other CCAC’s about their experience,’ should it be CCAC’s or CCACs?” BizWritingTip response: This is a great question dealing with a common error. To pluralize capital letters and abbreviations ending in capital letters, just add a […]
Christina’s question: “Which sentence is correct — Thank you for your assistance in this matter or Thank you for your assistance on this matter?” BizWritingTip response: Unfortunately, neither sentence is correct. “Assistance on” is incorrect. The prepositions following assistance are “in,” “with,” or “to.”Although many writers interchange them, “assistance with” is used to indicate helping someone with someone or something. “Assistance in” indicates […]
Linden’s question: “Must the abbreviation ‘Ltd’ have a period after it? If you do use a period after it, how do you deal with the end of the sentence? Are there two periods, one for the abbreviation and one for the sentence?” BizWritingTip response: Any abbreviation composed of upper and lower case letters should have […]
Paulo’s question: “A famous supermarket announces that ‘We won’t be beat’ when referring to their unbeatable prices. Why beat and not beaten?” BizWritingTip response: Beat is more commonly used in conversational English. However, a grammatical purist would say the phrase “can’t be …” must be followed by the past participle beaten. Therefore, the supermarket should say its prices “can’t be beaten.” But as […]
Tammy’s question: “I’ve always thought that it is not appropriate to start a sentence using ‘but.’ What are your thoughts?” BizWritingTip response: Starting a sentence with but is not a grammar error. It is a style issue. In the academic world, the writing style is formal. Therefore, starting a sentence with but would be inappropriate […]
Paul’s question: “My manager was talking about smothered verbs last week. What are they and why should we avoid them?”BizWritingTip response: Smothered verbs deal with style. There is nothing wrong with them grammatically. Smothered verbs are created when writers take our strong English verbs and turn them into nouns. They then have to insert another verb […]