BizWritingTip reader: “I was recently told that in a written document numbers should be displayed in written form for values of nine or less and numerically for values of 10 or larger; is this correct?” BizWritingTip response: Yes, this is Canadian style. Spell out whole numbers below 10 and use figures for 10 and above. […]
Hilary’s question: “Please discuss the use of ‘who’ versus ‘that’ in a sentence. For example, in the sentence — There are many other participants in the videos that also share their stories about welding as a career of choice — I think it should be ‘who also share their stories.’ ” BizWritingTip response: This is […]
BizWritingTip reader: “When you close a business letter, does it still need to include the company name typed under the closing line? It seems like it duplicates the letterhead.” BizWritingTip response: Before letterhead, the courts required companies to put their name somewhere on the document to show they stood behind the correspondence. Most organizations placed […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Please review the following phrase and let me know which one sounds better: ‘in appreciation to’ or ‘in appreciation of.’ ” BizWritingTip response: When it comes to using the noun “appreciation” meaning “in favourable or grateful recognition,” the correct preposition is “of.” Therefore, you should say “in appreciation of.” Wow, that was an […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I read the following sentence in one of today’s papers: ‘Another seven senior executives were let go around the same time ….’ Is this correct?” BizWritingTip response: Good catch. This sentence is incorrect. The verb should have been “was.” Whenever the word “another” appears in a sentence as a subject or as an […]
Contractions can cause problems for some writers. Here’s a common error: let’s versus lets. Let’s is the contraction for “let us.” Lets is a form of the verb to let, meaning “to allow to.” Example (Incorrect) The new software program let’s us collect more data on our customers. (This sentence would, therefore, mean “The new software program let us us to collect more […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I wonder if you could write one about the use of ‘complement’ and ‘compliment.’ It seems the misuse of these words, in my opinion, is increasing. Is there an American variation influencing this or perhaps both can now be used interchangeably?” BizWritingTip response: You are right. These words are often confused. However, “complement” […]
BizWritingTip reader: “People write dates as Jan 12th, 2011, and others write Jan 12, 2011 or 12th Jan, 2011. Under what circumstances do we need the ‘th’ after the date and is the comma always needed before the year?” BizWritingTip response: For standard business writing in Canada, a semi-formal approach to writing dates is recommended. […]
I have noticed that some business writers have still not updated themselves with regard to the rules for North American quotation marks. The rule in Canada and the U.S. is that all periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks. (Changing the placement of periods and commas according to what is being quoted is the […]
BizWritingTip reader: “When do you use `to’ or ‘too?’ ” BizWritingTip response: Using “too” when it should be “to” is a common mistake today particularly among email writers who don’t always check what they have written.?“To” is one of the more widely used words in the English language, and it has many purposes and definitions. […]