I have been out of the country for the past month and am still working my way through my emails. However, I am surprised at the number of readers who commented on the BizWritingTip regarding “texted” becoming a verb. They felt that the sentence “My daughter told my wife and me …” was grammatically incorrect. It should […]
Do you have trouble remembering whether to place the period inside or outside the quotation mark? If so, relax. The North American rules surrounding quotation marks are now quite simple. All periods and commas go inside the quotation marks; colons and semicolons are placed outside. Incorrect Time magazine says it’s “the best ice cream in […]
According to Wikipedia, “Season’s Greetings” is a term that wishes people well over the holiday season regardless of their religious beliefs. We tend to use the phrase more in writing than in speaking. It first appeared on winter season greeting cards along with “Merry Christmas,” “Compliments of the Season,” and “Christmas Greetings” in the late 19th […]
Mary’s question: “Is it always appropriate to send a ‘thank you’ email as a response to any email providing information? I am receiving more and more of these. It seems to me that email senders could set up automatic receipt notices if they wanted to be sure that their emails were received.” BizWritingTip response: I did […]
Marg’s question: “My manager says I can’t use contractions in my minutes. What do you think?”BizWritingTip response: First, contractions are words that are shortened by replacing a letter or letters with an apostrophe. Examples Cannot = can’t It is/it has = it’s We will = we’ll Contractions are not wrong, but they are considered a less […]
Paul’s question: “What is the difference between ‘recur’ and ‘reoccur’?” BizWritingTip response: If you say something recurs you are saying the event happens repeatedly – at regular intervals. Example We see a recurrence of flu symptoms in our patients beginning in December. (Flu happens every year.) How should we handle the recurring problem of all staff wanting to take their vacations during […]
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 […]
Kelly’s question: “Can you please comment on ‘plead’ versus ‘pled’?” BizWritingTip response: According to the Oxford dictionary, to plead is to “make an earnest appeal; to maintain (a cause) esp. in a law court.” Example She will plead not guilty of the charges. The past tense of plead is either pled or pleaded. Pled is American English and pleaded is British English. Examples She pleaded guilty of the charges […]
Phil’s question: “I often find sentences written like this ‘project delivery will not proceed as there has been no approval to date.’ It bothers me because I would expect to read ‘project delivery will not proceed because there has been no approval to date.’ Which form is more acceptable or correct.” BizWritingTip response: As, since, and because are used to […]
Dee’s question: “Please provide some examples on the proper usage of the words ‘facilitates’ and ‘coordinates.’ ” BizWritingTip response: “To facilitate” means to make something easier or less difficult. It also involves assisting or leading people to arrive at an understanding. Example He was hired to facilitate a panel discussion on the economy. (He will […]