Marina’s question: “When do I use ‘I’ in a document and when do I use ‘we’? Are they interchangeable?” BizWritingTip blog response: First of all, yes, you can use both I and we in the same business document. Years ago, you were only supposed to use “we.” Nowadays, I means you personally. We refers to everyone who works for your organization. Examples If you […]
Pam’s question: “What is a proper adjective and should you capitalize it?” BizWritingTip response: A proper adjective is a word derived from a proper noun. For example, Canadian and American are proper adjectives because they are derived from the proper nouns Canada and America. Proper adjectives are always capitalized. Examples I love Italian desserts. (Italy) We are going to see a Shakespearean play. (Shakespeare) He employs Machiavellian tactics. (Machiavelli) […]
Susan’s question: “Please tell me the difference between its and their. For example, would I write ‘ABC Enterprises offered all its employees a bonus’ or ‘ABC Enterprises offered all their employees a bonus?” BizWritingTip response: As ABC Enterprises is considered a singular noun, you would have to use the personal pronoun “its.” Example ABC Enterprises […]
Deane’s question: “I wonder if it’s acceptable to write spacecrafts (or aircrafts) instead of using the singular. I thought ‘craft’ was similar to the use of sheep – one word functions for both singular and plural.” BizWritingTip response: Again, another example of our words changing. Most dictionaries, e.g., Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Cambridge Dictionaries Online, agree with you. “Craft” refers […]
Sandra’s question: “In words beginning with the prefix ‘pre,’ I am having difficulty determining when to hyphenate and when to state them as one word (or two words if that’s an option), for instance, words such as ‘pre content.’ ” BizWritingTip response: A prefix is a short word (e.g., anti-, ex-, post-, pre-) placed before another word […]
Heather’s question: “In one of your biztips, you closed with ‘Trust this helps.’ Should it not be ‘I trust this helps’?” BizWritingTip response: You are right in your thinking. “Trust this helps” is not a complete sentence. However, in business writing, it is common practice to be a little less strict with our closing lines in […]
Russ’s question: “My manager just told me I am not using apostrophes in the right place. I believe I was taught to add them whenever a word ends in ‘s.’ But she says this is wrong.” BizWritingTip’s response: I have noticed this grammar problem a lot lately: apostrophes being misused and abused. Apostrophes have two uses. […]
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 […]