BizWritingTip reader: “Please comment on the proper use of the words ‘currently’ and ‘presently.’ ” BizWritingTip response: This is an interesting question. While “current” and “present” mean the same when they are used as adjectives, the nuances of the words may differ when they are used as adverbs. As adjectives, both words imply “now existing.” Examples […]
I’d like to continue our previous BizWritingTip blog on capitalization with titles and occupations. When a word is a job description, use lower case. When it is a title, use upper case. Examples We need to hire another writer. (occupation – lower case) I suggest you contact Professor Jones (title – upper case) However, when a person’s name […]
Leah’s question: “Would you please write about the overuse of the word ‘that’? For example, shouldn’t ‘Please read the letter that I wrote’ be better as ‘please read the letter I wrote.’ ” BizWritingTip response: The use of the pronoun “that” is controversial. Fortunately, it is a style issue rather than a grammar one. In […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I just read this sentence in a book. ‘Are you allowing your friend to make you feel badly?’ I would have used ‘bad’ in this case. But maybe I am wrong. Please advise.” BizWritingTip response: Have the courage of your convictions! “Bad” is absolutely right here; “badly” is wrong. People often confuse the […]
BizWritingTip reader: “When you are referring to a person’s title, i.e., nurse, doctor, accountant, etc., when do you capitalize the first letter in their title and when do you not?” BizWritingTip response: According to The Canadian Press style book, Caps and Spelling, the style for capitalization is “modified down.” This means that occupations and job descriptions […]
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: “Is it ‘incidence’ or ‘incidents?’ For example: ‘While the incidence or incidents of illegal dumping has decreased…’ ” BizWritingTip response: This is a great question. Sometimes our English words sound so much alike it is difficult to know which one to use. “Incidence” is a singular noun and refers to the frequency of an occurrence. It cannot […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I was told that it is not correct to add a period after Ms as it isn’t a short form of a word as Mr. is for Mister. Is this correct?” BizWritingTip response: Yes, Ms. is not actually a short form. It was coined by well-known author Germaine Greer and other feminists in the 1970s […]
BizWritingTip reader: “I have heard that it is now acceptable to place a comma before the ‘and’ in a list in a sentence. Is this something that was changed recently? Can you help me out?” BizWritingTip response: When a sentence contains three or more items in a series, place a comma before the “and” to […]