1. Parentheses ( ) are used to insert explanatory information within a sentence or paragraph. Use them when you want to provide additional information that really isn’t essential to the reader. Examples This was the best year we’ve had in a long time (in terms of sales).?Note: The period is outside the parentheses because in terms […]
Muhammed’s question: “I have read that The Associated Press has officially killed off ‘e-mail’ in favour of ‘email’ in their official style guide. What are your thoughts?” BizWritingTip response: My first thought is that whatever I write will irritate someone. E-mail is the original spelling of the word. Normally, all English words that use a […]
BizWritingTip reader: “Please do a piece that explains when to use ‘between’ and ‘among.’ Increasingly, ‘between’ is used when ‘among’ should be used. I was taught that ‘between’ references two people and ‘among’ references three or more. In fact, even Sesame Street taught this.” BizWritingTip response: Yes, Jean, you and Sesame Street are correct – […]
A 2007 study conducted in 32 countries shows that people are walking 10 per cent faster than they did a decade ago. If we enter our offices after travelling in the fast lane, how does it impact the rest of our day? And how does it affect our reading styles? I believe we are turning […]
Due to is a phrase that many people misuse. We could tell you to use due to in front of adjective phrases. But let’s keep it simple. Use due to if you could also use caused by. Example The rising gas prices were caused by low inventories. The rising gas prices were due to low […]
“Amount” and “number” are words that are often misused. “Amount” is used for money amounts and for things that cannot be physically counted. Example The amount of work has increased this year. “Number” refers to things that can be counted. Example I spent the day reducing the number of emails in my inbox. Exercise 1. […]
A BizWritingTip reader wrote: “At work, I do a lot of proofreading written by various people in Canada, U.S. and even Europe. One inconsistency I have noticed is how the monetary value of each country is written. For example, when referring to Canadian dollars, I have seen it written: $C, CA and CAD. When referring […]
Who Versus That I have noticed lately that there seems to be an increasing use of the word that in news reporting rather than the word who. Example The soldiers that fought in the battle. It is not incorrect. You can use that for both objects and people, but it is not frequently used for […]
Susan’s question: “I had a discussion the other day about the word ‘center/centre.’ I was under the impression that ‘centre’ was a noun and ‘to center’ something was the verb. But I was told that it was grammatically correct to use ‘centred.’ ” BizWritingTip response: The word centre comes from the Latin centrum meaning “stationary […]
BizWritingTip reader: “My pet peeve is the use of towards instead of toward. I see it all the time in business communication, e.g., ‘… progress towards our goal.’ To my knowledge, there is no such word as towards. Am I correct?” BizWritingTip response: Towards is traditionally used in British English and toward is more traditionally used in American English. According […]