Posts

Closing Lines in Business Documents

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 […]

Text Shorthand in Emails

Robert’s question: “We are having a debate in our office as to whether it is acceptable to use ‘r’ for ‘are’ and other similar shortcuts when sending emails internally.” BizWritingTip response:  Emails are a standard form of business communication, and they should be treated the same as any business document. People expect to read them […]

Grammar Tip – Abbreviations That End a Sentence

Linden’s question: “Must the abbreviation ‘Ltd’ have a period after it? If you do use a period after it, how do you deal with the end of the sentence? Are there two periods, one for the abbreviation and one for the sentence?” BizWritingTip response:  Any abbreviation composed of upper and lower case letters should have […]

Word Choice – Would Versus Could

BizWritingTip reader: “I am not sure when to use ‘could’ as opposed to ‘would.’ For example, I often write: ‘Would you be able to send me the figures?’ It seems more polite, but is it grammatically correct?” BizWritingTip response: Yes. It is grammatically correct. “Would” and “could” are similar words with slightly different meanings. It […]

Grammar Tip – Explaining Colons

The colon (:) is an important punctuation mark in that it signals to your readers that an explanation follows. Unfortunately, many readers tend to overuse it. If you are staying on the same line, you must have a complete sentence before you use a colon. Correct Our client list includes many companies from the automotive […]

Word Choice – Organize or Organise

Gail’s question: “It is becoming more difficult to remember the correct Canadian spelling of words, especially since Microsoft software only references American grammar and spelling.  For example, I would spell “organisation” with an ‘s.’ Is this correct?” BizWritingTip response: My favourite reference books for Canadian spelling are The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling and the […]

Email Tip – Out-of-Office Messages

Gillian’s question: “I am wondering about including the reason for your absence in an out-of-office message if it is of a personal nature other than vacation. Do you require a reason such as a death in the family, medical or maternity leave?  Is it fair or acceptable to say ‘… for personal reasons …’?” BizWritingTip […]

Word Choice – Might and May

A BizWritingTip reader asked, “Can you explain the difference between might and may?” Yes, I can. Both might and may imply permission or possibility. And might is the past tense of may. Examples The figures may be accurate. (possibility) You may include the cleaning bill in your expense account. (permission) I might have been able […]

Writing Style – A Business Case in the Real World

In today’s workplace, it is a wonderful skill to be able to write a business case. In fact, many business schools spend weeks training their students how to write a comprehensive proposal that covers all angles: Situational Assessment, Problem Statement, Project Description and Objectives, Solution Description, Cost and Benefit Analysis, Financial Assessment, Implementation Timetable, Critical […]

Grammar Tip – Dot, Dot, Dot the Ellipsis

People often want to know about the punctuation they refer to as dot, dot, dot. It is actually called an ellipsis. It is formed by using three spaced periods and indicates there are missing words. As one of my workshop participants said, “It is really saying yada, yada, yada.” Correct – As usual, the weekly […]