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Glossary of Writing and Writing Errors* |
The English language is difficult in several ways, beginning with the sheer number of words (between 250,000 and 750,000, depending on the definition of word), some of which have very specific correct usage (oxforddictionaries.com/page/93). With all these words, and just so many different sounds available, it is no wonder we have so many synonyms and homonyms, or that the crossword puzzle and limerick originated in English. Consequently, with all those words available, we have many opportunities to misuse them.
A complete guide to correct writing may require almost as many words as the language has, and would be beyond the scope of this book. If you need a general-purpose guide to the basic rules of writing, we suggest A Writer’s Reference, by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers (www.bedfordstmartins.com). Our purpose here is to present and explain the writing needs you are likely to encounter in your career. With that in mind, let us proceed to the writing topics that create the most challenges for documentation, reporting, and advocacy.
Categories of Common Writing Errors
Sentences
Elements of Language: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, and Conjunctions
First, the essentials of the sentence: noun or pronoun plus a verb:
Noun: Person (e.g., Michael); place (e.g., the street corner); or thing (e.g., weapon).
Pronoun: Word that substitutes for a noun. Examples: I, me, you, we, us, it, he, she, they, them. For example, Michael is a noun; he is a pronoun. Pronouns vary by the three “persons” (first, second, or third), singular versus plural case, and placement in the sentence (subject or object).
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Subject and object: All sentences have subjects; most also have objects (discussed in detail subsequently). Briefly, the subject is the main topic of the sentence (a noun or pronoun: person, place, or thing), and must take some action (verb); the object receives the action, or is affected by it.
Verb: Word that gives action to the noun or pronoun. The “home base” or “root” of verbs, also called the infinitive, is the “to-form”: to eat, to see, to write, to run, and so on.
We conjugate verbs into six categories, each representing a different “person” and case:
Here are a few examples in the present tense, using pronouns as subjects:
Example, using the verb to write:
|
Singular |
Plural |
First person |
I write |
We write |
Second person |
You write |
You write |
Third person |
He, she, or it writes |
They write |
Note that the formula for the conjugated word endings (additions to the to-form [the root] of to write), is just to add an s in the third person singular; the other forms just use the root word, “write.” Many other languages change the verb’s last letter for each conjugation (Spanish “er” verbs: o, as, a, amos, as, an), but in English regular verbs we add “s” to just the third person singular form and use the root word for the other five situations. This is for the present tense. We will discuss the past tense shortly.
The verbs to be and to have are basic for building more complex verb forms, and are irregular, meaning they are conjugated unusually:
The verb root, to be, appears nowhere in its singular or plural conjugations. For “to have,” the third person singular is irregular, but the other five forms follow the formula of regular verb conjugation.
215Looking at the past tense, let us compare the regular verbs, to write and to smile, with the irregular verbs, to be and to have:
For regular verbs and some irregular words (e.g., to have), we change the root word and use it for all six conjugations. In this example, write changed to wrote (“i” became “o”); smile got a “d” (verbs that end in consonants get “ed”); and have became had. But the past of “to be” follows a different pattern: was, were, and was in the singular; were in the plural.
English as a second language (ESL) students pretty much have to memorize the various English verb forms. We should give them a lot of credit for taking on the challenge as adults, when it is particularly difficult to learn new languages. Many other languages have more consistent conjugation rules—once you know those rules, you can conjugate almost any verb accurately.
As we move forward into sentence structure, occasionally we will refer to first through third persons singular (e.g., I, you, she) and plural (e.g., we, you, they), and subject (e.g., I) and object (e.g., me) for pronouns. These topics tend to create problems for documentation. Let us begin with pronouns.
Possessive pronouns, subject, and object of a sentence:
These are pronouns because they substitute for names of people, places, or things. Notice the absence of apostrophes with possessive pronouns. When people, places, or things are specified, they get apostrophes in the possessive, but when pronouns are used, there are no apostrophes.
216Examples—possessive nouns and pronouns as subjects of sentences:
Steve’s bank account is down to single digits.
His bank account is down to single digits.
The social service agency’s case load grew by 15% last year.
Its case load grew by 15% last year.
Examples—possessive nouns and pronouns as objects in sentences:
The agency’s expanded hours are convenient for my clients’ schedules.
The agency’s expanded hours are convenient for their schedules.
Its expanded hours are convenient for their schedules.
The benefits of our expanded hours are theirs.
Note that there are no apostrophes in any of the pronouns, including the last example, in which “theirs” seems to be begging for an apostrophe, but would be incorrect with it. See the section on apostrophes, in Chapter 10: Fundamentals of Effective Writing for more details about plural pronoun possessives.
Let us move from nouns, verbs, and pronouns to the rest of sentence structure. Sentences need at least one noun or pronoun, plus at least one verb. Anything less is an incomplete sentence. We will elaborate on this in a little while.
Other Word Forms Commonly Found in Professional Writing
Adjective: Word that modifies a noun.
Example: All colors are adjectives because they modify nouns, e.g., brown eyes. Sometimes, two words join together to create a hyphenated compound adjective (see the section Punctuation, later on): “You, my brown-eyed girl.”
Adverb: Modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
Example: Bright brown eyes (modifying an adjective); extremely bright brown eyes (modifying another adverb); she furtively eyed me with those bright brown eyes (modifying the verb, to eye). Notice that in some but not all cases double modifiers get hyphenated.
Before moving on, we need to point out that adjectives and adverbs are potential landmines in professional writing, because they usually convey judgment rather than objective reporting. We discuss this in detail in Chapter 2: Critical Thinking for the Justice Professional.
Conjunction: Word that connects phrases or groups of words to each other (e.g., and, or, but, however).
Article: direct and indirect
The, a, and an are used to introduce nouns. In some cases no article is needed.
If a common noun is a specific unnamed person (the woman in red), place (the subway platform), or thing (the marble), the is proper lead-in, because you are referring to a specific thing. Of course, most proper nouns do not get an article, because those nouns stand on their own: Paris, Shirley, Fredonia University. But some proper nouns need 217“the”: the Atlantic Ocean, the Silk Route, the Fredonia Police Department. Most singular proper nouns do not need a lead-in (e.g., Mt. Everest), but a few do, especially noteworthy places (e.g., the Gobi Desert). If the sentence refers to a complete category, usually no article is needed: “Fish usually swim into the current.” In this sentence “fish” captures the complete category (all the fish on Earth), but “current” does not. There are other currents besides the ones in rivers and streams.
Spell check usually will indicate errors of omission or commission involving articles. The issue for professional documentation is not which article to use, but when to use an article. Basic rules of English dictate situations that call for articles or other lead-ins (words that introduce nouns, e.g., all, some, any, this, that). But organizations usually have their own rules for whether and when an article is used. For example, often, “client” does not get the expected direct article (“the”): “Client arrived at 3 PM, as scheduled.” Sometimes, the agency will have a printed set of guidelines; other times you need to figure it out on your own. A good orientation activity when you begin a new job is to read some files, to learn both about the work the agency does and how information is documented. This applies to documentation formatting also; that is, the types of structures the agency uses.
Basic Components of Sentences: Subject, Verb, and Predicate
We write in sentences. In order to understand proper word use (managing all those thousands of words correctly), it is essential to understand the sentence: its components, its requirements, and its possible structures. Many of the errors that appear in professional writing are due to misunderstandings about sentences.
In professional documentation, we rely most frequently on the simple declarative sentence, requiring a subject (the person or thing the sentence is about), a verb (what the subject does, says, or has), and usually a predicate (the object of the verb—the receiver of the action):
Our department (subject) lost (verb) 5% of its funding (predicate: object of the verb).
Although the order of these three components can be altered, it is a good idea to use this formula (subject, verb, and predicate) until you are ready to get more adventurous. Boring is okay in some documentation, particularly narratives that may end up in court. When you write for public consumption, like letters to newspapers or testimony about legislation, your writing may be more interesting by building on the basic declarative sentence.
Subjects, verbs, and predicates can be elaborate, yet still use the declarative structure. One way is to use more than one predicate: “Our department (subject) lost (verb) 5% of its funding (predicate) and cut the Saturday programs (second predicate).” Notice that the second predicate (“cut the Saturday program”) is not a complete sentence by itself. Instead, it is a phrase (or sentence fragment) because it is missing a subject (one of the two essentials for a sentence—the other is a verb). There is a verb (cut) and a predicate (the Saturday program), but no subject: The phrase does not say who or what did the cutting. We know “the agency” (sentence’s subject) did the cutting, but “the agency” is not mentioned in the phrase, “and cut the Saturday programs.”
218The thought can be written correctly several additional ways: (a) make it a separate sentence by adding a subject (My department lost 5% of its funding. The director cut the Saturday program); (b) keep it as one sentence with two complete thoughts, using a semicolon (My department lost 5% of its funding; the director cut the Saturday program); (c) insert a conjunction (e.g., and, but, consequently, so) between the two complete thoughts, sometimes with a comma (My department lost 5% of its funding, therefore the director cut the Saturday program); and (d) leave it as one sentence with a second predicate. You can alter these forms to make your writing more interesting than a string of simple declarative sentences.
Here is another example of a compound predicate: The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment, eager to get started.
Subject: The family
Verb: arrived
Predicate: ten minutes early
Second predicate: for our appointment
But what do we do with “eager to get started”?
In this case, “eager to get started” can be a third predicate (perfectly “legal”), or a modifier of the other predicates. If “eager to get started” is equal in importance and message to “ten minutes early” and “for our appointment,” it is a third predicate. But if “eager to get started” explains “ten minutes early” and “for our appointment,” it is an adverb phrase (modifying the verb “arrived”). Either way, the sentence is correct, but there is a degree of ambiguity, meaning the writer may want to clarify the meaning of “eager to get started.”
Alternatives:
The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment because they were eager to get started.
The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment; they were eager to get started.
The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment. They were eager to get started.
Cautionary note: “Eager to get started” may be factual or merely your observation. You need to be careful about accurate reporting. See Chapter 2 for more discussion.
Modifiers are words or phrases that add meaning to other words or phrases. For professional documentation, the rule is to use modifiers that clarify and specify, but add no unneeded or editorial information.
Example: The three-person family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment, apparently very eager to get started.
The addition of “three-person” tells us the components (three members) of the family (not its composition—adults, children, and their relationships). This phrase modifies the noun, “family.” “Very” tells us the family was more than just eager. In some documentation, we avoid “very” because it is imprecise and subjective: what is “very” to me may be routine to you. Instead, you may describe the evidence or symptoms of “very”: The mom and the two daughters arrived ten minutes early for our appointment, apparently eager to get started. The girls were fidgety and the mom kept looking at the clock. When 219describing clients’ behaviors or comportment (how they handle themselves), provide actual direct reports of the evidence rather than opinions in the form of adjectives.
Notice the second sentence avoids the two-predicate structure. Instead, there are two stand-alone sentences joined into one sentence with the conjunction “and.” We did this because there are two separate subjects (“the girls” and “the mom”), each doing different things. We could have used a semicolon instead of the conjunction. That would be fine. It would be difficult to combine these two bits of information in the same sentence with two predicates because there are two unrelated actions. Predicates receive the action of verbs; the two predicates receive different actions from separate verbs. Thus, the correct writing is two separate sentences, or one sentence with a conjunction or a semicolon. A good rule is to use separate sentences: boring but safer.
This brings us to compound and complex sentences. The basic idea is whether a phrase can stand alone as a complete sentence.
Compare these two sentences:
The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment because they encountered no traffic.
The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment, having encountered no traffic.
The first is a compound sentence. It consists of two complete sentences joined by a conjunction (or a semicolon). The second is a complex sentence. It consists of one complete sentence and a phrase that cannot stand alone (sentence fragment).
Both forms are grammatically correct, but there are a few challenges to keep in mind:
• Avoid confusing the sentence fragment with a complete sentence (incomplete sentences, discussed subsequently, are sentence fragments, missing either a subject or a verb).
• Avoid using the semicolon to connect a complete sentence with a sentence fragment (“The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment; having encountered no traffic” is incorrect; see the discussion of semicolons, in the Punctuation section.) The semicolon can substitute for a conjunction, but the two cannot be used together: “The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment; they encountered no traffic.” (Incorrect: “The family arrived ten minutes early for our appointment; because they encountered no traffic.” The semicolon and “because” are redundant.)
• Avoid stringing together more than two stand-alone sentences into one long sentence, creating a run-on or difficult-to-understand (convoluted) sentence.
• In both sentences, we placed “ten minutes early” ahead of “for our appointment.” We could have reversed the phrases so that “for our appointment” comes first. We placed “ten minutes early” first (closest to “arrived,” the verb being modified) because the early arrival appears more important than the appointment for the meaning of the sentence. This is a minor point; no harm would come from reversing the modifiers. The problem of “misplaced modifiers” occurs when the modifier (“ten minutes early”) is placed far enough from the word(s) it modifies that the sentence becomes difficult to understand. The rule is to place the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it modifies.
Imperative, Interrogative, and Exclamatory Sentences
In addition to declarative sentences, consisting of a subject, a verb, and usually a predicate (or multiples of each), there are three other kinds of sentences in common 220usage: imperative (ordering the reader to do something, e.g., “Read all your assigned homework.”); interrogative (question, e.g., “When will I see you again?”); exclamatory (“I am so excited!”). In professional writing, we generally avoid these sentence forms. In writing for public audiences, or making public statements, you should use imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences judiciously because they can detract as much as emphasize important messages. Like all tools, they have productive uses, but there are more opportunities to misuse or overuse them than to apply them effectively.
Incomplete Sentences
A complete sentence contains a subject and a verb. There can be more components, but a subject and a verb are necessary. The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about; the verb is the action undertaken by the subject. Incomplete sentences are missing either a subject or a verb.
The “ing” form of verbs can create confusion for writers: being, eating, reading, practicing. These verb forms are not stand-alone verbs; they become compound verbs when “to be” is added: I was being entertained; they were eating, and so on. “Ing” words can be used as nouns, (things), called “gerunds”: Eating (gerund/noun/sentence subject) a balanced diet (adjective) is essential (verb) for good health (predicate/object of sentence). Being is not a verb unless accompanied by a form of “to be.”
This book’s topic and title, Writing, is a noun (gerund), although it is the ing form of the verb, to write.
Examples of incomplete sentences:
Incomplete sentence 1: Forensic Methods, including voice printing, my favorite class in the entire program. (There is no verb for the subject of the sentence, Forensic Methods. Forensic Methods is not taking any action.) Correct: Forensic Methods, including voice printing, is my favorite class in the entire program. “Is” is a verb (to be). Now the subject is taking action.
Incomplete sentence 2: Forensic Methods, being my favorite class, including voice printing, but there is a lot of reading. (This common error is incorrect because “being” is not a verb.) Correct: Forensic Methods is my favorite class, but there is a lot of reading. (We took out “including voice printing” because it adds nothing to the sentence’s meaning. Notice that if we left it in, we had it bracketed by commas. See the section on Punctuation for more information about commas.)
Incomplete sentence 3: Although, Forensic Methods is my favorite class in the entire program. (This is another common error. “Although” promises a second phrase; in order for the sentence to be complete, we need to disclose what the “although” is about.) There are two easy corrections: remove the “although” (Forensic Methods is my favorite class), or keep “Although,” change the period to a comma, and add the second thought: “Although Forensic Methods is my favorite class in the entire program, there is a lot of reading.” I can also combine both sentences and avoid a run-on sentence by using a semicolon: Forensic Methods is my favorite class in the entire program; there is a lot of reading. Both statements are full sentences, but the semicolon allows us to combine them into one sentence. (Note that we did not use “alot” of reading; alot is not a word.)
221Semicolon and Conjunction
Consider this variation: Forensic Methods is my favorite class in the entire program; but there is a lot of reading. The semicolon and conjunction (“but”) are redundant in that they both serve to combine two complete sentences into one sentence. The correct version is “Forensic Methods is my favorite subject in the entire program, but there is a lot of reading.” If you prefer this approach, avoid incorrectly adding a second comma after “but.” The conjunctions “however” and “therefore” take two commas: “She was tired of school, however, she decided to go on for her bachelor’s degree” (Sidell, 2011, p. 37).
Before moving to the next topic, did you wonder why we capitalized Forensic Methods? We did this because it is the title of a specific course, thus a proper noun.
Clauses, Phrases, and Incomplete Sentences
A sentence may contain clauses, or groups of words that have a subject and verb. Some could stand as complete sentences on their own, but others could not.
Phrases are groups of words that are missing a subject and/or verb.
Case 1: Independent clauses (clauses within a sentence that can stand alone as separate sentences) are joined to other independent clauses by colons, semicolons, or conjunctions preceded by commas.
Example: My brother is younger than I am (1), but he finished college before I did (2).
“But” is a conjunction that connects two stand-alone sentences (1 and 2) into one sentence.
You can use a semicolon instead of a conjunction, with the same effect: My brother is younger than I am; he finished college before I did.
Or, you can just use two sentences: My brother is younger than I am. He finished college before I did.
Sometimes you can collapse the two sentences into one simple sentence: My younger brother finished college before I did.
Notice that the sentence with the fewest words has no internal punctuation or conjunctions, yet the same meaning. That is because both sentences are about my brother, and “is younger than I am” can be replaced by one adjective (“younger”).
(We advise our students to begin with the separate-sentence option, and move to conjunctions and semicolons when they are sure they understand how to use them. We are interested in striving for the fewest words, but that may take some practice.)
For a colon to be appropriate, the second sentence would need to be an elaboration of the first, not totally new information: My younger brother was an excellent student: He finished college before I did. An illustration of his superior student skills is his completion of college before his older brother (me).
All these cases involve stand-alone sentences that can be united into one sentence by conjunctions, appropriate punctuation and, sometimes, elimination of redundant information. Commas cannot be used to connect two stand-alone sentences.
In the grammatically correct world, the only “connecting conjunctions” that can combine two independent clauses into one sentence are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet, which must be preceded by a comma (Hacker, 2009, p. 58). We suggest that you follow this rule.
222Case 2: Subordinate clauses: Sometimes a sentence contains a subordinate clause: a group of words with a subject and verb that cannot stand on its their own, because they are preceded by an introductory word (subordinate conjunction or introductory pronoun) that interferes with the complete thought; for example, who, whom, whose, which, that, when, where, although, because, if, unless, when (Hacker, 2009, p. 242). When used alone, a subordinate clause is an incomplete sentence because the conjunction is added, requiring additional information. For example, if you add the conjunction when to an independent clause (my brother graduated from college), you get When my brother graduated from college, which promises a new piece of information: something related to the “when.” So a perfectly fine sentence (My brother graduated from college.) gets demoted to a subordinate clause with the addition of a conjunction.
One common writing error is beginning a sentence with a subordinate conjunction but not finishing the thought in that sentence: Although, my brother is younger than I am. He finished college before I did. You can avoid this error by remembering that one-word introductory phrases do not take a comma. Without the comma, subordinate conjunctions sound like they begin a thought that needs to be completed.
Subordinate clauses are combined with independent clauses to create complete sentences.
Example: Although my brother is younger than I am (subordinate clause) he finished college before I did (independent clause). The subordinate clause cannot stand as a complete sentence because although (subordinate conjunction) made it an incomplete thought. Both clauses have nouns and verbs. The subordinate clause loses its “sentence-hood” when the subordinate clause is added. Take away “although” and the subordinate clause is a complete sentence or independent clause. The use of a comma between subordinate and independent clauses depends on whether a pause is needed. If you are not sure, use the comma.
Run-On Sentences
Run-on sentences contain too much information for one complete thought. Convoluted sentences may be grammatically correct, but are difficult to understand because there is too much information for the reader to connect a verb with a subject, and understand that connection along with other information in the sentence. Commas cannot repair run-on sentences, but colons, semicolons, and conjunctions can.
Run-on sentence: Forensic Methods is my favorite class, all the topics are interesting.
Complete sentences:
• Forensic Methods is my favorite class: All the topics are interesting.
• Forensic Methods is my favorite class; all the topics are interesting.
• Forensic Methods is my favorite class because all the topics are interesting.
Of course, two separate complete sentences is always an option: Forensic Methods is my favorite class. All the topics are interesting.
See the Punctuation section for more information about commas, colons, semicolons, and conjunctions.
Let us return to the first example of a run-on sentence: Forensic Methods is my favorite class, all the topics are interesting.
223We see this error all the time. What makes it incorrect?
There are two complete sentences (Forensic Methods is my favorite class. All the topics are interesting.) separated by a comma (instead of a colon, semicolon, or conjunction, or two separate sentences). The best idea is to use two simple sentences.
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
As a rule, words or phrases that modify or add meaning to other words in a sentence, should be placed as close as possible to the ideas being further defined. Adjectives modify nouns: the speedy horse, the lengthy meeting, the motivated student. Adverbs modify adjectives or verbs: The very speedy horse, the extremely lengthy meeting, the highly motivated student.
Examples:
The highly motivated student studied hard for her mid-term exam.
“Highly” [adverb] modifies “motivated” [adjective]; “hard” [adverb] modifies “studied” [verb]).
The long meeting slowly covered its lengthy agenda.
The nouns (meeting and agenda) are modified by adjectives (long and lengthy, respectively); the verb (covered) is modified by adverb (slowly). Note that this sentence is a variation of the basic formula of subject, verb, predicate. The adjectives and adverbs, when placed correctly, add important meaning to the basic sentence (The meeting covered its agenda).
Be careful (1). Problems arise when modifiers (adjectives or adverbs) are stuck onto the end of a sentence or far away from the actions, objects, or people they are modifying: “The long meeting covered its lengthy agenda slowly.” Here, “slowly” is a misplaced modifier.
Be careful (2). “The highly motivated student studied hard for her mid-term exam” contains the modifiers highly motivated and hard. Both are the writer’s judgments. In professional writing, the writer would describe the behaviors, explain the conclusions, or omit the modifiers.
Another Example:
Forensic Methods, my favorite class, meets Mondays 9–12, with very interesting topics. “Very interesting topics” modifies Forensic Methods, not Mondays, so it should go as close as possible to Forensic Methods: Forensic Methods, with very interesting topics, meets Mondays 9–12.
Dangling modifiers: Sometimes modifiers have no explicitly identified nouns or verbs to modify. The information may be important, but it is not applied directly to anyone or anything in the sentence.
Examples:
• Diligently following his medical regimen for two weeks, the clinician congratulated the client.
• Beginning right on time, the chairperson was able to cover all the items on the agenda.
224• Having recently received her college degree, the homeless shelter was quick to hire Mandy.
Each of these three sentences begins with phrases that appear to modify nouns at the opposite end of the sentence: the client was diligent; the agenda began on time; Mandy received her college degree. But the modifiers are so far removed and indirectly worded that it is not entirely clear what that they are modifying.
For us, the distinction between misplaced and dangling modifiers is less important than knowing to place them close to their targets (nouns or verbs being modified) and making sure the modifiers are clearly adding information to those targets.
Syntax is consistency in a sentence or set of sentences. Verbs and subjects should agree in tense and case. The common problem is tense: present and future. Once a case is selected, meaning that a narrative is presented in the future, present, or past tense, that case should be used throughout the narrative, unless the information itself occurs in a different tense or is permanent.
Example: We arrived at the nursing home at 9:30 AM and met with the director, who took us on a tour of the facility. The building is clean and bright. The staff is friendly. There is artwork on almost every wall, some of it the products of the residents. The social work director said there is no waiting list.
Explanation: The events in this story occurred in the past: our arrival, meeting with the director, taking a tour, and the social worker telling us there is no waiting list (all should be in the past tense because they happened in the past). The conditions (not events) described in this story are likely to occur both now and during our visit. They are the openness and brightness of the building, the friendliness of the staff, the artwork, and the absence of a waiting list (present tense because they are conditions, not events; if we think these conditions are not likely to be permanent, we can use the past tense to describe them).
Incorrect: We arrived and met with the director, who gives us a tour of the facility.
In this example, events that occurred in approximately the same time frame are reported in two different tenses, a syntax error.
A good rule of thumb: If it happened in the past, tell it in the past tense. Switch to the present tense when describing a permanent condition: I met with my client, who is suffering from diabetes.
Active and Passive Voice
Consider these two sentences:
1. Cognitive behavioral therapy is easily understood by practitioners who work with truant teenagers.
2. Practitioners who work with truant teenagers easily understand cognitive behavioral therapy.
225Which statement would you prefer to use? The first is written in the passive voice. Typically, in passive statements people do not take action; the action happens to them. Thus, people are passive. In the active version, people take action. Both statements are grammatically correct; the second is more strengths-oriented and clearer. Also, active sentences usually use fewer words.
Passive voice sentences usually fail to identify who takes action, for example, “Cognitive-behavioral therapy is easily understood.” This is grammatically correct because it is a sentence, but it is not acceptable in professional writing. Even if you identify the actor (cognitive-behavioral therapy is easily understood by practitioners with truant teenagers), the sentence is still passively written. Example 2, previously mentioned, avoids the passive voice.
Unless it is important to convey the idea that the action came to the person, we typically prefer the active voice.
Here is an example of an active statement: “Many residents of Alberta, Canada, became homeless because of the wildfire of 2016.”
We could express the same thought in the passive voice: “The wildfire of 2016 left many residents homeless.” In the passive-voice version, the wildfire takes the action, and the victims receive the consequences; in the first version, the victims take action. If you prefer to emphasize the action as happening to someone, you may use the passive voice. If the subject of the sentence is a person whom you want to take action, use the active voice. We suggest that you avoid the passive voice in professional writing.
Forms of the verb “to be” (am, are, is, be, being, were, was, would be) can be warning signs of passive sentences. So can introductory phrases with forms of “to be.”
Examples with corrections:
1. What happened was that she testified against the budget cuts.
2. She testified against the budget cuts.
1. What they decided was that it was time to stand up and fight the budget cuts.
2. They decided that it was time to stand up and fight the budget cuts.
1. The budget cuts were felt by the residents of the homeless shelter.
2. The residents of the homeless shelter felt the budget cuts.
1. The community garden was worked on by many community residents.
2. Many community residents worked on the community garden.
1. The meeting agenda was approved.
2. The committee approved the meeting agenda.
In each pairing, 1 is in the passive voice, and 2 is the active voice.
Tentativeness can take the form of passive writing:
1. It felt as though there was tension in the room.
2. I thought there was tension in the room.
226In 1, the writer conveys an unnecessary element of uncertainty, when a declarative sentence could express the situation more actively and accurately.
If you do not know who took an action, the passive voice is appropriate, for example, “I went directly to the accident scene when the 911 call was made.” We do not know who made the call.
Redundancies and Excess Verbiage
Also, and, as well, in addition, too
The rule is one additive per sentence. Incorrect: Also, the client came in with many questions about her medications as well. Correct: The client came in with many questions about her medications as well.
Not only… but
For brevity and professionalism, replace “not only….but” with “and” or another conjunction. Incorrect: The client came in with not only her son, but his friend (as well). Correct: The client came in with her son and his friend.
What….was (is)
This is passive writing. Replace with the active form. Incorrect: What I encountered was a traffic accident. Correct: I encountered a traffic accident.
Redundancy: Whether or not
“Or not” is redundant with “whether.” Incorrect: I do not know whether the man was hurt or not. Correct: I do not know whether the man was hurt. Other redundant phrases: continue on, combine together, reason why, the reason is because, and etc., repeat again.
Capital Letters
Capital letters are reserved for specific purposes: people and place names, initials, titles, and beginnings of sentences and quotes. Common nouns (usually meaning things) do not get capitalized. Regions and places get capitalized when they are in the form of proper nouns: the South, Europe, East Fredonia, the Sahara, North America. When they are descriptors rather than proper nouns, regions do not get capitalized: the northern hemisphere; an arctic cold front; southern Spain. Directions are not capitalized: drive south; northerly wind; eastern exposure. But “Northern Lights” is capitalized because it is a title. We have been using the course title, “Forensic Methods,” in capitals because it is a title.
Your agency’s name (proper noun) should be capitalized: the Fredonia Police Department. But the common noun, “the department,” should not. On the other hand, the Department, when it is used as a substitute for the agency’s title, may be capitalized. This distinction can be confusing, so learn what is common practice in your work environment.
A person’s name or initials, of course, should be capitalized, but not the common noun, “victim” or “suspect.” Months of the year and days of the week should be capitalized, but not the words “month” and “year.” The President (of the United States) and the (US) Congress are always capitalized, regardless of whether the titles are fully spelled out, but the descriptor “mayor of Fredonia City” is not, unless her name is included: Mayor Morra Meyer. The state legislature (unlike Congress) is not capitalized, unless written formally: the Fredonia State Legislature. State House is capitalized. When used 227as adjectives, proper nouns usually are not capitalized: congressional investigation; legislative hearing. “President” or “Presidential,” when referring to the chief executive of the United States, is usually capitalized. Note that “chief executive,” a descriptor rather than a title, is not.
Latin abbreviations (i.e., e.g., etc., et al.) do not get capitalized unless they begin a sentence, a very rare occurrence, but abbreviated organizational names and titles do get capitalized: NYPD, NAACP, Dr., Ms. Abbreviations that describe titles, after a name or in the body of a sentence (MD, PhD, JD), get capitalized: She received her JD from Fredonia State University. But when written out as descriptors, credentials, or degrees do not get capitalized: He has a law degree; she is a physician (or medical doctor); they are clinical psychologists. Lawyers get “Esq.” after their names; public officials get “Hon.” before their names. Public officials who are also lawyers get Hon., but not Esq. Remember the one-title rule: when there are two titles, we use the highest status.
The term “police officer” is often mistakenly capitalized. It is not a proper noun: The police officer arrived on the scene. Fredonia State University Criminal Justice Program is a proper noun, and gets capitalized.
Opinions
You should avoid editorial comments (your viewpoints or opinions) in most narratives. Your professional judgment is important, if you can connect it to your professional knowledge relevant to the issue being described. In the policy arena, where your intent is to change minds, you may present your opinions and professional judgment, but explain them clearly so the reader can appreciate the validity of your views.
Punctuation
The semicolon has only two correct uses. First, as described previously, it connects two complete and equally important sentences that are closely related to each other. As sentences, each would stand on its own, but the writer wishes to indicate that they belong together as a more complete thought than presenting them separately. This is an optional but effective way to tell the reader that the second complete sentence is connected to the first. For example, “The captain’s report made several important points; she emphasized punctuality, thrift, staff recruitment, and morale.”
“The captain’s report made several important points” and “she emphasized punctuality, thrift, staff recruitment, and morale” could also be two complete sentences. Both have subjects and verbs.
Second, we use semicolons to separate items (usually multiple words) in a long list, and usually after a colon. For example, “The captain’s report made several important points: the need to arrive to work on time; the cash-flow crisis affecting the department; vacancies in staff positions; morale at all levels of the organization.”
The colon means something important is coming next: a summary, an explanation, a list, or a quote. The items that follow do not have to be full sentences or even a list. Neither colons nor semicolons substitute for commas. Each of these three punctuation marks has its own specific purpose.
228The comma: Truss (2003) lists many uses of commas. For us, the important point is her last: Commas should be used to make sentences completely clear by eliminating all ambiguity, but they can do quite the opposite. She offers a few amusing examples:
The panda “eats, shoots, and leaves” (the title of Truss’s book; there’s a drawing of a panda with a handgun). This sentence should read: “The panda eats shoots and leaves”; that is, pandas’ diets include (probably consist of) shoots and leaves. The absence, presence, and placement of commas make total difference in the sentence’s meaning.
Here is another example (Truss, 2003, p. 97): [The witness] “walked on her head, a little higher than usual.” It should be: [The witness] “walked on, her head a little higher than usual.” Which would you write in your report?
Just for fun, English teachers like this example: “Let’s eat Grandma” vs. “Let’s eat, Grandma.”
For professional writers, commas should clarify the points your sentences make, and not add confusion. One way is to indicate a pause, meaning a line of thought is changing, even if very subtly. It tells the reader that the following material is not a direct continuation of the previous information.
Here are four basic rules for commas in professional writing:
First, if a phrase can be removed without changing a sentence’s meaning, but adds valuable information, bracket the phrase with commas: The victim, who just completed her GED, was thinking about enrolling in a college course. If the phrase adds no useful information, consider dropping it as excess verbiage: “The victim was thinking about enrolling in a college course.” If the phrase, “who just completed her GED,” adds important information, leave it in but bracket it with commas.
Second, commas and conjunctions can be very confusing. Conjunctions are words that connect two thoughts or lead in to a thought, for example: although, however, and, but, therefore.
As we discussed earlier, be careful about using a comma when a sentence begins with a conjunction. This is especially true with “although” and “however” because these words require a counterpoint in order to complete a thought. Incorrect: “Although, she just finished her GED. She wanted to continue her education.” Correct: “Although she just finished her GED, she wanted to continue her education.”
Be sure to add the comma after the introductory conjunctive phrase if the rest of the sentence can stand on its own as a complete sentence. Otherwise, the sentence may be difficult to understand: “Although she just finished her GED, she wanted to continue her education.” The comma after GED (the end of the introductory phrase) tells the reader to pause briefly, and clarifies the message.
Commas are brief rest points, separating information in ways the reader can follow. Do not interrupt coherent statements with commas. Use commas to indicate where pieces of information begin and end.
When conjunctions occur inside a sentence, a comma goes before, but not always after, the conjunction. Incorrect: “She was interested in taking a summer course, but, she could not afford the tuition.” Correct: “She was interested in taking a summer course, but she could not afford the tuition.”
As mentioned earlier, “however” and “therefore” get different treatment: “She was tired of school, however, she decided to go on for her bachelor’s degree” (Sidell, 2011, p. 37).
229Third, as discussed earlier, commas cannot be used to separate two otherwise complete sentences. That is the job for conjunctions, semicolons, or colons (depending on the sentences).
Incorrect: “She was interested in taking a summer course, she could not afford the tuition.” This is a run-on sentence.
Correct:
• “She was interested in taking a summer course, but she could not afford the tuition.”
• “She was interested in taking a summer research course; she could not afford the tuition.”
Fourth, when two adjectives modify the same noun, they should be separated by a comma (unless they comprise a compound adjective).
Example of two adjectives: “She was not interested in taking a course during the long, hot summer.”
Example of compound adjective: “She was not interested in taking a course during the two-month summer session.”
Periods, question marks, and exclamation points all end sentences. The next letter should begin a new sentence and be capitalized.
Sentences that report a question rather than asking a question do not get question marks.
Examples:
My supervisor questioned whether I was coming to the meeting.
My supervisor asked, “Are you coming to the meeting?”
The first sentence reports a question; in the second sentence, the question is asked.
Apostrophe
These marks are incorrectly used very often. They should appear only in very specific situations: (a) in a noun (person or thing) that possesses something in the sentence, before the “s” if the noun is singular, after the “s” if the noun is plural (example: one department’s regulations; many departments’ regulations); (b) in a contraction of two words (example: was not = wasn’t), but it is a good idea to avoid contractions in professional writing; (c) optionally, before an “s” in abbreviations (example: Our legal staff includes four CASA’s. CASAs is also correct).
Weisman and Zornado’s Iron Law of the Apostrophe: It is not used to change singular to plural. How many times have you seen this notice in restaurant bathrooms? “All employee’s must wash their hands.” Correct: All employees must wash their hands.
Common Errors With Apostrophes
Incorrect: childrens’, peoples’, womens’, and mens’. Each is already plural, so placing the apostrophe after the “s” is redundant. Instead, because the pronoun begins as plural, 230just add an apostrophe and “s,” indicating possession: children’s, people’s, women’s, and men’s.
More incorrect plural possessive pronouns: our’s or ours’; your’s or yours’; hers’ or her’s; theirs’ or their’s. Correct: yours, hers, and theirs (no apostrophe). These plural possessive pronouns in the objective (predicate) portion of a sentence do not get apostrophes.
Singular Possessive |
Plural Possessive—Subject |
Plural Possessive—Object |
My |
Our |
Ours |
Your |
Your |
Yours |
Her, his, its |
Their |
Theirs |
Family’s |
Families’ |
Families |
Child’s |
Children’s |
Children’s |
Person’s |
People’s |
peoples |
Woman’s |
Women’s |
Women’s |
Man’s |
Men’s |
Men’s |
Examples:
The child’s books; the children’s books; the books are the children’s (children’s are colorful books).
A man’s hairstyle; men’s hairstyle; hairstyles are the men’s (men’s are boring hairstyles).
Her room; their room; rooms are theirs (theirs are small rooms)
Family’s appointment; families’ appointments; the 5 PM appointment is the three families.
Clearly, the plural possessive objective case pronouns (right-side column in the preceding chart) are awkward to use, but they are easily avoided (e.g., children’s books are colorful, their rooms are small).
Also note that the possessive pronoun is not sensitive to the number of items being owned: man’s hairstyle and men’s hairstyle (one hairstyle, different pronouns depending on how many men are involved, not how many hairstyles). Another example: The family’s neighborhood and the families’ neighborhood (one neighborhood, different numbers of families).
As the chart shows, some plural possessive pronouns get apostrophes before the “s” in direct statements: people’s choice; men’s/women’s room(s); but not in indirect statements or objective portion of sentences: the pencils are theirs; the cake is yours. As discussed under pronouns, the conjugation pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) do not take apostrophes in the singular or plural.
Names: Mary Wilson’s home; the Wilsons’ home; the Wilsons live here.
Names ending in “s”: John Stevens lives here. This is John Stevens’ (or Stevens’s) home; The Stevenses live here. Better: The Stevens family lives here. Incorrect: The Stevens’ live here.
231Quote Marks
The words inside quote marks were said or written by someone else (or by you at an earlier time). Quote marks serve a second, more unusual purpose of highlighting words for special attention, sometimes sarcastically. A common error with quote marks comes from confusing the British and American systems of quoting: In the U.K. and commonwealth countries, the quote mark belongs inside the comma or period (according to the Code of Ethics, “do no harm.”). In the United States, quote marks go outside the comma or period (according to the Code of Ethics, “do no harm.”).
When using a quote inside a quote, the second quote is offset by single quote marks rather than regular quote marks.
Example: My client described the tension between the two children: “Joey was angry at his sister, accusing Martha of ‘contradicting everything I say.’ ” In this example, the parent’s quote includes another quote, so the two quotes are separated by different sets of quote marks: first with regular quote marks (“), and second with single quote marks. We have to remember to close both quotes as appropriate. As shown, if both quotes conclude the sentence, they go outside the period.
Dashes and Hyphens; Parentheses and Brackets
The hyphen (-) is used in some cases when two words are combined to create a single idea. In the English language, there is no rule or formula for all the correct uses. Check online or print references if you have a question. Here are some guidelines (guide-lines is incorrect):
• When the two words are joined together to form an adjective that is placed before a noun: yellow-colored folder; long-suffering servant; glad-handing politician; self-cleaning oven
• When two or more words belong together, regardless of placement in a sentence: the author is world-renowned; the solution is tried-and-true; her date-of-birth is Oct 17th.
• Before and after some specific words: pre-tax dollars; president-elect
• When the same word is preceded by two modifiers that require hyphens, both get them: The two- to four-foot long fence posts mark edges of my property.
Dashes (double-hyphens) are used to set off some words or phrases from the rest of a sentence, usually for emphasis or illustration, to introduce a new thought, or to indicate the writer’s own thinking.
Examples:
The staff meeting—called for Tuesday morning—was scheduled for us to discuss the agency’s budget. (This sentence could use two commas rather than the hyphens.) (Also, notice how we used the apostrophe in this example: to show ownership, not change agency to plural.)
The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday morning—first item on the agenda was the budget. (This sentence could use a colon instead of the hyphen.)
The chairperson—confused?—skipped the first item on the agenda.
Hyphens are also used when two-digit numbers are spelled out: Thirty-Third Street, three-quarters.
232Because they interrupt thoughts, they can be disruptive, so use hyphens, dashes, and parentheses sparingly.
Parentheses
As is the case with dashes, parentheses can be used to set aside some words from the rest of the sentence.
Example: The community treatment team (a social worker, psychologist, and nurse) arrived on the scene ten minutes after the emergency was phoned in.
Alternative: The community treatment team, consisting of a social worker, psychologist, and nurse, arrived on the scene ten minutes after the emergency was phoned in.
Parentheses also indicate documentation: The police report (page 2) indicates that a pothole in the road caused the accident.
In student papers and formal reports, parentheses are used in some citation styles. The American Psychological Association (APA) citation rules, for example, require the author and year of publication, in parentheses: Correct writing is very important for effective (professional) practice (Weisman, 2013).
Note: If a full sentence is written inside parentheses, the period goes inside the closing parenthesis mark; otherwise the period goes outside.
Examples:
The accident was caused by a pothole. (The police report said so.)
The police report said the cause of the accident was a pothole (page 2).
Brackets
Brackets are used to separate a comment inside parentheses.
Example: The budget for last fiscal year (ending in red [the director under-estimated fuel costs]) included no funds for program growth.
Brackets are also used to insert commentary inside quotes.
Example: According to the client’s record, “The family experienced many challenges [for example, the father lost his job] last year.” The brackets indicate words that did not appear in the quoted sentence, but were added as an explanation.
Another example: As the patriot, Patrick Henry, said: “Give me liberty [e.g., freedom of speech] or give me death.” We all learned in grade school that the quote was, “Give me liberty or give me death.” In the previously mentioned sentence, the writer who quoted Henry may have been making the point that freedom of speech was one of the freedoms Patrick Henry cared about.
Parentheses and Brackets With Punctuation Marks
When words or phrases are placed in parentheses or brackets inside a sentence, there should not be any punctuation before the first bracket or parenthesis. Instead, commas, semicolons, colons, periods, question marks, exclamation points, dashes, and hyphens, if needed, should come after the end of the bracketed or parenthesized material.
233Examples
The community group scheduled a meeting with the city council person (a retired school teacher), who was on the record as supporting the group’s program.
The Head Start program has an enrollment of 75 children (about 60% girls), most of whom are reading at or above their age level.
In Forensic Methods classes (often students’ least favorite), we challenge math phobia head-on.
Confusing Words: Homophones, Almost Homophones, and Other Confusing Sets of Words
There are many pairs (and triplets, even a quartet) of words that sound alike, or almost alike, but are spelled differently, and mean different things. One website identifies 374 such combinations (www.all-about-spelling.com/list-of-homophones.html). Any real difference between homophones and homonyms (admittedly, very difficult to understand) is irrelevant for this discussion. The challenge is to know which version of the same-sounding words to use. There are no shortcuts; you need to learn the different meanings. Here are some pairs (and triplets, plus that one quartet) that may appear in your writing:
Words That Sound Alike
Accept and except
Accept: agree to receive or take
Except: exclude
Aid, aide, and ade
Aid: assistance
Aide: assistant
Ade: fruit drink
Air and heir
Air: gas
Heir: offspring; inheritor
Aisle, I’ll and isle
Aisle: corridor between rows of seats
I’ll: I will
Isle: island
Allude and elude
Allude: hint at
Elude: evade or avoid
A lot, allot, and “alot”
A lot: many; an empty field
Allot: mete out, allocate
234Alot: not a word
Altar and alter
Altar: place of worship
Alter: change, modify
Apart and a part
Apart: separated
A part: component of
Assent and ascent
Assent: agreement
Ascent: rise, take-off
Assure and ashore [ensure and insure]
Ashore: on land
Assure: put someone at ease
(Ensure: make certain)
(Insure: buy insurance)
For more on this, visit public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/assure.html
Bare and bear
Bare: unclothed
Bear: carry (verb) or large animal (noun)
Base and bass
Base: location
Bass: musical voice or fish
Beat and beet
Beat: defeat, pound or flap (wings)
Beet: vegetable
Blond and blonde
Blond: male, unknown or mixed genders
Blonde: female
Board and bored
Board: panel (board of directors) or plank (piece of wood)
Bored: tired or weary
Brake and break
Brake: stop (as a car)
Break: destroy or relief (rest)
Bread and bred
Bread: wheat product
Bred: raised
Buy, by, and bye
Buy: purchase
By: authored, beside
Bye: “see you later”
235Censor and sensor
Censor: silence
Sensor: receiver of impulses
Coarse and course
Coarse: rough, uneven or vulgar
Course: path or class
Counsel and council
Counsel: advise
Council: committee or deliberative body
Do, dew, and due
Do: act (verb); hairdo (noun)
Due: scheduled to occur
Dew: morning moisture
[Doo: something dogs leave behind!]
Capital and capitol
Capital: Upper case letter (capital A), money, and city in which the seat of government is located
Capitol: State House, Legislative building (Congress)
Cite, sight, and site
Cite: quote or identify a source of information as a reference
Sight: vision, view
Site: a place or location
Complement and compliment
Complement: add to, augment
Compliment: say something nice about
Complimentary: no cost; flattering
Cease and seize
Cease: stop
Seize: grab or take
Dual and duel
Dual: two, pair
Duel: contest, as with swords; a debate is a duel of ideas
Device and devise
Device is a noun: an object, often a machine or appliance
Devise is a verb, meaning to make, create, think up
Decent, descent, and dissent
Decent: trustworthy, well-mannered, good-natured, fair, nice
Descent: fall, lower in altitude, loss (stock prices suffered a descent); also heritage (I’m from Eastern European descent)
Dissent: disagree, oppose a decision or the majority view
Faint and feint
Faint: lose consciousness; pass out
Feint: make-believe, pretend; also timid (feint-hearted)
236Fair and fare
Fair: equitable, a good outcome for all involved
Fare: price, cost of admission
Feat and feet
Feat: an accomplishment
Feet: what you walk on; multiple distances of 12 inches
Find and fined
Find: locate or discover
Fined: penalized with a required cash payment
Flair and flare
Flair: style, charm
Flare: sudden fire or outburst
Forth and fourth
Forth: ahead
Fourth: number four in line
Genes and jeans
Genes: components of inheritance
Jean: pants
Groan and grown
Groan: utterance
Grown: adult size
Guessed and guest
Guessed: Thought up
Guest: visitor
Hardy and hearty:
hearty is the correct word except in idioms (e.g., hale and hardy).
Hear and here
Hear: perceive sound
Here: this place
Heard and herd
Heard: past tense of hear
Herd: group of animals
Higher and hire
Higher: loftier, greater in altitude or magnitude
Hire: employ
Idle and idol
Idle: inactive (“Idle hands are the Devil’s tools.”)
Idol: item of worship or high regard (American Idol)
Incite and insight
Incite: initiate, set in motion
Insight: Awareness
237Intense and intents
Intense: severe, extreme
Intents: goals
Know and no
Know: aware of
No: negative
It’s and its
It’s is a contraction for “it is”: It’s getting late. “It is getting late” is better writing.
Its is an impersonal (referring to a thing) third person singular possessive: My car needs its battery replaced.
Lead, led: the past of read is read; the past of lead is led.
Leased and least
Leased: rented
Least: lowest
Lessen and lesson
Lessen: reduce
Lesson: source of information
Loose and lose
Loose: unrestrained
Lose: fail to win; misplace
Manner and manor
Manner: behavioral trait
Manor: castle or mansion
Medal, metal, meddle and mettle
Medal: award
Metal: ore, such as iron
Meddle: interfere
Mettle: fortitude, strength
Mind and mined
Mind: care (verb), brain (noun)
Mined: took from the ground, as coal
Miner and minor
Miner: person who digs in the ground
Minor: person under the age of adulthood (usually 18 [to vote] or 21 [to purchase alcoholic beverages]), or legal consent
Missed and mist
Missed: did not catch or see in a while
Mist: water vapor
Mode and mowed
Mode: method or largest category
Mowed: cut grass
238Morn and mourn
Morn: noun, before noon
Mourn: verb, feel the effects of loss
Naval and navel
Naval: about the Navy
Navel: anatomical place
Pail and pale
Pail: bucket
Pale: colorless
Pain and pane
Pain: discomfort
Pane: a piece of glass
Pair, pare, and pear
Pair: two
Pare: cut or trim
Pear: tasty fruit
Passed and past
Passed: went by
Past: ago
Patience and patients
Patience: ability to wait
Patients: people served by healers
Peak, peek, and pique
Peak: top (of a mountain)
Peek: steal a look
Pique: spark (one’s interest, curiosity, or anger)
Peace and piece (and peas)
Peace: tranquility, absence of war
Piece: portion
Peas: vegetables
Peal and peel
Peal: ring, as a bell
Peel: rind, outside of a fruit (noun); remove the exterior of a fruit (verb)
Pedal, petal, and peddle
Pedal: propel a bicycle
Peddle: try to sell
Pole and poll
Pole: northern or southern ends of the Earth; long rod
Poll: take measure of, sample
Poor, pore, and pour
Poor: insufficient, low income
Pore: opening in the skin
Pour: deliberately spill
239Pray and prey
Pray: beseech a deity
Prey: potential food
Principal and principle
Principal: main, most important, ranking person
Principle: guiding idea, tenet, or value
Precedents, precedence, presidents
Precedents: events that legitimize subsequent occurrences
Precedence: single event that legitimizes subsequent events
Presidents: chief executives
Presence and presents
Presence: occupy a place
Presents: gifts
Rain, reign, and rein
Rain: precipitation
Reign: monarch’s term of office
Rein: Tether
Raise, rays, and raze
Raise: increase or elevate
Rays: beams of light
Raze: tear down
Residents, residence
Residents: occupants
Residence: home
Rack and wrack
Rack: storage shelf
Wrack: ruin, wreck, revenge
Rapped, rapt, and wrapped
Rapped: knocked
Rapt: under a spell
Wrapped: enclosed
Real and reel
Real: true, actual
Reel: dance or fishing apparatus
Review and revue
Review: summarize or assess
Revue: a musical show
Right and write
Right: correct or specific direction (east when facing north)
Write: put words on paper (or computer document)
Ring and wring (rung and wrung)
Ring: finger adornment or sound a bell makes
Wring: squeeze and twist
240Raw and roar
Raw: not cooked
Roar: bellow
Road, rode, and rowed
Road: paved path
Rode: traveled
Rowed: propelled a boat
Roil and royal
Roil: agitate
Royal: kingly
Role and roll
Role: activities related to a specific position
Roll: pastry or tumble
Root and route
Root: cheer for or source of plant’s nutrients
Route: path
Rye and wry
Rye: a grain
Wry: kind of humor; disappointment
Sail and sale
Sail: travel on water; part of a boat
Sale: transaction; lowered price
Seam and seem
Seam: place where pieces of cloth meet
Seem: appear
Serf and surf
Serf: landless peasant
Surf: ocean, waves
Scene and seen
Scene: vista
Seen: viewed
Scent, sent, and cent
Scent: aroma
Sent: mailed
Cent: penny
Sea and see
Sea: body of water
See: view, observe
Shear and sheer
Shear: remove (as wool from a lamb)
Sheer: nothing but, totally
241Shone and shown
Shone: glowed
Shown: put on display
Shore and sure
Shore: where water meets land
Sure: certain
Slay and sleigh
Slay: kill
Sleigh: transportation over snow
Sore, soar, and saw
Sore: achy, angry
Soar: fly
Saw: viewed
Stair and stare
Stair: set of steps
Stare: look intently
Stake and steak
Stake: pointy stick or investment
Steak: piece of meat
Stationary and stationery
Stationary: unmoving
Stationery: fancy paper
Steal and steel
Steal: obtain illegally
Steel: hard metal
Straight and strait
Straight: unbending
Strait: narrow water channel
Suite and sweet
Suite: group of offices or rooms
Sweet: tasty
Succeed and secede
Succeed: reach a goal
Secede: separate from
Team and teem
Team: group working together
Teem: heavy rain
Tear and tier (and tare)
Tear: water emanating from an eye; rip
Tier: section of a stadium
Tare: fee
242Tern and turn
Tern: bird
Turn: twist; opportunity
Threw and through (and thru)
Threw: hurled or propelled
Through: done with, went by
Thru: not a word
Than and then
Than: comparative
Then: point in time
There, their, and they’re
There: refers to a place: Put the pencil there; there are 20 students in my class.
Their: third person plural possessive pronoun: their shoes; their headaches; their home (in this case, multiple people have the same home).
They’re: a contraction of “they are.” As is the case with you’re and other contractions (like it’s), it is a good idea to avoid them in professional writing, and just write out the full phrase.
Tied and tide
Tied: tethered; even score
Tide: ocean action caused by the moon
To, two, and too
To: directional: Let’s go to the movies. To is also a verb form: “To be or not to be.”
Two: the number that results from adding one and one.
Too: means also or excessive. We went shopping too (also). We did too much shopping (excessive).
Toad and towed
Toad: large frog
Towed: dragged
Vain, vane, and vein
Vain: unsuccessful; conceited
Vane: wind direction indicator
Vein: blood vessel
Vice, vise
Vice: assistant; immoral activity
Vise: instrument in a wood shop
Vial and vile
Vial: medicine bottle
Vile: evil
Waver and waiver
Waver: vacillate
Waiver: relax the rules for
Way, weigh, and whey
Way: route
243Weigh: measure
Whey: milk powder
Weather and whether
Weather: conditions outside
Whether: if
While and wile
While: during
Wile: cunning, trickery
Whine and wine
Whine: complain
Wine: fruit of the vine
Would and wood
Would: intended action
Wood: tree product
Yoke and yolk
Yoke: apparatus for managing a team of work animals, e.g., oxen
Yoke: yellow part of an egg
Your, you’re, and yore
Your: second person singular and plural possessive pronoun: your shoes, your book, your headache.
You’re: a contraction of “you are.” In professional writing it is a good idea to spell out words rather than use contractions.
Yore: means the past: in days of yore.
Words That Sound Almost Alike
Adapt, adept, and adopt
Adapt: adjust to
Adept: capable
Adopt: take custody of
Adverse and averse
Adverse is something harmful
Averse is a strong feeling of dislike
Visit www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/adverse-averse
Choose Your Words
Advice and advise
Advice: a noun
Advise: a verb—the act of providing advice
Affect and effect
Affect: usually a verb—one person or thing affects another
Effect: usually a noun—something has an effect (on something else)
Affect is also a common term in medical, psychological, and human service contexts: a person’s appearance or demeanor.
244Affective and effective
Affective: comes from the verb, suggesting power to make changes; it also refers to emotions
Effective: comes from the noun, referring to influence rather than power.
Effective is the correct word most of the time
Appraise and apprise
Appraise: assess value
Apprise: inform others
Continual and continuous
Continual: repeated actions which do not happen all the time
Continuous: uninterrupted actions
Desert and dessert
Desert: an arid (waterless) place; also, to vacate (desert one’s job, position, or responsibility)
Dessert: a sweet after a meal
Eminent and imminent
Eminent: lofty, accomplished, highly respected
Imminent: coming very soon; about to happen; inevitable
Maya Angelou was one of the most eminent poets of our time.
If preventive medicine becomes more available, decreased emergency room usage is imminent.
Emigrant and immigrant (emigrate and immigrate)
Emigrant/emigrate: leave from
Immigrant/immigrate: come to
The Great Migration of 1915–1970 involved millions of Blacks who emigrated from the South.
They immigrated to the North and the West.
Enquire and inquire; enquiry and inquiry
There is no literal difference; inquire is considered more appropriate
Ensure and insure (assure and ashore)
Ensure: make certain
Insure: buy insurance
(Assure: put someone at ease. See public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/assure.html)
(Ashore: on land)
Father, farther, and further
Father: same as dad (noun) and contribute to a birth (verb)
Examples: My father is quite a guy. He fathered two other children.
Farther and further are more difficult to distinguish. If “far” means physical distance we can measure in specific units of distance, like feet, meters, miles, blocks, and fathoms, the correct word is farther. If far means depth of a situation or a concept, like a dilemma, debate, or ideas, further is the correct use.
Examples:
Let’s go 20 miles farther up the road. (I can measure each mile.)
This discussion has gotten me further confused. (I cannot measure a unit of confusion.)
245We have to investigate the crime scene for further information. (There is no measure of information.)
Former and formal; formally and formerly
Former: previous; formerly: was in the past
Formal: officious, official; formally: officially
Gecko and get-go: a student began her field journal with: “From the gecko, I loved the agency.” We may attribute that amusing error to a frequently-aired insurance company TV commercial.
Gecko: very small tree frog
Get-go: beginning
Legislator and legislature
Legislator: an individual member of the legislature (House or Senate)
Legislature: the State House, Congress, House, or Senate.
Legislation: the bills that the legislature passes into law (with the governor’s [or president’s if it is national] signature, or if the legislature overrides a veto).
Personal and personnel
Personal: private or individual
Personnel: employees
Precede and proceed
Precede: come before
Proceed: go ahead
Predominate and predominant: predominate is a verb (the garlic flavor predominates the stew); predominant is an adjective (the predominant flavor is garlic).
Predominate and predominant can substitute for dominate and dominant, which may be easier to understand.
Prescribe and proscribe
Prescribe: recommend
Proscribe: forbid
Respectful and respective
Respectful: treat with courtesy
Respectively: in order
Wary and weary
Wary: careful or nervous
Weary: tired
www.editingandwritingservices.com/homonyms.html
englishtrainer.blogspot.com/2009/02/fewer-versus-less.html
Other Confusing Words
Misused Words
A and an
Both are articles before nouns; an is used for nouns beginning with vowels
246Among and amongst: both are correct; amongst is an older and somewhat outdated version. We suggest using among.
Apart and a part
My model plane came apart when I dropped it.
I was glad to get a part in the school play.
Alot: not a word, but used a lot (always incorrectly).
Contractions
Contractions are combinations of two words, almost always with an apostrophe; for example, it’s. It is a good idea to avoid them unless your agency requires them in order to keep reports short.
Downfall
This word is used frequently and incorrectly to indicate a disadvantage or negative consequence of an action, situation, or decision. “The client takes the bus to her job. The downfall is it takes an hour to get there.” Downfall means loss of status, standing, privilege, or power, not negative consequence. Correct: “The client takes the bus to her job. Unfortunately, it takes an hour to get there.”
Facility and faculty
Facility: a place, usually a building, or space in a building; it also means ease
Faculty: ability, wits, or the teaching staff of a school
Fewer and less
Fewer: things that can be counted individually; there are identifiable units of one (fewer dollar bills)
Less: things that are counted as ideas, concepts, categories, or collectively; there are no single units (less money, less optimism)
Good and well
Good is an adjective (modifying a noun); for example, good work, good meal
Well is an adverb (modifying a verb or adjective), for example, well done; also a noun (e.g., source of water or oil)
Graduate from college, not graduate college.
Irregardless: not a word. Regardless is the correct word.
Imply and infer
Imply: suggest, hint at
Infer: reach a conclusion on the basis of evidence; figure out something
I and E
Rule—(grammar school rhyme)—“I before E, except after C, and when sounding like ‘A,’ as in neighbor and weigh.” Some of us forget the second part of the saying: When the sound is like a long A (ay), E comes before I; examples: “weigh” and “neighbor” in the saying. Add sleigh, rein, vein, and several others. But there are still exceptions: either, foreign, leisure (E before I, no C and no AY sound).
247I and me
As Dorn (2007) said emphatically, “Never, never write ‘him and I.’ ” Don’t say it either. Why? The answer is rooted in sentence structure. Remember the subject and predicate in sentences? When the first person (I or me) is the subject of a sentence, “I” is used. I am writing a book about writing. “I” is the subjective form of the first person. “Me” is the objective form (receives the action described by the verb). I wouldn’t say “Me is writing a book,” and I shouldn’t say “the book is written by I.” Rather, in the passive voice or predicate part of a sentence, I would use me: “The book is written by me.”
Confusion arises when you are talking about two or more people: She and I are writing a book (together); the book is written by her and me (not she or her and I). “She and I” sound correct because we use it in the subjective form all the time, but it is incorrect in the objective case. It’s either “she and I” (subject) or “her and me” (object). It’s never, never her and I. You can remember this rule by mentally dropping the second person and just thinking “I” or “me,” and it will sound correct: The book is written by (her and) me (not I).
This rule (I vs. me), applies to he and him, she and her, and they and them. If it is the subject of the sentence, use I, you, he, she, it, we, they; if it is the object, use me, him, her, us, them. Do this in speech as well as writing, and it will begin to feel better. Note that you and it are correct in both the subjective and objective parts of a sentence:
Examples:
I look good in this shirt; this shirt looks good on me. (I is the subject; me is the object.)
You and I look good in these shirts; these shirts look good on you and me. Think it out by dropping the “you and”: these shirts look good on me sounds better than these shirts look good on I.
We look good in these shirts; these shirts look good on us. (We is the subjective form; us is the objective form.)
You look good in that shirt; that shirt looks good on you. (You is correct in both subjective and objective part of a sentence.)
See the discussion about pronouns in the section about sentences, beginning on p. 195.
Lay and lie
Lay: recline or place something
Lie: tell an untruth
Raise and rise: Did you ever get a rise in salary or hear of bread raising?
Set and sit: Sit refers to posture (as opposed to stand) or location. Set is a collection of related parts, for example, dining room set, TV set (idiomatic). The flower vase sits on the TV set.
That and which: It depends on the phrase that follows. Both introduce phrases. If the phrase can be removed from the sentence without changing the sentence’s meaning (nonessential phrase), which is used (usually preceded by a comma); if the phrase is essential for the sentence’s meaning (essential phrase), that is used (usually without a preceding comma).
248Examples:
Statistical software, which came loaded on the hard drive when I bought the computer, makes my job easier.
Statistical software that is compatible with my office system makes my job easier.
In the first example, the additional information that the software came with the computer does not change the sentence’s meaning: the software helps me do my job. The second sentence contains an essential phrase: The software must be compatible with my office system in order to make my job easier.
Toward and towards: Both are correct. In the United States, toward is used more often; in the UK, towards is the preferred usage.
Unique: one of a kind. “Very unique” is redundant; “somewhat unique” is confusing.
Who, whom, and that
Who versus whom follows the same criteria as I and me. Who is used in the subjective case; whom is used in the objective case.
“Who left this book in my office?” (“Who” is the subject; “left” is the verb; “book” is the object/predicate; “in my office” is a modifier of “left.”)
“To whom should I return this book?” (“I” is the subject; “should return” is the verb; “whom” and “this book” are the objects.)
No form of whom can be the subject of a sentence. Whom or whomever can only be used in the objective portion (predicate) of a sentence, if they do not take verbs of their own.
Examples:
1. Incorrect: Whomever wants to attend is welcome. Correct: Whoever wants to attend is welcome.
2. Incorrect: The meeting is open to whoever we invite. Correct: The meeting is open to whomever we invite.
In 1, “whoever” is correct because it is the subject of the sentence and takes the verb “wants.”
In 2, “whomever” is correct because it is part of the predicate, “to whomever we invite.” If “whomever” did the inviting (making it a subject), it would change to whoever. But in 2, “we” did the inviting, not “whoever.”
1. The meeting is open to whoever brings a pot-luck dish. In this case, although “whoever” is in the predicate of the sentence (object of the verb “is open”), it takes a verb (“brings”). So it gets worded in the subjective form.
Besides who and whom, that can be a pronoun for things in the third person case, but not for people. Incorrect: I was worried about my client, that was late for his appointment.
Correct: I was worried about my client, who was late for his appointment.
Abbreviations
Earlier, we suggested that contractions (I’ll, we’d, you’re, it’s) be avoided in professional writing, and that we spell out words unless our agency follows a different convention. What about abbreviations? Should we spell out everything? What about mister? What is 249the correct full spelling for Ms.? (Mz, Miz, and Mizz all fail spell-check.) “Mrs.” should be avoided.
Some commonly used abbreviations are acceptable in human service writing. Here are the basic rules:
Well-known organizations (e.g., USA, DoJ) can be abbreviated without periods. Titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., Prof., Rev.) should be abbreviated with periods, as shown. Do not give anyone two titles (Dr. Martin Luther king, Ph.D). Pick one “honorific” and use it consistently.
The abbreviations for time (a.m. and p.m.) should be used only with numerals: 4 a.m. But a.m. and p.m. do not substitute for the words morning and evening. Incorrect: I usually wake up early in the a.m. Correct: I set my alarm for 6 a.m. every day. Although a.m. and p.m. (lower case with periods) are the proper identifiers of time, AM and PM are widely used and acceptable.
Numbers
The numbers one through ten should be spelled out, except dates, ages, and percents. (She had two children, ages 3 and 5.) Sentences should not begin with numerals. Spell out any numbers that begin sentences. (Twenty-four percent of local children attend the Fredonia Pre-School Program.)
Latin Abbreviations
etc. is an abbreviation for “et cetera” (and so on). It is two Latin words combined into etc. In earlier times, it was sometimes written as “et c.” (with “cetera” being abbreviated). Eventually, the et and c. got combined to etc. It is not “ect” or “and etc.” Etc. cannot be combined with other Latin abbreviations: one per sentence.
e.g. means “for example,” and is always followed by a comma (e.g.,), which is followed by an example of the idea or item in question. There is no exception.
i.e. means “that is.” As with e.g., i.e. is always followed by a comma (i.e.,), which is followed by the required elaboration or definition.
et al. means “and others.” It is used in citations and legal documents. Note there is no period after et (which means “and”). Only the “al” gets a period because it is an abbreviation of the Latin word “alia,” others; “et” is not an abbreviation.
Prepositions
The English language contains more than 100 propositions. One website lists 85 single-word prepositions, and 36 consisting of two words (www.listofprepositions.com). In, of, at, to, as, and so on join with nouns to modify other words or phrases in sentences and provide contexts. While several prepositions may fit a given situation (in school and at school), most are not interchangeable. Be sure the preposition you use fits the situation in which you are using it.
250Examples:
The kids were playing stickball at the park.
The kids were playing stickball in the park.
The kids were playing stickball outside the park.
The kids were playing stickball before the park.
The kids were playing stickball with the park.
Each sentence contains a preposition (underlined words). Clearly, the first two sentences make sense and mean the same thing, because “at the park” and “in the park” are interchangeable. But, outside the park means something very different, and before and with the park are nonsensical.
Spelling
For better or worse, spell-check will indicate most misspellings. But if you miss the little red underline, or spell-check misbehaves (or worse, you have to write without word processing—OMG!!), it is a good idea to know the correct spelling of words that frequently appear misspelled in human service documents. Here are the most common:
Attendance
Author
Benefited
Calendar
Commitment
Congratulate
Correspondence
Embarrass
Harass/harassment
Integration
Leisure
Liaison
Occurrence
Privilege
Receive: See I and E, in Other Confused Words section
Separate
Verbs That End in Consonants
When adding “ing” or “ed” to verbs that end in consonants, special rules apply. If the vowel (a, e, i, o, u) before the consonant is stressed (emphasized) in speech (e.g., “control”), or the verb is one syllable (e.g., “ban”), we double the final consonant before the “ing” or “ed.” Examples: “ban” becomes “banned” or “banning”; “control” becomes “controlling” or “controlled.” When the previous vowel is not stressed (e.g., “label”), the final consonant is not doubled (e.g., “labeled). But there are exceptions. For example, a common word in social service narratives is “benefit.” Since the vowel before the final consonant (i) is not stressed (we say “benefit,” not “benefit”), we would not double the “t” when adding “ing” or “ed,” except some dictionaries list both spellings as 251correct: benefitting and benefiting; benefitted and benefited. We suggest following the rule: double the last consonant if the final vowel is stressed.
Verbs that end in “c” take a “k” before “ing” and “ed” in order to hold onto the hard “k” sound (e.g., panic: panicking or panicked; picnic: picnicked or picnicking).
Professional Judgment
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, stealing others’ words by presenting them as one’s own, is about the most serious intellectual crime one can commit. Plagiarism can be grounds for dismissal from a college or university. For researchers, authors, historians, human service and law enforcement professionals, and others whose work involves the written word, plagiarism can destroy a career and reputation.
It is increasingly more difficult to plagiarize without detection. Databases are becoming more and more comprehensive. Simply by pasting a sentence into any search engine, it is possible to check vast databases of previously written works, published or not, for copied language.
Most student episodes of plagiarism appear to be inadvertent. In most cases, students either forget to put quote marks around direct quotes or to cite a source they use. In rarer episodes, students copy language from what they believe to be obscure websites, books, or manuscripts. Both situations are serious violations of academic honesty standards. The former usually results in deducted points on a paper; the latter can lead to much more serious consequences.
There are a few simple rules about drawing on the work of others.
1. When using others’ work, give them credit, regardless of whether their actual words are copied (quotation marks), paraphrased, or just referred to. When in doubt, give credit.
2. When using others’ exact words, use quotation marks.
3. More than three consecutive words lifted from another source comprise a quote.
4. Check the preferred citation format for your setting. In general, the social sciences use American Psychological Association (APA) formatting. Other disciplines may use other formats. Check with a good source book for the current proper citation styles within the formatting system in use.
Labeling
When describing service recipients, whether you call them clients, consumers, members, or participants, avoid defining them in terms of their conditions or diagnoses. The strengths perspective, as well as basic respect, leads us to view service recipients as people first, and as experiencing difficulties or challenges second. When we define people by their deficits, we dehumanize them and tend to disregard their strengths. Incorrect: My schizophrenic client; instead: my client who has schizophrenia.
Clichés
Clichés are popular phrases or sentences “whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity. Examples: live and learn; stay the course; 252what goes around comes around (About.com, n.d.).” grammar.about.com/od/c/g/clicheterm.htm
There are thousands in popular use (Cliché Finder, n.d.), but clichés should be avoided in professional writing.
www.westegg.com/cliche/random.cgi (>2000) (Cliché Finder, n.d.)
www.future-perfect.co.uk/grammartips/grammar-tip-benefited.asp
Organization of Information
See Chapter 2 for detailed information about structuring the presentation of information. Here, we summarize the basic principles in professional writing.
When reporting specific episodes or events, such as an incident report, we recommend using chronological order, the time-order of actions, perhaps preceded with basic information, such as a list of participants and the location.
When reporting about a situation, issue, topic, or dilemma, where concepts are more important than chronology, we suggest beginning with the basic background information, and then reporting information in order of importance. Then you should conclude with an assessment or interpretation of the facts, based on accepted principles and explicit documentation rather than opinion.
Resources
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hyphen?region=us
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dash?region=us
public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/which.html
www.englishforums.com/English/UsageParenthesesBrackets/jldz/post.htm
References
Dorn, E. (2007, September 1). Goodbye, good luck and thanks. Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/ibj/archive/news/fall2007/dorn_oped.php
Hacker, D. (2009). A pocket style manual (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Sidell, N. L. (2011). Social work documentation: A guide to strengthening your case recording. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Truss, L. (2003). Easts, shoots & leaves. New York, NY: Gotham Books.
Weisman, D., & Zornado, J. L. (2013). Professional writing for social work practice. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
*Adapted from Weisman and Zornado (2013).