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Business Grammar, Style, & Usage—A Desk Reference for Articulate & Polished Business Writing & Speaking Alicia Abell If you are interested in purchasing bulk copies for your team/company with your company logo, and/or licensing this book for a web site, newsletter or other publication, please email store@aspatore.com or call toll free 1-866-Aspatore. Published by Aspatore, Inc. For corrections, company/title updates, comments or any other inquiries please email info@aspatore.com. First Printing, 2003 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © 2003 by Aspatore, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act, without prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 1-58762-026-X Edited by Jo Alice Hughes Material in this book is for educational purposes only. This bo
Introduction Wielding his red editing pen, my former boss, President Bill Clinton, used to mutter, “Words, words, words,” as he slashed away unnecessary fluff from the speeches we’d given to him. Clinton wanted to speak to Americans, not over them, and he believed quite strongly that filling his text with unnecessary rhetoric only alienated the audience. Clinton was spot on. One of my colleagues used to say he was more Hemingway than Faulkner. Clinton wanted workers on the factory floor to understand him as well as the academics at Harvard and the members of Congress in Washington. To achieve that goal meant never sacrificing the content or quality of an argument, but just framing it in a way that would keep our audience engaged, no matter what their level in life. It also meant keeping the President’s speeches organized, so that he offered a coherent argument, not a rambling lecture that would require a decoder ring to figure out. It’s the same as talking to a doctor who can describe
Chapter 1: Writing Well For Business Some General Guidelines Know why you’re writing. Before you begin writing, know what you want to say – and why you want to say it. Are you explaining a situation or a problem? Are you trying to convince the reader of something? Are you recommending a course of action? One way to ensure you know why you’re writing is to make an outline of your main points beforehand. By always remembering your purpose in writing, you’ll keep yourself from wandering off track. You’ll also avoid confusing the reader. If you don’t understand what you’re trying to say, how can you expect the reader to? Know your audience. Effective writing of all kinds is tailored to its audience. Who – and how many people – will be reading the document? How familiar are they with the subject matter? Make sure the answers to these questions fit with the tone and level of detail you include in your document. Another key is knowing how long your reader or readers will have to read your mem
Chapter 1: Writing Well For Business
Top 5 Business Writing Tips Know why you’re writing. Before you begin writing, know what you want to say – and why you want to say it. One way to ensure you know why you’re writing is to make an outline of your main points beforehand. Present the most important points first. Present the most important point(s) at the beginning of your document; then use the paragraphs and sections that follow to support your statement. The same goes for paragraphs: At the beginning of each paragraph, state the main point. Then present the supporting details. Use simple, specific language. Don’t use a big word or an obscure word when a short word or a simple word will suffice. Choose concrete words and specific examples over abstract, vague language. Avoid technical jargon and clichés. Use active rather than passive voice. Active voice makes writing more energetic and forceful. If you can’t figure out how to put an idea into active voice, figure out who or what is doing the action and make that the subj
Chapter 2: Getting Grammar Straight Some Grammar and Punctuations Rules agreement Pronouns must agree with the word they refer to in person, number, and gender. This is known as pronoun- antecedent agreement. Incorrect: Everyone wanted to cash in their stock options. Correct: Everyone wanted to cash in his or her stock options. (Everyone is singular; therefore, the pronouns that refer to it must be singular as well.) Similarly, verbs must agree with the subject of the sentence. (If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.) This is known as subject-verb agreement. Do not fall into the trap of making the verb agree with the noun closest to it if that noun is not the subject. Incorrect: A portion of our efforts are devoted to marketing. Correct: A portion of our efforts is devoted to marketing. (Portion, not efforts, which is the object of the prepositional phrase beginning with of, is the subject of the sentence. Portion is si
Chapter 2: Getting Grammar Straight
Top 10 Grammar Mistakes Agreement errors Pronouns must agree with the word they refer to in person, number, and gender. Incorrect: Everyone wanted to cash in their stock options. Correct: Everyone wanted to cash in his or her stock options. Singular subjects take singular verbs. Plural subjects take plural verbs. Each, everybody, everyone, anybody, somebody, someone, no one, either, and neither are singular words that are often mistakenly used with plural verbs. Group, staff, board, committee, and majority are also singular. Incorrect: The staff are on vacation. Correct: The staff is on vacation. Comma splices Do not connect two individual sentences, each with its own subject and verb, by a comma. Incorrect: Yesterday’s meeting was there, today’s meeting is here. Correct: Yesterday’s meeting was there. Today’s meeting is here. Dangling modifiers Modifiers are words or phrases that define or alter the meaning of something. Modifiers are dangling when they don’t modify the subject of the
Chapter 3: Dealing With Questions of Style Abbreviation, Capitalization, and Other Information aboveboard One word, no hyphen. Abbreviations Use abbreviations sparingly, unless you are certain the reader knows what they stand for. Some words, however, are almost always abbreviated. They include a.m., p.m., B.C., A.D., Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. When they follow a person’s name, Jr. and Sr. are also abbreviated. Use an ampersand (&) in place of and and abbreviate the words Brothers (Bros.), Company (Co.), Corporation (Corp.), and Incorporated (Inc.) when they are part of a company’s formal name. When not used as part of a name, spell out these words. Do not abbreviate months, days of the week, or the words street, avenue, road, and boulevard. Do not abbreviate the names of states except in postal addresses. Acronyms Like abbreviations, acronyms should be used sparingly, unless you are certain the reader knows what they stand for. Write out a word the first time you use it and note its acro
Chapter 3: Dealing With Questions of Style
Top 10 Style Tips Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly. When you do use them, tell the reader what they stand for the first time you mention them. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for issues of identity theft. We won’t know how to proceed until an FTC representative contacts us. Punctuate dates as follows: The author was born on September 4, 1973, in Washington, DC. Write out the month (do not abbreviate), and place a comma after the year. Write out numbers one through ten; use numerals for numbers over ten. However, use numerals when expressing ages, dollar amounts, measurements (height, width, weight), and percents. Instead of using his or her in an effort to be gender neutral, try making the pronoun plural, eliminating the pronoun altogether, or using you. Avoid: A salesperson must know his or her client. Better: Salespeople must know their clients. Do not capitalize north, south, east, and west when indicating direction. Capitalize only when referring to a spec
Chapter 4: Avoiding Common Mistakes Frequently Misspelled Words and Misused Terms Frequently Misspelled Words (spelled correctly here) a lot (not alot) apparatus accessible apparent accommodate applicable accumulate apropos accuracy ascertain acknowledgment auxiliary acquaintance ax (not axe), axed, acquire axing ad nauseam bankruptcy adjournment beneficial advantageous bona fide adviser (not advisor) bookkeeping advisory brochure affidavit bureau affiliated business afterward (not afterwards) calendar aggravate cancellation aggressive cannot (one word) align Caribbean all right (not alright) changeable alumnus, alumni (masculine); alumna, changeover alumnae (feminine) chargeable amateur Cincinnati amid (not amidst) clientele among (not amongst) column analyze committee analysis comparative anonymous comptroller Connecticut harass conscience homemade conscientious humorous conscious inasmuch as correlate index, indexes, counterfeit indices consensus indispensable contemptible installat
Chapter 4: Avoiding Common Mistakes
Frequently Misused Terms ability vs. capacity Ability is the state of being able to do something. Capacity is the potential for accommodating or containing. about vs. approximately About is more imprecise than approximately. Approximately means close to exact. accept vs. except Accept means to receive willingly. Except means excluding. access vs. excess Access means ability to approach. Excess means surplus. actionable This word has come into common misuse in business. It’s strictly a legal term, an adjective that means giving cause for legal action or a lawsuit. It should not be used in business writing unless the writing refers to legal matters. adverse vs. averse Adverse means harmful or unfavorable. Averse means feeling distaste. advice vs. advise Advice (noun) means opinion about what could or should be done. Advise (verb) means to offer suggestions. advise vs. inform Advise means to offer suggestions. Inform means to communicate knowledge. adopt vs. adapt Adopt means to take as o
Top 30 Misspelled Words (spelled correctly here) Accessible Accommodate Acquaintance Adviser Bankruptcy Calendar Chargeable Committee Conscious Consensus Embarrass Exaggerate Feasible Homemade Indispensable Judgment Liaison Manageable Maneuver Millennium Necessary Omission Privilege Recommend Referral Separate Sizable Suspicious tendency toward (not towards)
Top 10 Most Frequently Misused Terms affect vs. effect Affect (verb) means to influence or change. Effect means to bring about (verb) or result (noun). That movie affected me quite a bit. The effect of that movie was powerful. among vs. between Between introduces two items; among introduces more than two. I am deciding between a red couch and a blue couch for the lobby. I think the tan couch is my favorite among the choices. amount vs. number Amount refers to the quantity of something that cannot be counted in individual units (sugar, money). Number refers to something that can be counted in individual units (packages of sugar, dollars). The amount of help we received was unprecedented. The number of people who helped was unprecedented. bad vs. badly Bad is an adjective. Badly is an adverb. I feel bad is correct if you mean you feel sad, guilty, or in ill health. I feel badly is incorrect unless you mean your sense of touch is impaired. That little boy is bad. That little boy behaved b
Chapter 5: Composing Office Documents Recommendations for Emails, Memos, and Reports There are certain guidelines to follow when you write any kind of office document. Other guidelines are specific to the type of document. In this section, I provide some general ideas on composing business documents, as well as some brief, more specific tips on writing emails, memos, reports, and international correspondence. Some General Guidelines Know why you’re writing. Before you write anything longer than two or three paragraphs, write down the answer to this question: Why am I writing? (For example, To secure funds for the system enhancement, To propose a new approach to employee communications) Keep this answer in front of you as you write; it’s your objective. Include nothing in your document that doesn’t relate to or support your objective. Organize your document. The most basic, and usually the most effective, way to organize any business document is to present the information in descending
Chapter 5: Composing Office Documents
Top 10 Tips for Writing Office Documents Decide early how you will organize your document. The most common, and often most effective, technique is to present information in descending order of importance. Make your document easy on the eyes by using plenty of white space, ample margins, headings and subheadings, and bulleted lists of key information. Present your key ideas in an executive summary. This will allow people who can’t read the full text to grasp your main points quickly, especially if the document is long. Use strong openings and closings. Engage your reader’s interest immediately. Methods of concluding a document include reiterating key points, drawing a conclusion or making a judgment, making recommendations, and suggesting a course of action. Use informative subject lines in memos and emails. “Today’s meeting” is more informative than “Meeting,” and “Today’s meeting cancelled” is even better. Keep email messages short. If your message is very important or very long (more
Bibliography Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Olin. The Business Writer’s Handbook. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. Bell, James K., and Adrian A. Cohn. Handbook of Grammar, Style, and Usage. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1981. Blake, Gary, and Robert W. Bly. The Elements of Business Writing. New York: Longman Publishers, 1991. Danziger, Elizabeth. Get to the Point. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001. Geffner, Andrea B. Barron’s Business English. 3rd ed. Hauppauge, New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 1998. Goldstein, Norm, ed. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. New York: The Associated Press, 1999. Piotrowski, Maryann V. Effective Business Writing: A Guide for Those Who Write on the Job. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996. Ross-Larson, Bruce. Powerful Paragraphs. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999. Riveting Reports. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. Stunning Sentences. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. Str
Chapter 4: Avoiding Common Mistakes
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