Business Writing: Introduction

1. Business Writing: Introduction

2. Business writing is different from creative writing or journalistic writing! • Do not write the way you speak. • Do not use slang. • Do not expect your reader to know what you mean. • Do not write in fragments. • Use complete sentences. • Always use Standard Written English (SWE)

3. What to Avoid in Business Writing • Second person “you” • Inconsistent person • Inconsistent tense • Abbreviations • Do not use: ya, thru, wanna, gonna • Do not use: etc., & • Avoid ending verbs with “en” or “in” instead of “ing”: waitin, watchen

4. Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement and Reference • Pronouns take the place of nouns (he, she, it, they, I, you) • The antecedent is the word to which the pronoun refers. For example: Mary went to the store and she bought candy. (Mary is the antecedent for the pronoun she.)

5. Mechanical Rules • Numbers – Never begin a sentence with a number.(Spell it out.) • All numbers below 100 should be spelled out. Those above 100 are optional but should be consistent.

6. Commonly Misspelled Words • your you’re • to too two • there their they’re • its it’s • quite quiet • than then • whose who’s

7. Unnecessary Repetition • A round circle • Refer back • An eyewitness present at the scene • The whole entire world

8. Words and Phrases to Avoid • A-lot is two words – very, thing, you, I • Avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) • Avoid contractions • There are no such words as: theirself, hisself, alright. Write themselves, himself, all right. • Do not capitalize subjects like biology, math, science, history. • Use the word “finish” instead of “done” • Use “who” when referring to people. • The party would (of, have) made me happy.

9. Parts of Speech • Nouns – person, place, thing • Pronouns – take the place of a noun • Verbs – action words • Adjectives – Describes a noun or pronoun • Adverbs – Describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb • Prepositions – Form a phrase modifying another word in a sentence. Usually show movement such as around, under, over, into, through, etc. • Conjunctions – Connect words, phrases, clauses: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS) • Interjections – Express surprise or emotion. (Oh! Hey! Wow!).

10. Pronoun Usage I I, he, she, they, & who are used as subjects. Me, him, her,them, who, & whom are used as objects. Use who when you would use he;whom when you would use him. When a pronoun is part of a compound subject or object, say the sentence using only the pronoun (leave out the noun and the conjunction). Mr. Fielding asked Sophia to work with Tom and (I, me) on the project. (Who, whom) was asked to work with Sophia on the project? With (who, whom) will Sophia be working on the project? Who, whom was given the project? To (who, whom) was the project given?

11. Pronoun Usage II The subordinators than and as are often used incompletely. • No one in the office is friendlier than (she, her). (…….friendlier than she is.) • I have been on the job as long as (he, him.) (……….as long as he has.)

12. Adjectives • Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. They tell which one, what kind, or how many. the entertainment industry, high salaries, several employees • Real and good are adjectives. We had real value for our money. She is a good tennis player. • Well can be an adjective referring to health. Andrea looks well today.

13. Practice E • He feels (good, well) again after a bout with the flu. • I feel (good, well) about the project. • My team played (good, well) in the tournament. • Greg’s memo was (real, really) clear. • His death caused everyone to be (real, very) sad. • The pizza tastes (real, really) (good, well).

14. Contractions and Possessive Pronouns • Contractions are shortened forms of words. The apostrophe goes where the omitted letters would be. It’s time for lunch. Who’s able to help with the mailing? • Possessive pronouns showownership. They never use apostrophes. We can see its advantage. I will find out whose fault this is.

15. Practice F • (It’s, its) time to leave. • The restaurant is known for (it’s, its) fine food. • (Who’s, whose) book is this? • I will find out (who’s, whose) responsible for your account.

16. Lay/Lie • To lay means to “put down”. place=lay • To lie means to “assume a horizontal position”. recline=lie PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE lay laid laid lie lay lain

17. Affect/Effect • Affect, as a verb, means “influence”. • Effect, as a verb, means to “bring about”. As a noun, effect means“results”. In most cases, you will be safe if you remember to use affect for the verb and effect for the noun.

18. All Together/Altogether • All together means “in a group”. • Altogether is an adverb meaning “entirely”.

19. Bring/Take • One brings something to a place where one is or will be. • One takes it when one is leaving for somewhere else.

20. Accept/Except • Accept is a verb meaning “agree” to something. • Except, when used as a verb, means “exclude”. As a preposition, except means “with the exclusion of”.

21. Less/Fewer • Use less for money and things that are not countable, often singular nouns. • Use fewer for things that are countable, often plural nouns. less time, fewer clocks

22. Review ofThe Notorious Confusables • His dismissal (affected, effected) me. • My goal is to (affect, effect) a change in this company. • We know that many obstacles (lay, lie) in our path. • You can (lay, lie) the report on my desk. • We were (all together, altogether) in the conference room.

23. Review 6. His argument was (all together, altogether) wrong. 7. Be sure to (bring, take) your laptop to the meeting in Chicago. 8. Please (bring, take) me that memo. 9. I (accept, except) your offer. 10. John’s boss (accepted, excepted) him from the general criticism.

24. Review 11. (Less, fewer) than 100 people work for our company. 12. Now that he’s earning (less, fewer) money, he’s making (less, fewer) large expenditures.

25. Avoid “X-rated” Expressions There is no x in: Espresso Etcetera Especially

26. Spell-check won’t catch these! • cite/site • complement/compliment • council/counsel • farther/further • liable/libel • principal/principle • stationary/stationery

27. Avoid Redundancy in Speech and Writing • At this point in time-NOW • In spite of the fact that-ALTHOUGH • Cooperate together-COOPERATE • Owing to the fact that-BECAUSE,SINCE • On account of the fact that-BECAUSE • During the time that-WHILE • In an efficient manner-EFFICIENTLY • Where we’re at-WHERE WE ARE

28. Use Non-Sexist Language • Nouns-chairperson, spokesperson • Pronouns- he or she, his or her • Use examples from both sexes • Find out your company’s policy on “sexist language” regarding nouns and pronouns.

29. The “You Approach” Through the use of courtesy and tact, your speech and writing appeal to the point of view of your customer or co-worker. Change Please accept our apologies. To We hope you have not been seriously inconvenienced by the delay.

30. Some Resources • Barron’s Better English by Andrea B. Geffner, 1998 • The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein • The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White • Good Grief, Good Grammar-The Business Person’s Guide to Grammar and Usage by Diana Booher • Impact A Guide to Business Communications by Ann Fischer and Margot Northey