Business Grammar Tips, Tricks, and Techniques Presented by Lucy Belt

We’ll Focus on: 1.  Common grammar blunders 2.  Subject-verb agreement 3.  Pronoun choice 4.  Present tense

We’ll Focus on: 5.  Misplaced modifiers 6.  Tips on punctuation 7.  Spelling rules

Most Common Grammar Blunders 1.  Trying to edit and proofread a document in the same way it was created   Creating is writing the way you speak. —  Be professional. —  Sound conversational. —  Avoid slang or jargon. —  Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Most Common Grammar Blunders   Proofreading is catching errors.   Editing is correcting or changing mistakes.

Solution: Update your knowledge of grammar rules. 2.  Using weak or no resources   Grammar check can catch 10% of errors.

Most Common Grammar Blunders  Grammar check can’t determine meaning.  Spell-check does not improve spelling skills.  Using other people as reference can be problematic.

Solution: Reference a dictionary or thesaurus.

Most Common Grammar Blunders 3.  The use of slang and jargon  It will cause a rift.  Do not use acronyms.

Solution: Define all terms that might be vague.

Most Common Grammar Blunders 4.  Use of the word everyone with their  Everybody  Someone  Everyone

 Nothing

 Something  Anybody

 Everything  Nobody

 Anyone

 Somebody  No one

 Anything

 Each  Either  Neither

Solution: Omit the word their when using everyone.

Subject-Verb Agreement Four Difficult Sentence Patterns 1.  Words that come between subjects and verbs 2.  Reversed word order 3.  Compound subjects joined by and 4.  Compound subjects joined by neither, nor, either, or, not only, and but also

Subject-Verb Agreement Know How to Use This Simple Chart

To Have: Singular

To Have: Plural

①  I have

①  We have

②  You have

②  You have

③  He, she, it has

③  They have

Choosing the Right Pronoun Subject Pronouns

Singular

Plural

①  I

①  We

②  You

②  You

③  He, she, it

③  They

Choosing the Right Pronoun Object Pronouns

Singular

Plural

①  Me

①  Us

②  You

②  You

③  Him, her, it

③  Them

Choosing the Right Pronoun Me vs. Myself   All pronouns ending in -self are reflexive.   Example: I cut myself.   Myself reflects back to I.

Singular and Plural Know Your Present Tense   Hints:   Singular subject — singular verb   Singular verbs end in s.   Plural subject — plural verb   Plural verbs have no s.

Singular and Plural Distinguish Among Singular, Plural, Singular Possessive, and Plural Possessive Singular

Singular Possessive

Plural

Plural Possessive

boy

boy’s

boys

boys’

box

box’s

boxes

boxes’

child

child’s

children

children’s

boss

boss’s

bosses

bosses’

Davis

Davis’

Davises

Davises’

How to Avoid Misplacing Modifiers Misplaced Modifiers   Place descriptions close to the word they describe.   Rearrange the sentence.

How to Avoid Misplacing Modifiers Dangling Modifiers   They attach themselves to the incorrect word.   Rearranging the word order usually solves the problem.

Easy Tips on Punctuation The Big Four

Ends or stops Separates, breaks, or shows omission Connects ideas Introduces ideas preceded by a sentence

Easy Tips on Punctuation Periods   End of a sentence   End of indirect questions   After abbreviations

Easy Tips on Punctuation Commas   Introductory comma   Put a comma after each item in a series of three. Semicolons   Commas separate; semicolons connect.

Easy Tips on Punctuation Colons 1.  A sentence must come first. 2.  What follows a colon must explain something in the sentence.

Spelling Rules

Five Rules

1.  Use an i before e except after c. 2.  The letter q is nearly always followed by u. 3.  The ending sound seed 4.  Doubling the final consonant 5.  Change the y to i and add es.

Spelling Rules Two Additional Suggestions 1.  Make a list of words you frequently misspell.  Learn one word each week.  Write the word on a Post-it and put it on your computer.

2.  Find a letter in the word that gives you trouble and learn only that letter.

Final Suggestions   Put spelling improvement high on your list of goals.   Mistakes are what readers see first. 1.  Determine your mistakes. 2.  Work to improve one technique at a time.

Business Grammar Tips, Tricks, and Techniques Q&A With Lucy Belt

Thank you for joining us today!

Bonus Materials Dear Customer, You are a valued customer and to say “thank you,” we have included the following as a bonus for you. We believe you’ll find it helpful as a job aid or to further your knowledge beyond today’s broadcast. Thank you,

Susan Enyeart Director, Curriculum Development

Bonus Materials: BUSINESS GRAMMAR TIPS, TRICKS, AND TECHNIQUES PRESENTED BY

ROCKHURST WEB

CONFERENCE SERIES,

A DIVISION OF ROCKHURST

UNIVERSITY CONTINUING

EDUCATION CENTER, INC.

Copyright 2008, Rockhurst University Continuing Education Center, Inc.

0508

Bonus Materials Spelling Cheat Sheet — 100 Most-Often Misspelled Words 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

accessible accommodate accumulate acquaintance acquire acquitted alleged ascend auxiliary benefited bureau collectible commission committee concede condescend conscience conscientious defendant descend drunkenness eligible embarrass exaggerate exceed environment exhaust exuberance facsimile fallacious fluorescent forcibly foreign forfeit

35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68.

fueling fulfill gauge grammar grievous guarantee harass heinous hindrance hypocrisy hypocrite idiosyncrasy implement indicted indispensable interrupt irrelevant irresistible jealousy judicial knowledge leisure lieutenant lightning likelihood loneliness loose lose maintenance manageable maneuver mathematics miniature minuscule

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69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.

miscellaneous mischievous misspelled noticeable nuisance occasion occasionally oppression overrun parallel permissible perseverance persistence possess precedence preferred privilege questionnaire recede recommend reminiscence sacrilegious seize separate supersede suppress temperament transferring unanimous undoubtedly vacuum weird

Bonus Materials, continued Spelling Tips and Rules for Professionals Some people have a knack for spelling. For those whose knack lies elsewhere, here are some spelling tips and techniques. Some Tips • Most spelling mistakes are a result of mispronunciation. We all drop syllables of certain words. For example, in America we mostly say lab-ratory instead of lab-or-a-tory. Sound out the challenging word — every letter. Spell the word phonetically. (This will help you remember the “n” in government and the first “o” in laboratory.) Then look it up online or in a dictionary. • When you look it up, if you find you have spelled it wrong, sound out every letter in the correct spelling. Do this several times to fix it in your memory. • Remember the old grade-school adage, “i before e except after c, or when the sound is long a, as in neighbor and weigh.” While there are a few exceptions to this rule, it will still help you in 90 percent of your spelling situations. • Use mnemonic devices. To keep the spelling of “piece” straight (if you forget rule number 2), visualize a pie. Now cut the pie into pieces. For vacuum, remember the phrase, “You (u) two (2) vacuum.” Remember that u2 refers to the two u’s in vacuum. • Look for little parts inside the bigger word. To remember the spelling of perseverance, for example, think “per” and “severance.” For questionnaire, think “question” and “naire.” • Make a list of your commonly misspelled words. Keep it next to you when you write, as a quick reference sheet. Using the proper form of the word a few times will ingrain the proper spelling in your head. As Mark Twain said, “Use a new word correctly three times, and it’s yours.”

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Bonus Materials, continued Rules for Word Endings -ible or -able? • Words that end in -able can usually stand alone with no adjustments before the addition of the suffix. comfort

+

able

comfortable

read

+

able

readable

• Many of the -ible words require you to drop a vowel from the original word. deduce

-

e

+

ible

deducible

produce

-

e

+

ible

producible

• Many of the -ible words have a double s. compress

+

ible

compressible

access

+

ible

accessible

-ally or -ly? • If the adjective ends in -al, just add -ly. critical

+

ly

critically

final

+

ly

finally

Adding the -ing suffix • If a one-syllable word ends in a vowel followed by a consonant, double the final consonant before adding -ing. run

+

ing

running

dog

+

ing

dogging

• A word with two syllables or more that ends in a single vowel followed by one consonant, which has the accent on the final syllable, double the consonant before adding -ing or -ed. occur

+

ing

occurring

occur

+

ed

occurred

refer

+

ing

referring

refer

+

ed

referred

Note: Some suffixes have no specific rules and require that you memorize them. Check your style book or grammar resource for help.

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Bonus Materials, continued Punctuation Rules Made to Be Broken 1. Comma use in a series Commas are used to separate elements of a series, but the final comma before the concluding conjunction can be left out, especially in a simple series (red, white and blue), unless the comma is needed to prevent misinterpretation. 2. Two spaces following ending punctuation When typewriters were used, it was the rule to place two blank spaces after ending punctuation. With computer software, it’s the custom to use only one space following periods, question marks, exclamation points, etc. 3. Comma use with dates Commas are used to set off the date and the year — for example: On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. However, the commas can be deleted when only the month and year are used — the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776 by the Second Continental Congress. 4. Apostrophe use with singular nouns ending in “s” Styles vary widely, and apostrophes may be used or not, depending on the writer’s preference or the writer’s preferred style guide. Generally, proper nouns that end in “s” require only the apostrophe — Achilles’ heel, Tom Jones’ book. Common singular nouns ending in “s” generally take both an apostrophe and “s,” depending on the sound of the word that follows — the hostess’ stationery, the hostess’s table. Check your favorite dictionary or style manual. 5. Ellipsis to indicate a pause or hesitation An ellipsis isn’t just used to indicate deleted text. An ellipsis can also be used to illustrate a pause or hesitation in thought. An em dash is often used for this purpose, but an ellipsis is used now as well.

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