Business Writing

Don't Be Fooled by Microsoft's Non-Errors

In Microsoft Office the grammar and spelling checker often flags non-errors. It flags certain constructions that have "fooled" the software into detecting a possible error. 

My grammar and spelling checker flagged a potential error in each item below. But don't be fooled! Each item is correct.   

1. I am wondering who they are and how to reach them.
   Microsoft suggests changing who to whom, but the sentence requires the subject pronoun who.
2. Thank you for letting Michael know about the situation.
   Microsoft suggests changing know to knows, which is obviously incorrect.
3. This magazine may give you ideas for decorating the kitchen.
   Microsoft suggests replacing you with your--wrong!
4. Suzan says it is difficult to write about herself.
   Microsoft suggests replacing herself with her, which changes the meaning.
5. Treasurer’s Report (as a heading)
   Microsoft suggests replacing Treasurer's with "Treasurer is."
6. Kate, thank you for your help.
   Microsoft flags this as a fragment, but it is a perfectly fine sentence.
7. Please look over your bid to see if there is anything you can do to lower the price.
   Microsoft suggests a comma after anything--wrong!
8. Thanks, Bob!
   Microsoft suggests deleting the comma, but the comma is required in direct address.
9. She earned a master’s degree in communication from the University of Notre Dame.
   Microsoft wants to capitalize of--wrong!
10. The session will run from 1 to 5 p.m.
    Microsoft wants to change 1 to one--wrong!
11. We need to know our guest's preferred dinnertime.
    Microsoft suggests "guest has" rather than the possessive form guest's.
12. I have taught thousands of professionals at all organizational levels.
    Microsoft suggests professional's and professionals'--both are wrong.

In many of the examples, you can tell why the software was fooled. For instance, "Michael know" would be wrong in most sentences, but not in the construction "Thank you for letting Michael know." The number 1 is often spelled out, but not with a.m. or p.m. Guest's can mean "guest has," but not in Item 11.  

Before you accept a change your grammar and spelling checker suggests, be sure you understand it. In Microsoft Office, click "Explain" when your software offers that option, and see if the explanation makes sense. If you aren't sure whether your sentence is correct, try revising it in a way that makes sense to you.

Does your grammar and spelling checker find other non-errors? Please share them here.

Lynn
Syntax Training

Happy Thanksgiving!

A blog reader asked whether to capitalize the word happy when it comes before Thanksgiving.

The answer? It depends.

In an exclamation, capitalize like this:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

In a sentence, do this:

We wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

*******************

Dear Reader,

If you celebrate the holiday this week, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Whether you observe Thanksgiving or not, I give thanks for you reading this blog.

Warm wishes,

Lynn
Syntax Training

 

 

 

Hello to All!

I was teaching in North Carolina this week, when a participant in the business writing class shared her most embarrassing email mistake.

The mistake was in an email she sent to everyone in the company--about 400 people--in her role as a senior manager of human resources. It involved a typo in her greeting, a typo her grammar and spelling checker did not catch, and neither did she. 

What was the mistake? This simple, enthusiastic greeting:

Hell to all!

How is that for embarrassing? Can you match it? 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Writing Advice for Job Seekers

The other day I was teaching a business writing class in Portland, Oregon, when a manager said this:

"I got an email from someone who had just completed his certification and was looking for a job. In his email, he didn't even capitalize his own name! And there were other errors in spelling and grammar. I didn't consider hiring him for one moment." 

The job was for someone with diving skills, not writing skills. So why did the hiring manager so quickly reject the applicant, who had completed his diving certification?

The manager explained:

"I could not have someone like that representing the company."

People who are applying for jobs need to realize that application screeners and hiring managers will judge them by their writing, whether the job involves much writing or not. Not capitalizing one's name is sloppy, clueless behavior. It shows that applicants don't know how to present themselves professionally. Therefore, they won't represent the company professionally.

As a reader of this blog, you already know that writing matters. You wouldn't think of not capitalizing your name or of making obvious errors in a job-application message.

But some people around you don't know. Consider that diver, who was no doubt proud of his new certification and pleased about his job prospects. Do you know people like him? Talk to them. Tell them they MUST communicate professionally if they want a decent job.

Will you spread the word?

Lynn
Syntax Training  

Website, Web Page, the Web, Etc.: How to Render Evolving Terms

Katherine wrote for advice on rendering terms such as website, web page, email, and Internet. Well, I have just typed them the way I prefer to render them. But let's see what the experts in print prefer. Then you can make your choices based on the reference manuals you follow and what looks good to you.

website/Web site

website
My reference books that vote for website (no capital letter, one word) are The Associated Press Stylebook 2011 (AP), The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition (Chicago), Garner's Modern American Usage 3rd Edition (Garner), and The American Heritage College Dictionary 4th Edition (AH). Note: AH votes for the next version too.  

Web site
References favoring Web site (capital W, two words) are The Gregg Reference Manual 11th Edition (Gregg), Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition (M-W), and AH.

Web page, webpage, web page

Web page: AP, Gregg, and AH vote for this form. (But AH votes twice.)

webpage: Garner and AH prefer this one-word form.

web page: Chicago votes for this rendering.  

the Web, the web

the Web: AP, Garner, Gregg, AH, and M-W prefer this form.

the web: Only Chicago recommends this version.

E-mail, email, e-mail

E-mail: This term gets a vote from Garner, Gregg, and M-W, who vote yes for all three forms.

email: AP, Garner, Gregg, and M-W support this form.

e-mail: Chicago, AH, Garner, Gregg, and M-W okay this form.

Internet: All my reference books capitalize Internet.

the Net, the net

the Net: AP, Gregg, AH and M-W capitalize Net when it refers to the Internet. M-W lists both forms.

the net: Chicago recommends this version, and M-W lists it.

Given all these variations, what is a writer to do? You may choose one guide and follow it consistently. Or you may select the forms you like, as I do. But you must be sure at least one current, respected dictionary or style guide supports your choices--if you want to be correct and be able to defend your work. 

I love reading and responding to your comments. However, I prefer that you not ask about additional words such as webmaster, e-zine, and intranet. Instead, invest in one or more reference guides and look them up, which is exactly what I would do!

Enjoy!

Lynn
Syntax Training 

Looking for a Babysitter. Call Jane.

Katherine, a reader, sent me an excellent example of the confusion that can result from messages that are stingy with words and punctuation. Katherine saw this handwritten advertisement on a bulletin board:

Looking for a good, responsible babysitter. Call Jane.

Underneath the announcement were small slices of paper, each with Jane's phone number, for people to tear off.

Is Jane a responsible babysitter looking for work? Or is she a parent in search of a sitter?

Katherine described the confusion: "The punctuation suggested that she was looking for a babysitter, but the nature of the sheet with tear-off slips and the fact that most advertisements of this sort are for people trying to find work as a babysitter led me to believe that perhaps it was a punctuation error."

These two revised signs clarify the situation:

Looking for a good, responsible babysitter? Call Jane.

If you are a good, responsible babysitter, call Jane.

You might wisely argue that neither version says enough. What about the hours, days of the week, number of children, geographical location, or other details? But in both versions at least we can tell whether Jane is seeking work or seeking a babysitter. 

Do you have an example of business writing that confuses by saying too little? Please share it, as Katherine did. Thanks, Katherine!

Lynn
Syntax Training

I Right Email and Reports

I got two messages this week from professional women who told me what they right. It wasn't that they were righting wrongs. They were writing email, reports, and proposals. They simply typed right when they meant write. And they did not catch their errors before the messages reached me.

At times we all type incorrect words--no for know, their for there, wait for weight. It happens because we type the words that go through our minds, and we may hear them in our minds rather than see them. I don't intend this as a scientific explanation based on brain research. Rather, it is what happens to me. I may compose a sentence with passed yet type past because I didn't have an image of the word I was typing. I didn't think about it.

No matter how we make such errors, all of us can catch them before they reach our clients, customers, and others if we take time to proofread. A your that should be you're screams at us if we just read the sentence it appears in. And we all know where their belongs--no excuses! We just need to take a moment to read what we have written. 

Don't right email and reports. Right the wrongs in them. Proofread!

Lynn
Syntax Training

Find the error in 50 quick proofreading tests, Error Quests.

50 Ways to Test Your Proofreading Skills

I am excited to announce Error Quests, a new product we just released. It is a collection of 50 short excerpts from business messages, each one containing just one error in grammar, usage, word choice, sentence structure, or punctuation. Your job is to find the single error according to business writing standards in the U.S. and Canada. (American spellings are used.)

Here is a sample Quest. Can you find and correct just one error in it? 

Error Quest 24
We are pleased that you have made your travel plans. Once you arrive at the airport and retrieve your baggage, you will be able to get a taxi just outside the baggage claim area. A typical one way fare from the airport to our conference center is $40. The trip takes approximately 45 minutes in rush-hour traffic.

Error Quests comes as a printed booklet and as a PDF. In the printed booklet, you can find the solution to each Error Quest just beneath it (no peeking!). In the PDF, you can click for the solution, and it will appear on the screen right below the Quest. Try this PDF sampler of five Error Quests.

Well, did you find the error in Error Quest 24?

Here is the solution:

Solution
The error involves the adjective one way before fare. It should be rendered as one-way. The hyphen is required to link the two parts of the compound adjective before the word fare. If the sentence had read “A typical fare is $40 one way,” no hyphen would be required because one way comes after fare rather than before it. Similar examples requiring a hyphen are two-door cars, three-week trip, 10-minute breaks, and 20-year drought.

Of the 50 Quests in the booklet, 44 have appeared in our monthly e-newsletter Better Writing at Work; 6 are new Quests.

Many people have told me how much they enjoy testing their skills each month in the newsletter. Their positive comments gave me the idea to collect the Quests into a handy booklet of quick proofreading tests. Each Error Quest presents an error I have found in clients' writing--nothing rare or ridiculously difficult.

Interested? Error Quests as a booklet or PDF is just US$9.95. Read more.

Enjoy!

Lynn
Syntax Training

Help for People Who Make Signs

My friend Margaret sent me two examples of faulty writing on signs. I want to share them to help office managers and others who make signs for visiting customers.

Read the two notices below, and see if you recognize the problem they share. 

1. In a doctor's office: "In order to better serve you, please turn off your cell phone during your visit with us today."
2. In a credit union: "For security reasons, please remove sunglasses, helmets, and hoods to better serve you."

The problem is the phrase "to better serve you." The phrase is not connected properly to the main sentence. It dangles there, worrying readers--especially English teachers and copyeditors.

In Example 1, the phrase "In order to better serve you" does not have a subject. Who wants to "better serve you"? Because the phrase lacks a subject, readers expect the subject to come immediately after the phrase, as in "In order to better serve you, we . . . ." But it's not we who should turn off your cell phone--you should. The structure is unstable.

Here are ways to revise Example 1, the sign in the doctor's office:

• "In order to better serve you, we ask that you please turn off your cell phone during your visit with us today."
• "In order for us to better serve you, please turn off your cell phone during your visit with us today." (This sentence indicates that the job is for us to serve you.)
• "Please turn off your cell phone during your visit so we can serve you better."

I prefer the last revision because it is the most concise. (I used can to indicate ability. If you would prefer may, please read my post "Can vs. May--Not So Simple!"

In Example 2, the sign in the credit union, once again it is unclear who is doing the serving. The pronouns we and us do not appear. With we, the structure is solid: 

• "For security reasons, please remove sunglasses, helmets, and hoods so we can serve you better."

I don't like the solution above, though, because it pulls readers in two directions. Is the reader removing apparel for security reasons or for better service?

The revision below is clearer and more honest:

• "For security reasons, please remove sunglasses, helmets, and hoods."

If you make signs or know people in your workplace who have that job, please pass on this post.

Margaret, thank you for the instructive errors!

Lynn
Syntax Training

Proofreading Slogan: Print Before Sending

I regularly receive emails that end with the slogan "Please consider the environment before printing this message." Many people, including me, are concerned about wasting resources.

Yet I've found that it's much more effective to proofread a document from a printed page than from a screen. When I proofread an important piece on the screen only, I often miss errors.

I recently updated a business writing course flyer because a class has evolved. The online class that used to be Email Intelligence is now How to Write Email That Gets Results. I proofread the revised flyer at least twice on the screen and was ready to upload it to my website. But a little voice told me to print the flyer and proofread it one more time--because it is so important that the flyer not contain mistakes. 

I was shocked to find a bunch of mistakes when I reviewed the printed pages: 

1. Time: 10 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Pacific Time (It's a 90-minute class plus Q&A, not 13+ hours.)
2. Date: 3-16-1 (The final 1 should have been 11.)
3. Target Audience: Anyone who wants to gets positive, consistent results with email.
4. Get specific recommendations on how to gets results with your email.
5. Register for the January 25 class today. (It was a March 16 class.)

All the errors involved text I had changed, of course. You know, those nasty gremlins that sneak into revised copy and hide there.

For another piece of writing I proofread on the screen, I found myself stuck with this error on a cover sheet on my way to a client meeting: February. 2, 2011.

Where did that erroneous period come from? Here's where: Just before printing the document, I had decided to spell out February rather than use the abbrevation Feb.--with the period.

I am all for preserving natural resources and saving money. But before I send an important message into the world, I am going to print and proofread it. 

What is your view?

Lynn
Syntax Training