Lynn Gaertner-Johnston, Author at BusinessWritingBlog

Grammar and Usage

Too Many Tos

An error I am seeing constantly is the incorrect rendering of too as to. Just yesterday in an Email Intelligence class someone wrote this phrase to describe what slows down her reading of email: "to many words." That’s wrong. People occasionally let me know they… continue reading

graphic showing 2 people fighting over they should use "over" or "more than"

Grammar and Usage

Over vs. More Than

There’s a quiet war between the over/more than camps, and I took part in it last week. I was updating my bio on my web site when an associate cautioned me to replace my overs with more thans. Describing myself, I had written: In her corporate… continue reading

Grammar and Usage

When a Verb Says “The End”

The web-hosting company I use just emailed me to let me know my contract is being renewed. They used the wrong verb. Do you recognize it? We certainly hope doing business with us was a pleasing experience. Because of their choice of verb, I thought… continue reading

A White, Yellow and Blue background with the words "Ensure vs. Insure vs. Assure"

Grammar and Usage

Ensure, Assure, Insure

Updated 19 September, 2022: Barbara of the Bonneville Power Administration in Vancouver, Washington, asked me to write about ensure vs assure vs insure. I am happy to write from the U.S. perspective, and I am hoping my friends across the oceans and borders will enlighten us about any… continue reading

Punctuation

Punctuating a Restaurant Menu

Chris wrote me about the menu at Cliff’s Grill in Houston. He wants to make sure the punctuation is correct and sent me a brief description of the patty melt burger. Here it is: Patty Melt Beef patty, grilled onions and Swiss cheese, served on… continue reading

Years’ or Year’s or Years

Is it year’s, years’, or years? Well, all three are perfectly correct depending on the context. Here is the quick rundown: Years is the plural of the word “year” Example: It’s been three years since I last saw him. Year’s and Years‘ are used to express compound time.… continue reading

graphic introducing the placement of punctuation in quotes

Punctuation

Quotation Marks–Before or After?

I was teaching The Keys to Error-Free Writing in Vancouver, Washington, this week, and one of the hot topics was the placement of periods and commas with quotation marks. When we checked this site in class to see if I had written about the topic… continue reading

“Out of Office” When You Are Leaving a Company

“Out of office” messages usually cover temporary absences from work. If you are leaving the company, whether it is for a better position, a break from work, or a stint of unemployment, you should let people know you are “out of office” permanently. Here are… continue reading

Etiquette

Alternatives to ASAP

In a Better Business Writing class last week, a maintenance manager was looking for alternatives to “ASAP” (as soon as possible). As someone constantly on the receiving end of ASAP requests, she wanted a different phrase to use when she was requesting. She was tired… continue reading

Grammar and Usage

“Sales Are” or “Sales Is”?

John from Buffalo, New York, wrote today to ask a question about subject-verb agreement. Because he is the guy everyone turns to at work when they have a grammar question and because he could not find the answer in three reference manuals, I am happy… continue reading

Author Archives: Lynn Gaertner-Johnston