Ten Common Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling Errors to Avoid in Business Writing

Here are ten common errors to avoid when you write your next business communication:

1. “Its” and “It’s” are two different words. The former is a possessive, meaning it shows that one thing belongs to another. The latter is a shortened form of “it is.”

2. “They’re,” “their,” and “there” are also different words. The first means “they are,” the second means “belonging to them,” and the third means “that place away from here.” The same goes for “you’re” (you are) and “your” (belonging to you).

3. Avoid using “they” and “their” when talking about one person.

4. Simple plurals do not require an apostrophe. 

5. Quotation marks are needed less often than you might expect. In general, they should be used for quotations (the exact words someone said), direct references to a phrase, word, or letter (the letter “s”) and irony or euphemisms (she was “sick” on that sunny day when she missed work). A sign that misuses quotation marks (“Apples” for sale) suggests that those apples aren’t really apples but something else that looks like them.

6. A complete sentence requires a subject and a main verb. Somebody does something. If you are missing a subject or a main verb, you have a phrase. A phrase should not have a period at the end of it. “Submitting my work” is a phrase. “I am submitting my work” is a sentence.

7. Job titles should not be capitalized unless they are used directly before a name, as part of the name. Capitalized job titles are so common that when you start writing them correctly, with lowercase letters, you can almost be certain someone will tell you it is wrong. A few exceptions do exist (such as the President of the United States of America), but most titles used in sentences should be written like this: “The president of XYZ Company spoke today.” If you say, “XYZ Company President Xavier Y. Zelinsky spoke today,” the title is appropriately capitalized.

8. “This” should nearly always be followed by a noun. Frequently, after describing a complex idea, writers will say something like, “This is not what we want.” Sometimes it is clear what “this” means, but usually the previous sentences have so many nouns that the reference is too vague to be useful. It could mean “this concept is not what we want” or “this effect is not what we want” or even “this color is not what we want.” Specify what you mean by adding a noun after every “this.”

9. Avoid overusing passive voice. “Mistakes were made” is not much of an apology because it does not accept responsibility. “I made a mistake” is much better grammatically. Passive voice does have a few legitimate uses, such as when the person or thing responsible for an action is unknown or irrelevant, but many mediocre writers use – and overuse – passive voice without cause.

10. Spelling counts. The meaning of our written language can be completely changed by one mistake.

Do run your computer’s spelling and grammar checks, but don’t count on them to keep your writing error free. Sometimes these tools miss spelling errors or tell you that your grammar is wrong when it is not. If writing is not your strength, ask someone who paid attention in English class to proofread your business writing.



Read more at http://www.englishgrammar.org/ten-common-grammar-punctuation-spelling-errors-avoid-business-writing/#BkZxBEZ1VKjbkS8Y.99