Blog about writing and grammar
Your grammar questions answered: hyphens, series, dog breeds
Age terms and hyphens Question: How do you use hyphens with ages, for example, two year old child? Answer: Compound adjectives (two or more words that both modify the following noun) are hyphenated in age terms. a two-year-old child two-year-old (compound adjective) child (noun) However, if the age term is not modifying a noun, you don’t need […]
Dates: how to write dates in business writing
No universal style for writing dates The style you use varies depending on where you live In Australian, New Zealand and British business writing, the order of dates is day of the week (optional), day, month, year (dd/mm/yyyy). There is no need for any punctuation, but some writers put a comma after the day of […]
Capitalisation guidelines for business writing
When to use initial capitals One of my pet hates is the overuse and inconsistent use of initial capitals. I think many people were taught that all important words deserved to be capitalised and old habits die hard. The modern trend is for more minimal capitalisation. There are some specific rules, but the basic rules […]
Seven ways to encourage users to complete online courses
Here’s the truth: many people do not finish online courses When I first started writing online courses, I was astonished that many people didn’t finish them. Then I realised, I often didn’t finish online courses myself. I now know that low completion rates is a fact and a common problem with online courses. It’s not […]
Learn some grammar jargon
Understanding grammar improves your writing I can remember when I first started reading grammar books that the language was daunting (some of it still is!). So here’s a few terms in case you need to refresh your memory. Parts of speech Parts of speech are sometimes called word classes. Adjectives: describing words. hot, cold, beautiful Adverbs: tell […]
How online learning has changed
From text-heavy lessons to videos, videos and more videos in online learning Online learning, also called e-learning, has changed a lot over the last 10–15 years for users, organisations and course creators. For one thing the industry has grown and is continuing to grow – it is projected to grow from $165.21 billion in 2015 […]
Turning verbs into nouns (nominalisation)
Use nominalisations with caution Last month I wrote about verbing (turning nouns into verbs) and an e-newsletter reader pointed out that we also turn verbs and adjectives into nouns. The process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns is known as nominalisation (nominalization if you use American spelling!). It’s also sometimes called ‘nouning’. There are […]
Verbing: turning nouns into verbs
Many new verbs are created from adding endings to nouns When we add endings to nouns to turn them into verbs, it’s known as ‘verbing’, ‘verbification’, ‘denomilisation’ or ‘verbifying’ – ugly words to describe a common process! For example: She eyed an opportunity. He tabled a proposal. She authored a book. They accessed a lift. […]
How to write opening and topic sentences
Your opening sentence must engage your readers As Stephen King says: ‘An ‘opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.’ That’s why it’s often the most difficult sentence to write. Even Stephen King admitted in an interview with The Atlantic […]
How to write about money in business writing
Use consistent styles when writing about money Some aspects of writing about money are universal, and other aspects are style choices. In business writing, currency is usually expressed in symbols and numerals (e.g. $10). Writing about different currencies When writing about different currencies that use the dollar, you can use: A letter or letters symbolising the […]
Storytelling in business and copywriting
How do you use storytelling in your writing? At a recent workshop, a woman said she was often told to ‘tell a story’ in her business writing. But story-telling didn’t come naturally to her in a business context, so she didn’t know what they meant. I inwardly groaned in sympathy with this woman, thinking about […]