Name change I have decided to change the name of my newsletter to ‘All about Words with Mary’. The next issue you receive will no longer be called ‘The Grammar Factor’. Reader’s apostrophe question Question: Which is correct? Every parent’s nightmare. Every parents’ nightmare. Answer: The correct phrase is: Every parent’s nightmare. The reason is […]
Learn some apostrophe rules Apostrofly Definition: an insect that lands at random on the printed page, depositing an apostrophe wherever it lands. Discovered in 2002 by British journalist Ian Mayes. Apostrophes in expressions of time Question: Do you need an apostrophe in ’20 years’ experience’? Answer: Grammar experts don’t agree about apostrophes in time. The […]
Your grammar questions answered Punctuation with ‘however’ Question: I have a question relating to punctuation when the word ‘however’ is used in a sentence. Workplace law requires hazardous risks to be eliminated, however, if it is not reasonably practicable, then the risks must be minimised. Or Workplace law requires hazardous risks to be eliminated, however […]
How to write board and committee papers This course is written by Mary Morel, author of Write to Govern: How to write effective board papers. Mary regularly presents with the Governance Institute of Australia, and has delivered in-house training to a large range of government and corporate clients. She has successfully completed the Australian Institute […]
Punctuation with ‘however’ Question: I have a question relating to punctuation when the word ‘however’ is used in a sentence. Workplace law requires hazardous risks to be eliminated, however, if it is not reasonably practicable, then the risks must be minimised. Or Workplace law requires hazardous risks to be eliminated, however if it is not […]
Your grammar questions answered Punctuation with brackets Question: A colleague often uses a full stop after a bracket that has an exclamation mark at the end: (So it looks like this!). Is it correct to have a full stop after an exclamation mark in a bracket? I’m sure it’s wrong but not sure why! Answer: […]
Answering your grammar questions Punctuation with brackets Question: A colleague often uses a full stop after a bracket that has an exclamation mark at the end: (So it looks like this!). Is it correct to have a full stop after an exclamation mark in a bracket? I’m sure it’s wrong but not sure why! Answer: […]
Writing has become more personal over the last 10 years I recently ordered Everybody Writes by Ann Handley (Wiley, 2014) because a colleague recommended it. The day it arrived, I settled down in a comfy armchair with a cup of tea looking forward to having my writing ideas stretched and challenged. I soon realised that it […]
Design with words in Microsoft Word Tips for formatting your Word documents First impressions count and we base our initial judgement of how easy a business document will be to read based on the way it looks. Strict length requirements sometimes encourage writers to do crazy things to the layout such as reduce the font […]
Answering grammar questions What pronoun should you use after ‘than’? Question: Here is a question I’ve been wondering about for years. Here is the basic sentence – and I’m going to focus on race car drivers – hope you don’t mind: Nico Rosberg was faster than Lewis Hamilton in the last race. That’s pretty straightforward. One could switch […]