Commas can be costly Take a look at these three court cases to appreciate the power of the humble comma. US$10 million overtime dispute hinges on the Oxford (serial) comma The first comma case is about the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma). First a definition. A comma is sometimes added between the last two […]
Grammar myths are not based on the truth Language evolves, yet we often cling to the rules we were taught at primary school in the belief that resisting change keeps the language pure. But, whether we like it or not, change does occur and some ‘rules’ have become myths. None must take a singular verb A common misconception 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 size and change the margins. I […]
Data or datum? Microsoft Word accepts data as correct spelling when used in the singular and the Macquarie Dictionary says: ‘The connection between data the plural and datum the singular has been almost completely broken, so that while datum survives in such compounds as datum point, it does not have the frequency of use that data […]
Use consistent list punctuation There are several different styles for punctuating a bulleted or numbered list, and the main thing is to be consistent. If your organisation has a preferred style, use that. If you can choose your own style, please don’t use semicolons – they really are very old-fashioned! Punctuation with full-sentence lists Lists that […]