Grammar & writing tips

• and/or

  I recently read an American grammarian who said that style books frown on the use of and/or. I don’t use and/or often, but since I don’t see a problem with it, I turned to the Chicago Manual of Style. Sure enough, it said: ‘Avoid this Janus-faced term. It can often be replaced by …

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• Hyphens and when to use them

   Many people regard hyphens as unattractive punctuation marks. One communications manager I worked with called them ‘bird poop on a page’.I think hyphens are useful to indicate that two or more words are acting as a single concept to describe the following noun (full-time worker…

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• Who and that

  I have always thought that we should use who for people and that for things. I knew there were exceptions, such as if you were talking about a group of people. Tradespeople that don’t turn up on time are infuriating. But doing some further research, I had my golden rule busted. Apparently, m…

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• Full stops with quotes

  For full quotes, the full stop goes inside the quotation marks. He said, ‘I think the new legislation is unrealistic and unworkable.’ With quotes that are just part of a sentence, the full stop goes after the quotation marks. When asked what he thought of the new legislation, he said …

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• Ten tips on writing for the web

  1. Write for your audienceSounds obvious, but the most common mistake in writing for the web is not writing appropriately for the audience. As you’re writing, constantly check that what you’re writing is appropriate, relevant and interesting for your readers, whether your target market o…

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• Active and passive voice

  Plain English teachers often say ‘Use the active voice’. They do so because the passive voice is overused in many formal documents. However, the passive has a place in both formal and informal writing. But first, what is the difference between the active and passive voice? It’s all about who’s per…

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• How to write direct mail

  Direct mail is not as popular as it used to be, thanks to social media and email. I bet you don’t receive as much junk mail in your letterbox as you do in your inbox. So maybe it’s worth giving direct mail another chance. As with any marketing campaign, you need to be clear about your target ma…

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