the business grammar “crash course”

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The Business Grammar “Crash Course”


#1: Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects must use singular verbs

• Plural subjects must use plural verbs

• Singular verbs—unlike singular nouns—usually end with an “s”


The managers go.The manager goes.

One Last “S” Rule: either the subject OR the verb gets an “s” on the end, but not both.

VERB SUBJECT


One Last “S” Rule: either the subject OR the verb gets an “s” on the end, but not both.

Exception: singular pronouns “I” and “you”


Pronoun: a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase.

—Merriam-Webster


We are going to the zoo, but they are going to the pool

Robert is off work today, and he will return tomorrow.

Pronouns refer to either a noun that has already been mentioned

or to a noun that doesn’t need to be named specifically


Only one of the managers from all of the departments is going to the convention.

Finding the Subject in a Sentence

SINGULAR VERB

SINGULAR SUBJECT


Some of the parts from the copier, especially the drum, need to be replaced.


PLURAL VERB

PLURAL SUBJECT


There are seats available in the room.


PLURAL VERB

PLURAL SUBJECT


Subject-Verb Agreements When it Comes to Other Pronouns


Indefinite PronounsDo not refer to a specific person or thing, and typically refer to an unidentified or unfamiliar person or thing

Both Few

Several

Others

Many

Plural indefinite pronouns


Indefinite PronounsDo not refer to a specific person or thing, and typically refer to an unidentified or unfamiliar person or thing

“both come with warranties”

“a few of them need maintenance”

“several are in the room”


Which indefinite pronouns are singular?

someone, everybody, or anything

Ask yourself, would it make sense to follow it with the words, one, body, or thing?


Each one speaks

Another body moves

Either thing works


The only other indefinite pronoun that always gets a singular verb is the word, much.


Some pronouns can be either singular or plural, depending on the noun they work with

SINGULAR

End with one, body or thing

Make sense when followed by one,

body or thing

Much

PLURAL

Both

Few

Several

Others

Many

BOTH

All

Some


Some of the chairs are padded.

Some of the chair is padded.

All of the desks look shiny.

All of the desk looks shiny.


#2: Misplaced Modifier

A modifier is:• A word or phrase in a that

describes something within the sentence

• Usually adjectives or adverbs

• Should be able to remove the modifier from the sentence without changing its meaning


The happy young dark-haired boy kicked a red rubber ball.


The boy kicked a ball.


A misplaced modifier means that the writer has put the modifier in the wrong place in the sentence making the sentence unclear or even confusing.


We served cake to our clients on paper plates.

Modifiers must be as close as possible to the words that they are modifying.

WORD BEING MODIFIED


We served the clients cake on paper plates.


Dangling Modifier:what it’s modifying isn’t present


I was late for the school bus again. Running for the bus, my book fell in the mud.

I was late for the school bus again. Running for it, I dropped my book in the mud.


Using Apostrophes to Show Possession


Adding “’s” to make a noun possessive

• The man’s beard

• The team’s numbers

• The customer’s account

• The people’s champion

• The women’s purses

• The children’s attention


If the noun is singular and ends in an “s”, you still add an apostrophe and an “s”.

• The boss’s office

• The virus’s effect

• Travis’s desk

• Mrs. Williams’s assistant


If the noun is plural and ends in an “s”, you only add the apostrophe.

• The Williams’ son

• Many countries’ language

• The ladies’ purses

• The customers’ accounts


It can get confusing when you read the phrases out loud

The lady’s purses

The ladies’ purses


If you have a plural that ends in an “s” and you want to avoid any confusion, it is safer to just rewrite the sentence.


• The Williams’ son The son of the Williams family

• Many countries’ language The language of many countries

• The ladies’ purses The purses of the ladies

• The customers’ accounts The accounts of the customers


You don’t need to use an apostropheto pluralize the following:

• Numbers, such as “the 1970s”

• Proper names like the “Williamses” or “Mondays”

• Abbreviations that don’t have periods like “TVs” or “CEOs”


Avoid the use of repetitive marks for emphasis.


Duplicate question marks or explanation points

Common things to avoid:

Quote marks for emphasis

Using all caps

If you need to emphasize words, use bold, italics or an occasional underline.


A basic rule to remember:

If you are following a quotation with a period or a comma, they go inside the quotation marks.

Other than that, you don’t need more than one ending punctuation mark.


Another frequent punctuation mark is a comma splice


A comma splice is a type of run-on sentence that uses a comma to separate two independent clauses. An independent clause is one that can be a sentence by itself.

The current expenses are in excess of the budget, we must make adjustments by the end of the quarter.


Make the clauses separate sentences.

The current expenses are in excess of the budget.We must make adjustments by the end of the quarter.


Leave the comma and insert a coordinating conjunction behind it.

FFor And Nor But Or Yet So

ANBOY S


Leave the comma and insert a coordinating conjunction behind it.

The current expenses are in excess of the budget, sowe must make adjustments by the end of the quarter.


Commonly misused words in professional writing


Affect is a verb and effect is a noun.

As a noun

“If sales increase by 15% what will be the effectof our net income?”

“If sales increase by 15% how will that affect our net income?”

As a verb


The difference between weather and whether

•Weather can be either a noun or a verb

“What’s the weather like outside?”

As a noun it refers to the climate

As a verb, it means to endure or withstand something

“Our company will weather the storm.”


“I like pizza whether it’s hot or cold.”

The difference between weather and whether

•Whether is a conjunction that joins two words or phrases together.

• It carries a very similar meaning to the word, “if”.


The battle between fewer and less

• If the noun is something that cannot be counted by hand (1, 2, 3 …) then you use the word, less.

• If you can count the thing, you use the word, fewer.

This factory has fewer machines, so it is expected to be less productive

Irene has less incentive to work, so now she is putting in fewer hours.


The relationship between many and much is the same

• Use, many, if the noun has individual units that can be counted

• Otherwise, use, much

Your factory will have much success if they hire many engineers


For things that can be counted, you use

number of

You should also use this differentiation when deciding between the phrases, amount of and number of

There are a number of empty sandbags behind

the cement factory.

The cement factory uses a large

amount of sandand water.

For things that cannot be counted you use

amount of


That is called a restrictive pronoun and it’s used to indicate essential information to the sentence.

The difference between that and which when they are used as pronouns

The widgets that were shipped to Miami were discounted.

The widgets were discounted.

Removing the clause changes the meaning.


The word, which, is an unrestrictive pronoun and is used to highlight nonessential information.

The difference between that and which when they are used as pronouns

The widgets, which were shipped to Miami, were discounted.

The widgets were discounted.

The meaning of the sentence doesn’t change.


Remember, “that” doesn’t need comma separators, but “which” must be separated with commas to separate the non-essential clause.


Try not to use that or which when you are referring to people. Instead, use the pronoun who.

The sales manager who was hired yesterday speaks

three languages.

The sales manager, whowas hired yesterday,

speaks three languages.


Among Versus Between

Use between when you are describing the

relationship of two things.

The bonus was divided between

Andrew and Laura.

If there are more than two things you should

use, among.

The new controller sat between the sales manager and CEO.

The bonus was divided among Andrew, Laura,

Ryan and Liz.

The new controller sat among the leadership

team.


There are two exceptions where you can use between no matter how many things there are:

When you are talking about distances

I travel mostly between New York, Philadelphia,

Baltimore and DC.

When you are talking about differences

It’s easy to tell the difference between the

three widgets we sell.


The difference between since and because:The word, because, means “due to the fact that” and is used to indicate cause. But “since” should only be used to refer to a time that has passed.

Since Jennifer joined our team, the office has become

more efficient.

We have been ranked in the top-10 since 2012.

Since Jeff is the manager, he should make the decision.

Since we are out of the blue paper, I used the green paper.

These examples should use “because.”


What about loose and lose?

• Loose is an adjective used to describe something that is not tight.

• Lose is a verb meaning “to let go of or to misplace.”

If your pants are too looseyou might lose your pants.


The use of its versus it’s:

The only time you use its is to indicate possession.

It’s is a contraction of the two words, it is.

The company is increasing its revenue

The animal is not eating its food.


Avoid using contractions in your business writing


It’s

Don’t

Wouldn’t

Should’ve

They’re

It is

Do not

Would not

Should have

They are

Write contractions out as both words


Would’ve, could’ve and should’ve sound like would of, could of, and should of, which is incorrect.


Would’ve, could’ve and should’ve sound like would of, could of, and should of, which is incorrect.

The correct phrases are would have, could have, and should have.


The use of there versus their versus they’re

They’re:

a contraction of they are

Their:

a possessive pronoun

There:

indicates a location or a direction


Commonly used words that do not exist

Irregardless

Use the correct word, regardless.

Administrate

If you are an administrator, then your job is to

administer.

Alot

To describe something as plentiful, you need to write

a lot as two words.

Alright

Just remember that it is never all right to use

alright and you’ll be fine.


Choosing the right pronoun


Complete list of possessive pronouns:

Mine Yours His Hers

ItsOurs Theirs


Reflexive Pronouns

• Reflexive pronouns are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves

• Must refer to a noun or a pronoun that is somewhere else in the same sentence


Reflexive Pronouns

I did it myself.

By themselves, they are a complete team.

The dog let itself out.

Michael brought this on himself.


Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns

Replace subjects in the sentence

Can be singular or plural

Singular: I, you, he, she, it, who

Plural: we, you, they, who

Replace objects in the sentence

Can be singular or plural

Singular: me, you, him, her, it, whom

Plural: us, you, them, whom


How to figure out whether to use a subject pronoun or an object pronoun:

Easy trick:

“did it for”

Say the pronoun before “did it for” and say it after to see which one sounds right

“DIF”


Which one sounds right?

“Did it for she” “Did it for her”

“Did it for they” “Did it for them”

“Did it for we” “Did it for us”

Object Pronouns


Which one sounds right?

“Me did it for” “I did it for”

“Him did it for” “He did it for”

Subject Pronouns


“I versus me” and “who versus whom.”


Mr. Jones gave the Simpson account to Michael and me.

Mr. Jones gave the Simpson account to Michael and I.

Michelle and I went to the meeting.

Michelle and me went to the meeting.


Who brings in the most new clients.

The bonus will go to the sales rep (who or whom) brings in the most

new clients.

Her brings in the most new clients.

WhoWhom Object Pronoun

Subject Pronoun


Gender-Based Language


Avoid masculine titles

Salesman

Chairman

Policeman

Postman

Sales person

Chairperson

Police officer

Mail carrier


Avoid feminine titles

Stewardess

Waitress

Actress

Flight attendant

Server

Actor


How to avoid masculine pronouns like he or his

Each driver is responsible for his own truck.

Many people will replace his with their and say:

Each driver is responsible for their own truck.

The most common fix is to replace “his” with “his or her.”

Each driver is responsible for his or her own truck.

That is grammatically correct, but it still sounds a little awkward doesn’t it?


Three better tricks to fix it

All drivers are responsible for their own truck.

#1. Pluralize the subject and then use the plural pronoun:

If you are a driver, you are responsible for your own truck.

#2. Personalize the subject and use the possessive pronoun:

Each truck is the responsibility of its driver.

#3. Rewrite the sentence so that the person doesn't need the possessive pronoun:


When you are formally referring to a woman don’t use Mrs.or Miss.Just use Ms.


Capitalization—when and how to do it


What to capitalize:

The first word of every sentence

The proper names of people, places, addresses,

companies and brands


Always capitalize titles

The rule applies to days of the week, months of the year, and holidays.

But not to seasons and not to the words day, month, week, year or holiday unless these words are part of a title.

Today is the start of our Winter Sales Spectacular.

The title of the book was, Reporting Every Year, Every Month, Every Week.



But not when they are used as descriptions or directions.

The rule of always capitalizing titles applies to geographic areas.



The rule applies to titles when they are used with a person’s name.

I spoke to Doctor Davis.

He met with Captain Cameron.

Mr. Jenkins is married to my Aunt Ruth.



The rule also applies when you are addressing the person by their title.

Thank you for speaking with me, Doctor.

Thank you for meeting with me, Captain.

Thank you for the gift, Auntie.



Michael Davis is my family doctor.

Mr. Cameron is the captain of the ship.

Our division manager is married to my aunt.

The rule does not apply when it is used as a description of the persons position.



The rule applies to specific classes or courses or subjects.

But not to general courses or subjects.

I am taking The Business Grammar Crash Course.

My next class is Intro To Finance.

I’m learning about business grammar.

I am studying marketing.


Why is it so important to learn proofreading?


Spellcheckers and grammarcheckers are amazing, they catch mistakes and they catch them instantly, but they don’t catch everything.


Depending on spellcheck and grammar check too much is that you’re not learning the right way to do it yourself.

• What if the autocorrect replaces what you wrote with the wrong word?

• Let’s say you wanted to type espresso, but you accidently misspelled it expresso and the autocorrect changed it to express?


A simple proofreading checklist

For longer documents, print it out

Read it out loud

Create some distance

Have someone

else read it

Read it from the bottom to the top


A final checklist before delivering it to your audience

Make sure your attachments are attached before sending your email.

Check your figures again.

Pretend before you send. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes.


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the business grammar “crash course”

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