Tips for Communicators

Nine Confusing Words

Here are nine frequently misused words – and their common definitions:

• A vs. An.  “A” is generally used before consonant sounds.  “An” is generally used before vowel sounds.
• Among vs. Between.  “Between” refers to two concrete things or groups of things.  “Among” refers to three or more things.
• Because vs. Since.  “Because” refers to a direct causal relation between two actions or events.  “Since” refers to a connection between one action and other actions or events, but the connection is not causal.
• Everyone vs. Every One.  “Everyone” refers to all the individuals in a group.  “Every one” refers to each thing or person.
• Fewer vs. Less.  “Fewer” refers to individual things.  “Less” refers to quantity.
• Further vs. Farther.  “Further” refers to a continuation of time, or distance in the abstract.  “Farther” refers to physical distance. 
• Imply vs. Infer.  “Imply” refers to the thoughts of a speaker.  “Infer” refers to the thoughts of a listener.
• People vs. Persons.  “People” is used when speaking of almost any group.  “Persons” is used as part of formal titles or literary references.
• Whom vs. Who.  “Whom” is used when a person is an object within a sentence.  “Who” is used when a person is the subject.

A Review of Capitalization Basics

When you’re writing or editing, remember to capitalize:

• The names of individual persons (as well as their initials).
• Titles, whenever they precede a specific name (“President Smith”).  Generally, you’ll use lower case when you’re referring to a title (“John Smith, who is the president of  the company …”).
• Organizational names (General Motors, United Nations).
• Temporal references (Tuesday, Labor Day).
• Titles of books and other major works.
• Wars, vessels, and military organizations.
• Names of specific places (New York City, Germany, the Orient).   You’ll also capitalize specific locations (Atlantic Ocean, Hudson River) and addresses.
• Religious organizations and deities.

Get Those Titles Right

When you’re referring to an individual with a title, capitalize the title when it’s used as a formal part of the address, preceding the individual’s name.  Or, in other words, capitalize when the title is used as a proper noun.

For example:  “President John A. Smith will make the announcement tomorrow morning.”

Use lower case when you’re speaking about a title generically, or when the title is simply used to describe the position the individual holds.

For example:  “John A. Smith, president, will make the announcement tomorrow morning.”

Don't Get So Wordy

In today’s complex age, even great writers and editors sometimes use complex language.  For example:  “John will proceed to complete the job at a later time.”  Better:  “John will complete the job later.”

Dozens of complex and obtuse phrases commonly abound in today’s writing.  Some examples:  “heretofore.”  “in relation to.”  “for the purposes of.”  “on a consistent basis.”  Most overuse article adjectives and prepositions. 

Next time you’re completing a piece of writing, make a “complexity check” part of the proofreading process – and turn those convoluted phrases into colloquial prose.  Your readers will be glad you did.

Gender Neutrality and Pronoun Agreement

Think about this sentence for a moment:  "An employee who wishes to change their schedule may complete form A-29."

It's grammatically incorrect.

Years ago, the pronoun "his" would be substituted for "their."  Today, however, most writers try to maintain gender neutrality in prose.  So writers will often substitute the seemingly generic "their" - a plural pronoun -- for pronouns that should be singular.

To maintain gender neutrality and proper pronoun agreement, try this:

"An employee who wishes to change his or her schedule may complete Form A-29."

Or:  "Employees who wish to change their schedules may complete Form A-29."

Or if you're writing a long piece of prose, try alternating the masculine pronoun "his" with the feminine pronoun "her" throughout the piece.

Use Active Verbs

Active verbs add power to your writing. 

Consider a sentence built around a passive verb (usually a form of the verb "to be"):  He was seeing his friend for the first time in five years.

Now, let's rid ourselves of the verb "to be":  He saw his friend for the first time in five years. 

In the first sentence, the verb "was" conveys no action or meaning by itself.  In the second sentence, the action is clearly wrapped up in the verb "saw."  The second sentence is direct. 

You may occasionally find uses for passive verbs.  But more often than not, active verbs will make your prose more readable and compelling.

Streamline Your Writing - Cut those Prepositional Phrases and Dependent Clauses

Apart from the problem with the higher equipment costs, we will need to apprise him about the new policies about bidding.

Whoa! Can you see the problem with this sentence? Too many prepositional phrases.

Prepositional phrases connect a noun or pronoun with the rest of a sentence. They begin with a preposition (such as "at," "for," "about," or any one of a number of other prepositions), end with a noun or pronoun, and usually attempt to elaborate on the noun's or pronoun's meaning. They're necessary, but used too often they can be deadly.

Let's rewrite the first sentence: We'll need to let our customer know that the equipment costs are too high and that we have new bidding policies. Sound better?

Dependent clauses can also introduce clarity problems into a sentence. For example: If only he had not sold us that piece of equipment, we would have hit a balanced budget, which we have not achieved over the last five years.

Dependent clauses are sometimes necessary, either for stylistic reasons or to make a point. But remember: dependent clauses have no meaning by themselves. They're dependent on some other part of a complex sentence. Used too often, they slow reading time and complicate communication.

Let's break that offending sentence in two and eliminate the dependent clauses: That equipment sale led to an unbalanced budget. We haven't achieved a balanced budget in five years.