Punctuation and Grammar tips

Presentation & Hand Out for:

BBA-I & B.COM-I

Punctuation and Grammar tips

(Why punctuation and grammar matter)

This extract shows what unpunctuated writing looks like:

QUOTE:

Mr jones the companys hr director called mrs smith into his office for an update on the latest recruitment drive he wanted to know whether the online application system was working reports had filtered through that all was not going to plan mrs smith explained that candidates were certainly experiencing problems as the systems had crashed in her opinion it would be better to extend the closing date would he be prepared to authorize this

UNQUOTE:

Did you have any problem deciphering this? A lot of people will find it difficult. If we write poetry we may actively want people to work out meaning. We may even want them to create their own meaning; but this should not apply to Business Writing.

In writing, punctuation is an aid that helps our readers to understand our messages. The extract could be punctuated a number of ways. I will use one way to show how it becomes easier to read:

QUOTE :

Mr. Jones, the company’s HR director, called Mrs Smith into his office for an update on the latest recruitment drive. He wanted to know whether the online application system was working. Reports had filtered through that all was not going to plan. Mrs. Smith explained that candidates were certainly experiencing problems as the systems had crashed. In her opinion, it would be better to extend the closing date. Would he be prepared to authorize this?

UNQUOTE:

You see, punctuation and grammar are aids that help writing to be understood and help us to communicate clearly. A good command of these can give you improved confidence, and you can feel more in control of your business English writing. You will be pleased about this and so will your readers. You will feel secure in the knowledge that your sentences will work because you have designed them to work.

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Punctuation and other marks:

English terms and symbols used to describe punctuation marks are:

• capital letters or upper case: A, B, C
• lower case: a, b, c
• comma: ,
• full stop (UK English) or period (UK and US English) or dot: .
• speech or double quotation marks or inverted commas: “ ”
• speech or single quotation marks or inverted commas: ‘ ’
• question mark: ?
• exclamation mark: !
• apostrophe: ’
• hyphen or dash: –
• slash or stroke: /
• brackets: ( )
• square brackets: [ ]
• ampersand: &
• ‘at’ sign: @
• colon: :
• semicolon: ;
• asterisk: *

Nouns and gender in English:

Nouns and pronouns in English belong to one of four genders:

masculine, feminine, common (words denoting either sex) or neuter.

English Examples of masculine nouns and pronouns are:

man, boy, father, brother, heir, lion, him.

Examples of feminine nouns and pronouns are:

woman, girl, mother, heiress, lioness, her.

Examples of common nouns and pronouns are:

child, owner, officer, friend, they, you.

Examples of neuter nouns and pronouns are:

book, office, street, it.

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The definite and indefinite article in gender :

English differs from many other languages in that:

The word ‘the’ (referred to as the ‘definite article’) is a constant. It does not change according to the gender of the word to which it relates.

The words ‘a’ (referred to as the ‘indefinite article’) or the alternative form ‘an’ (used to precede a word that begins with a vowel) are also constants. They do not change according to the gender of the word to which they relate.

.

This should make life easy for non-native English writers – although they can have a tendency to default to their own language’s convention. Some may refer to neuter English words as ‘he’ or ‘she’, which can sound very odd to native English speakers.

Another problem is the fact that, for almost every rule in English grammar, there is an exception. For example, a ship is generally referred to in English as ‘she’. Cars can be referred to this way too. Yet a cat, dog or other animal can also be referred to as ‘it’ – and anything belonging to it would be ‘its’.

For example: ‘Its feeding bowl is over there.’ Very strangely, a baby can be referred to as ‘it’ too! For example: ‘It’s a cute baby’, or ‘Its feed is due now’ (meaning ‘The baby’s feed is due now.’).

Although I deal with apostrophes a bit later, I will just explain the difference in meaning between ‘it’s’ and ‘its’ in the last paragraph. The apostrophe (’) in ‘it’s’ tells you that a letter is missing. In this case it is the letter i. So the meaning in this case is ‘it is’. Sometimes the apostrophe will signify that two letters are missing. In that case the meaning will be ‘it has’. The context will help you understand which of the two possibilities applies. When you see ‘its’ with no apostrophe (’) between the t and the s, this meaning will always be ‘belonging to it’, ‘owned by it’, ‘of it’. We call this the possessive or genitive case.

Parts of speech and other grammar

Parts of speech

In English grammar, words can be categorized into what we term parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

A noun names a person, place or thing.

For example:

girl, London, newspaper; The girl drank her coffee.

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A pronoun is a word that can take the place of a noun and functions like it.

For example:

I, this, who, he, they; There’s Peter, who won the lottery.

You will notice how the noun ‘Peter’ became the pronoun ‘who’ within the same sentence.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

For example:

red, lovely, clever; That is a lovely photo.

A verb is a ‘doing word’ / action or describes a state of being.

For example:

write, run, work, be; She is an assistant who works hard.

Sometimes a verb needs two or three words to complete it.

For example:

I am working in Moscow this week.

You will be travelling first class.

An adverb is a word that describes a verb.

For example:

fast, happily, later, urgently; The project manager always delivered on time.

In that last example there is an adverb, ‘always’, and an adverbial phrase, ‘on time’, which describe the verb ‘delivered’.

A preposition is a word that links a noun to another noun.

For example:

to, on, under, in; Please put the papers on the desk.

A conjunction is a word that joins words or sentences.

For example:

and, but, or, so; I need a flipchart and paper, but that is all.

An interjection is a short exclamation, often followed by an exclamation mark (!).

For example:

hi! oh! ouch! wow!

Oh no! I’ve just missed the train.

Ouch! The parrot bit me.

Wow! You are looking so graceful.

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Some other grammatical points of interest.

Commas can separate one group of words in a sentence from another so that the meaning is clear. You will see how they flag up different meanings in these two sentences:

Shahzeb, our vice-president has left the company.

Shahzeb, our vice-president, has left the company.

In the first sentence, the writer is telling Shahzeb that their vice-president (somebody else) has left the company. In the second sentence, the writer is telling somebody (whose name is unknown to us) that Shahzeb (who is the vice-president) has left the company.

In order to use commas correctly, it helps to know that a comma signifies a brief pause. Very often, people wrongly use a comma to do the work of a full stop (period).

For example:

I examined the computer, it had obviously been damaged.

As there are two complete statements here, not just a pause, a full stop is appropriate: ‘I examined the computer. It had obviously been damaged.’

However, this sounds rather stilted and a native English writer is likely to use a conjunction to add fluidity.

For example: ‘I examined the computer and found it had obviously been damaged.’

A comma is also used to link lists of items, groups of words, adjectives, actions and adverbs.

For example:

She listed, there and then, the things she would need for her presentation: a laptop, a projector, screen, flipchart and marker pens.

Apostrophes show where one or more letters have been left out of a word.

For example:

I’m = contraction of ‘I am’;

It’s = contraction of ‘it is’ or ‘it has’;

You’ll = contraction of ‘you will’.

Apostrophes can also show possession or ownership.

For example:

The student’s rights = the rights of one student;

The students’ rights = the rights of students.

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The general rule is:

apostrophe before the s (’s ) = singular possession;

apostrophe after the s (s’) = plural possession.

Unfortunately, English always has some irregular forms, such as:

men = plural of man; but the possessive is men’s;

children = plural of child; but the possessive is children’s;

its = possessive of it – yet takes no apostrophe at all!

Forming plurals of nouns

As you will know, most nouns have a singular form (to denote one) and a plural (to denote more than one). There are exceptions that I have highlighted earlier, such as training and information.

The standard way of forming plurals from singular nouns is to add ‘s’. However, this does not always work, as in the case of ‘child, children’, ‘lady, ladies’, ‘foot, feet’, to mention a few.

There is one point that needs to addressed as it arises so often. It concerns the wrong use of an apostrophe followed by ‘s’ to signify a plural meaning.

For example:

‘tomato’s’ and ‘company’s’. The correct plurals are ‘tomatoes’ and ‘companies’.

Vowels and consonants

In written English, ‘a, e, i, o, u’ are the standard vowels. The remaining letters in the alphabet are consonants.

The definite and indefinite article

The word ‘the’ is known as the definite article and exists in the same form in both singular and plural. The words ‘a’ and ‘an’ are known as the indefinite article and only exist in the singular. For the plural, English uses the word ‘some’.

If as a non-native English writer you are sometimes confused about when to use the definite or indefinite article, you are definitely not alone. A general guideline that will help is this. When you are referring to something in general, use ‘a’ before a word beginning with a consonant or ‘an’ before a word beginning with a vowel. (Once again though, true to form, English has exceptions: some native English speakers would say ‘an hotel’.)

Here is an example of ‘a’ in this usage:

Cheese for sale: six Euros a kilo, not ‘six Euros the kilo’, as many non-NE writers would expect.

As an interesting aside, note that in English goods are described as being ‘for sale’. Some cultures express it the reverse way: ‘to buy’. English speakers would say and write ‘House for sale’, not ‘House to buy’.

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Let’s say a company receives an e-mail as follows:

‘Please can you let me know how long an order will take to deliver?’

The company will view the question posed as tentative – and thus non-specific. There is no order, only a general enquiry about how long it would take if somebody did place an order.

Now let’s say the company receives this e-mail enquiry:

‘Please can you tell me how long the order will take to deliver?’

The word ‘the’ makes this enquiry far more specific. The question is more likely to relate to an order that has been placed.

Paragraphs

Paragraphs help your reader understand the organization of your writing because each paragraph is a group of sentences about a topic. Your key messages become easy to identify and the format makes it easy for you to develop them. Paragraph headings are increasingly used to signpost messages and highlight structure for readers’ ease.

Brackets, bullet points and dashes

Use these to break up text (especially if it is rather lengthy) so that your reader is not overwhelmed – you will find they can be really useful. Can you see from the last sentence that I used a dash (–) for a similar purpose? You can also use commas, as

I am doing here, to make a longish sentence more manageable. It also acts as a point of emphasis: the main message is in the main part of the sentence, and the aside is within the commas or brackets.

On the reverse side, too many short sentences can seem abrupt. So if you want to keep your writing interesting, try mixing and matching these features to vary and enhance your style.

Verbs and tenses

You are likely to have been taught the finer points of English grammar at school, in college or by self-study. Needless to say, entire books are written on this extensive subject and it is beyond the scope of this handbook to go into any great detail.

However, the following outline should serve you as a refresher.

As mentioned, a verb is a ‘doing’ or ‘state of being’ word. It can consist of one or more words. The infinitive of a verb is the base form, for example ‘to work’, ‘to give’, ‘to do’.

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The present participle is formed by adding ‘-ing’ to the infinitive. The ‘to’ part is dropped. This construction is then used with the verb ‘to be’ to form what are known as continuous tenses.

For example: ‘They are working.’

If the infinitive ends in ‘e’ (‘to give’, ‘to come’) the general rule is to drop the ‘e’ when adding the ‘-ing’.

For example: ‘He is giving,’ ‘They are coming.’

The past participle is normally formed by adding ‘-ed’ to the infinitive. Again, the ‘to’ part is dropped. This construction is used with the verb ‘to have’ to form perfect (completed past) tenses.

For example: ‘The train has departed,’ ‘The post has arrived.’

Irregular verbs form the perfect differently. That is why you may need to refer to traditional grammar sources if you are not sure about these.

Examples are: ‘It has grown’ (not growed),

‘The time has flown by’ (not fly-ed).

Tenses

The simple tenses in English are the starting point for global business writing today.

The present tense has the same form as the infinitive (except the verb ‘to be’). When the subject is ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ or a noun.

English adds ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ to form the future tense, English adds ‘will’ (or ‘shall’ –

though this is less frequently used now).

To form the past tense, ‘-ed’ is normally added to the infinitive.

(Once more though, a word of caution: there are many irregular verbs where this does not work!)

A regular example is:

verb: to work (regular verb)

Simple present tense:

– I work

– you (singular and plural) work

– he, she, it works

– we work

– they work

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simple future tense:

– I, you (singular and plural), he, she, it, we, they will work

simple past tense:

– I, you (singular and plural), he, she, it, we, they worked There are naturally many more tenses that you will need to study in depth and dedicated grammar books will help you with the necessary detail involved.

There is one tense that does seem to present a particular problem in the workplace, it is the present continuous tense. This tense is formed by using the present tense of ‘to be’ with the present participle of the verb in question. Let’s say I want the present continuous tense of ‘to write’. The forms are:

• I am writing
• you (singular and plural) are writing
• he, she is writing
• we are writing
• they are writing

The question I am often asked is: when do we use the present continuous rather than the present tense? The answer is in three parts:

• When the action is taking place now (‘I am writing this sentence at this very moment.’).
• When the action is taking place now but also is carrying on into the future (‘I am writing this book at this very moment – but also over the coming months.’).
• When the action is planned for the future (‘I am writing another book next year.’).

By the way, with regard to this last sentence, you would be right to think that the future tense would also be correct,namely: ‘I will write another book next year.’

We use the present tense for more general actions or states that have no particular time reference. For example:

• We drink water to survive.
• If I find a mistake, I correct it.

Non-native English writers can be confused about when to write, for example:

• She lives in Tokyo.
• She is living in Tokyo.

Both are correct – but the second version often implies to a native English speaker that ‘She is living in Tokyo (at the moment).’

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Agreement of subject and verb

When a subject in a sentence is in the singular, then the verb must be in the singular too. When the subject is plural, then the verb is in the plural, in agreement with it. This is also called concord. Examples are:

• Paul is at university and so is his brother.
• Paul is at university and so are his brother and sister.
• They understand the reason why they have to do this.
• She understands the reasons why she has to do this and why you have to do it too.
• These conditions apply now.
• This condition applies now.

Non-NE writers can forget to check concord in their writing. Two quite typical examples are:

• Sara has received our e-mail. Has you received it too? Correct version: Sara has received our e-mail. Have you received it too?
• This kind of topics. Correct version: These kinds of topics.

As a rule of thumb, all you have to do is work out who is doing the action and make your verb relate to who or what is doing it. In some sentences you may have to refer back to check. Incidentally, there are certain words in English where it is possible to use a singular word in a plural sense too. Examples are:

• Government, council, committee, company.

• The government is changing the law on this.
• The governments are changing the law on this.

The reasoning behind this is that these nouns can be viewed as entities by themselves or as bodies of people. On this track, another often-used word comes to mind. This is the word ‘staff’, where it means personnel. It is used as a singular in US English but exists only in the plural in UK English.

• UK English says: ‘The staff are taking a vote on this.’
• US English says: ‘The staff is taking a vote on this.’

Question tags

These are used a lot in English conversation, and non-NE speakers can find them quite hard to master. As they are now used in e-mail writing too, here are some tips.

Speakers and writers use question tags to encourage their listeners or readers to respond. It helps check that people agree or understand what you are saying or writing.

Examples are:

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• It’s a good outcome, isn’t it?
• You don’t have a meeting today, do you?
• You can make it in time, can’t you?

Examples of incorrect usage would be:

• You have got the right files, isn’t it?
• He is wrong, doesn’t he?
• These kind of things are dealt with in your department, isn’t it?

Correct versions of these would be:

• You have got the right files, haven’t you?
• He is wrong, isn’t he?
• These kinds of things are dealt with in your department, aren’t they?

Tips to help you:

Try balancing the same verb (including whether it is singular or plural) on either side of the sentence. Then use a negative in the end questioning part of the sentence.

Comparison of adjectives:

In English, adjectives can have three degrees: positive, comparative and superlative.

The positive is just the usual form of the adjective;

for example:

• a happy child, a large book
• a comfortable chair.

The comparative is used in comparing one thing or group with another;

for example:

• the shorter of the two brothers;
• ponies are smaller than horses.

(If it is a short word, we normally form the comparative by adding ‘-er’).

The superlative is used when comparing one thing or group with more than one other;

for example:

• She is the oldest of the three sisters.
• That is the greatest suggestion yet.

(If it is a short word, we normally add ‘-est’ to the positive).

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Adjectives of three syllables or more and most adjectives of two syllables form their comparative by placing the word ‘more’ before the adjective. They form the superlative by placing ‘most’ in front of the adjective.

Some adjectives have quite different words for the comparative For superlative.

For example:

• good, better, best;
• many, more, most;
• little, less, least.

Incidentally, a mistake that is very common is where writers use the superlative where they should be using the comparative.

For example:

• ‘That is the best of the two offers’ is, strictly speaking, wrong. It should be:
• ‘That is the better of the two offers.’

There would have to be three or more offers for ‘best’ to be correct. Similarly, instead of ‘She is the youngest of the two employees’, the correct version would be ‘She is the younger of the two employees.’

Comparison of adverbs

Short adverbs are compared in the same way as adjectives:

• soon, sooner, soonest;
• fast, faster, fastest.

With adverbs of two syllables or longer, you usually form the comparative and superlative by adding ‘more’ and ‘most’ to the positive degree of the word:

• carefully, more carefully, most carefully;
• easily, more easily, most easily.
• Once again, English often comes up with irregular forms:
• badly, worse, worst.
• well, better, best.

Lastly,

 Punctuation serves the useful purpose of helping readers read messages; and it highlights where the emphasis needs to go.

 Grammar helps you set out business writing into manageable sections that help readers understand your meaning.

 Identify areas of punctuation and grammar to work on.

 Fluidity helps you set out the points in a coherent way. All the points you make add up. Two and two are seen to make four in your writing, not just in your sums.

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