Subject-Verb Agreement: Mistakes That Even Savvy Writers Make

Many business writers find it difficult to choose the correct verb tense for every sentence they write. Here are several subject-verb agreement challenges that business writers often face. First, a plural noun takes a singular verb when it conveys a single expression of time, money, or another quantity

Informality and Professional Prose

Casual business writing can be tricky: how can you make your Web copy sound welcoming, yet professionally credible? If you’re concerned that your prose may sound sloppy rather than casual, grammar rules can offer you some safe and reliable guidelines. Here are some nonstandard sentences in a pleasant T magazine article about Blue Bottle Coffee. The magazine’s handwritten text emphasizes the quotes’ intentional informality:   Since the first line is a question, standard English would require a comma after the name

Professional Presentation Skills Training

Looking for a terrific presentation skills course for your group?  The business writing skills experts at Write It Well are also presentation skills experts. Here’s more information about our course!

Signaling Your Meaning with Colons and Semicolons

Colons and semicolons are like traffic signals: they tell readers how to steer through two parts of a sentence. The following sentence features a correctly used colon: That’s the bottom line: The lawns go away when the water rates go up. — “Author sees growth in the trend of replacing lawns,” sfgate

Cell Phones, Cellphones, and Spelling Security

You’re not alone if you find it difficult to decide whether to write some terms as one word or two. Language is constantly evolving — usually in the direction of turning two-word terms into single words. Here are two terms that debuted in the ’80s: As for your cellphone, if you’re not a Verizon user, set up a voice mail password and use it