Writing for Business

Till or ’til?

Ivy Wigmore — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:57:22 +0000

Which is correct?
Because time is limited, please hold your questions ____ after the robot demonstration.
a. till
b. ’til

Answer: a

Explanation:
Although till is often considered to be an abbreviation of until — and is frequently thought to be incorrect for its extra letter l and lack of apostrophe — it actually predates the longer word. People who want to use a less formal variant sometimes use ’til, but that’s not actually a word. Because we’ve got two perfectly good, equally correct words that mean the same thing, we don’t need to incorporate another into the language. (Merriam-Webster, I’m talking to you!)

See more about ’til, till and until on World Wide Words and motivated grammar.

“Compared with” vs. “compared to” — is there a difference?

Ivy Wigmore — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:16:09 +0000

Which is correct?
The graph compared H1N1 mortality rates ___ the rates associated with other causes of death.
a. with
b. to

Answer: a is preferable

Explanation:
Although compare with and compare to are often used interchangeably and that use is not really wrong. However, a distinction can be made. Compare to is used when you are stressing similarities, especially between things that are, at first glance, dissimilar. For example, the computer is often compared to a human brain because of the way both process information. In this use, compare is synonymous with liken.

On the other hand, if you want to contrast two things, compare with is more useful. For example, when I compare my computer with my brain, I find my brain often slower to boot up (and it definitely requires more caffeine).

If you’re comparing two things that are obviously similar, either to or with works fine.

The Total Gadha GMAT blog provides a tip and quiz on compared to vs. compared with.

Writing dates correctly

Ivy Wigmore — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:14:19 +0000

Which is correct?
Alexander Popov first demonstrated the use of an antenna to transmit and receive radio waves in ____________.
a. March 1896
b. March, 1896

Answer: a

Explanation:
According to AP Style, commas are only required with specific dates — March 18, 1896, for example.

Subject - verb agreement

Ivy Wigmore — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:32:22 +0000

Which is correct?
The increasing proliferation of Internet-connected devices _____ that more people are choosing wireless technology for home networks.
a. means
b. mean

Answer: a

Explanation:
The subject here is proliferation, which is singular, so we need the singular verb form, means.

We’ve got scads of posts on this topic. Test your grasp of subject-verb agreement.

Steve Osborne includes subject-verb agreement with tricky subjects in his writing tips blog.

What are your pet grammar peeves?

Ivy Wigmore — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:20:25 +0000

We’re moving toward the end of the year and soon we’ll see all sorts of Top 10 lists.

Last year, Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty posted her top five pet peeves for 2008:

Before we get into the final list, I have one honorable mention for Joshua Heimann whose complaint didn’t make the list but did make me laugh. He complained about people making up words like “conversate” and “pronunciate” and noted that it needed to terminate, not stopitate.

Read on for the list

“Preventive” or “preventative?”

Ivy Wigmore — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:08:21 +0000

Which is correct?
The Red Flags Rule legislation was created as a __________ measure against identity theft.
a. preventative
b. preventive

Answer: Either one.

Explanation:
Although “preventive” is more popular than “preventative,” both words are acceptable.

On World Wide Words, Michael Quinion explains the history of “preventative” and “preventive.”

“A NDR” or “an NDR?”

Ivy Wigmore — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:37:06 +0000

Which is correct?
Although some admins simply configure servers not to send out _______ (non-delivery report) when the recipient does not exist, that method can cause problems for some legitimate emails.
a. A NDR
b. An NDR

Answer: b

Explanation:
Because we pronounce the letters in this initialism (en-dee-ar), we treat it as if it were a word starting with a vowel.

See more questions and answers about acronyms and initialisms.

Criteria or criterion?

Ivy Wigmore — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:13:55 +0000

Which is correct?
One important ________ for detecting spam is the size of the recipient list.
a. criterion
b. criteria

Answer: a

Explanation:
Criterion is singular; criteria is plural.

Here’s a little quiz on criteria/criterion.

Is it “small businessmen” or “small-business men?”

Ivy Wigmore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:10:34 +0000

Which is correct?
The notice for the EDM seminar stressed its usefulness for _________________ as well as large enterprises.
a. small businessmen
b. small-business men

Answer: b

Explanation:
Here’s the ruling from AP:

Use a hyphen whenever ambiguity would result if it were omitted: The president will speak to small-business men. (Businessmen normally is one word. But “the president will speak to small businessmen” is unclear.)

Indeed. The reader might think that the president will speak only to diminutive businessmen. One envisions a giant ruler at the door and a sign to the effect that you can only attend if you’re “this small.”

By hyphenating “small-business,” we make it clear that “small” refers to “business” rather than “men.”

Of course, the whole issue could — and usually should — be avoided by using “business people,” which isn’t spelled as one word anyway.

Semicolons and complex lists

Ivy Wigmore — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:09:56 +0000

Which is correct?
An MRP system should satisfy three objectives: ensuring that materials and products are available for production and delivery; maintaining the lowest possible level of ___________ planning manufacturing activities, delivery schedules and purchasing activities.
a. inventory and
b. inventory; and

Answer: b

Explanation:
In a list of complex items, the semicolon helps clarity by clearly identifying the separate items in the list — that’s why it’s used instead of a comma between the items, as well as why it’s used along with the conjunction and before the last item. The general rule is to use a semicolon to separate list items if one of your items already contains a comma and to use one before the conjunction if the items are complex.

Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty offers more information about the uses of semicolons.