I'll be adding to it each week as we go along. Please refer to it often and make sure you understand all the entries.
• Agreement: Make sure you use possessive pronouns and adjectives precisely, so they agree in number and gender with the subject of a sentence
Incorrect: The company was not able to increase their dividend.
Correct: The company was not able to increase its dividend.
Incorrect: The business broker should still be paid their commission.
Correct: The business broker should still be paid his commission.
Incorrect: Whoever wins the election should expect loyalty from their supporters.
Correct: Whoever wins the election should expect loyalty from his or her supporters.
• Because / Since: Generally, use "because" when addressing cause and effect. "Since" is more appropriate (and precise) for expressions involving elapsed time.
Our business has served the community since 1988.
We are successful because we try very hard.
• Capital letters: Don't capitalize any word unless you have a specific reason to do so. Generally, there are three reasons to use capitals:
- At the beginning of a sentence.
In the beginning...
- For proper nouns such as the name of a city, nation, or person.
Argentina.
Mexico City.
Jimmy Carter.
- A title or job description that directly precedes someone's name.
Manchester Police Chief David Mara.
Adjunct Professor Boris Karloff.
Otherwise, keep your writing lower case.
• Names on papers. : Always include your full name somewhere on any assignment passed in.
On any class assignment, lack of a name will be subject to a deduction of 10 points from the score.
• There, their, they're: Three forms of this tricky word. Please know the difference:
- There: When you mean a place or when used as an interjection.
- Put the book over there.
- There might be a way around this.
There, there, Little Bo Peep. That's too bad about your sheep.
- Their: Used to indicate possession.
It's not their turn yet.
Their dog is really ugly.
- They're: Contraction of "they are."
They're one brick short of a load.
I don't know what they're thinking.
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