----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, November 2007 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting (http://www.scribe.com.au) http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the November 2007 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Punctuating the word "however" 2. Choosing between "is" and "are" 3. China to become the number one English-speaking country? 4. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@BetterWritingSkills.com Cheers, Tim North Perth, Western Australia ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Punctuating the word "however" ----------------------------------------------------------------- My first correspondent this month, Michael, asked how we should punctuate sentences containing the word "however": My question: What is the proper punctuation when using "however" in a sentence? I was taught to precede it by a semicolon and follow it by a comma. Is this correct? There are two common contexts in which we use "however". The first uses the punctuation described by Michael. The second, uses a pair of commas. Let's take a look at each of them. Context #1: joining short sentences together -------------------------------------------- When writing short sentences one after the other, you often end up with a stop-start effect. For example: This is good. Let's go again. I'm Carol. This is Bob. This is George. They scored seven. We scored nine. The above examples are correctly punctuated, but perhaps not punctuated in the best way as the very short sentences may seem a little abrupt. You might prefer to punctuate using a semicolon (;). The semicolon allows us to link together two (or more) short sentences to form a single, longer sentence: This is good; let's go again. I'm Carol; this is Bob; this is George. They scored seven; we scored nine. I note in passing that "semicolon" is written as one word; there's no space or hyphen. When punctuated like this, very short sentences tend to run together more smoothly than they would if written as separate sentences. Where does "however" fit into this? Well, another way to join short sentences is to use a semicolon together with what I'll call "the big joining words". These include "accordingly", "consequently", "for example", "furthermore", "however", "moreover", "namely", "nevertheless", "otherwise", "therefore", "that is" and "thus". For example: Today is fine; however, tomorrow may be wet. Notice the complicated punctuation. A semicolon is used before the big joining word and a comma is used after it. Here are some other examples: Ore sample number twenty-five was contaminated; accordingly, the experiment is to be repeated tomorrow. The meeting scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled; however, we will meet sometime next week. Newer computers have lots of memory; that is, they usually have at least a gigabyte of RAM. Context #2: "however" as a non-essential word ---------------------------------------------- Now let's look at the second context for punctuating the word "however". Pairs of commas are used to set off words or short phrases that could be removed without substantially changing the meaning of a sentence. For example: Lynne, our CEO, is from Adelaide. This still makes sense if we remove the words that are in commas: Lynne is from Adelaide. Here's another example: Chapter six, the one on the desk, is to be shipped before lunch. This still makes sense when shortened to: Chapter six is to be shipped before lunch. Sometimes, we use the word "however" in this way: It is, however, a matter of concern. Notice how the punctuation of "however" in this example is different to the examples presented in part 1. I've covered these examples rather quickly. If you'd like a more comprehensive treatment of these and other punctuation issues, have a look at my downloadable book "Editing and Proofreading": http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/ebooks.html Hope this helps. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Choosing between "is" and "are" ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent, Ash, wrote in with the following dilemma: I was having a debate with a friend the other night having watched "Dancing With the Stars" (sad I know) about the correct usage of "Is" as opposed to "Are". The sentence that was used was "Also going through tonight is (name) and (name)". We couldn't decide if it should be "is" or "are" or if both were correct. Well, let's start by looking at the sentence in question: Also going through tonight is (name) and (name). Let's have a quick review of some essential grammar. The SUBJECT of a sentence is the person or thing doing the action. In the sentence above, the action is "is (or are) going through". To find the subject, just ask yourself "WHO is going through?". The answer here is clearly "(name) and (name)". The subject determines if the action should be singular ("is") or plural ("are"). Since the subject in this case is plural (there are two names), the action should also be plural ("are"). I would thus write: Also going through tonight ARE (name) and (name). Ash had a second question about choosing between "is" and "are". She wrote: Further to this I had to write an email to a customer today in regards to benefits for medications and the sentence I was using was "These medications are only on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme where the criteria (are/is) met". Can you provide a definitive answer as to where "is" and "are" should be used? Let's make this example a little simpler by shortening the sentence in question to: The criteria (are/is) met. The same logic applies: 1. What is the subject? That is, who or what is met? Answer: "the criteria". 2. The subject is plural. (Why? Well, you have one criterION but two criterIA.) The action should also be plural, so I'd write: The criteria ARE met. Or, in the longer sentence: These medications are only on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme where the criteria ARE met. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. China to become the number one English-speaking country? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My final correspondent this month, Ken, asked me to test the validity of the following claim: "China will soon become the world's number 1 English speaking country." -- IPA Bulletin, Jul/Aug 2007 p48. That claim is certainly quoted a lot on the web. It seems to be copied (most often) from a presentation called "Shift Happens". The US has around 250 million English speakers (source: Wikipedia). According to the Cambridge University Press journal "English Today" (http://tinyurl.com/2epdh2), China has an "English-knowing population of 200–350 million". This figure includes learners of English, though, and can't really be said to be a count of the number of people who can use the language well on a daily basis. Nonetheless, it does seem to suggest that the claim "China will soon become the world's number one English speaking country" is quite realistic. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you know someone who'd like this newsletter? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a friend or colleague who'd find the Better Writing Skills newsletter interesting? If so, please feel free to send a copy of this issue to them. Alternatively, please tell them they can browse back issues here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- This month have a look at the Macquarie Dictionary's "Dictionary Wit" page. This page presents the results of an on-going competition to come up with funny definitions of real words. Some of my favourites include: Will: a document that makes it a dead giveaway who is to receive what. Thesaurus: A book, publication, volume, manuscript, opus in which one finds, seeks, searches, locates, traces, ferrets for a synonym, alternative, equivalent, similar, substitute word, lexeme, term. Here's the address: http://tinyurl.com/36zhp4 Enjoy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my Better Writing Skills web site, you'll find my range of jargon-free, downloadable e-books that will help you to become a better writer. These e-books will help you with business proposals, report writing, term papers, technical writing, grant writing, creative writing and more. http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/ebooks.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- REPRODUCING THIS MATERIAL Permission is granted to reproduce those articles that are copyrighted by Tim North, subject to them not being modified or sold. Please provide a clickable link back to: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com Additional freely republishable articles can be found here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/free-articles.html FUTURE MAILINGS You can prevent (or receive) future mailings by visiting this page: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html This is a GENUINE service, and you will not receive any unsolicited e-mail as a result. You have my word on it. -----------------------------------------------------------------