----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, September 2009 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the September 2009 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Does "email" need a hyphen? 2. Should I use "will be" or "would be"? 3. Does "focused" have one "s" or two? 4. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@scribe.com.au Cheers, Tim North (Perth, Western Australia) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Does "email" need a hyphen? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My first correspondent this month, Vanessa, writes to ask whether "email" needs a hyphen: In regards to the subject of hyphenation discussed in your latest newsletter, I am wondering what's your thoughts on using a hyphen with the word e-mail? Back in the distant days of the 1990s, the new "e" words (like "e-mail" and "e-commerce") were usually spelled with hyphens. This was consistent with the handful of other (non-trademark) words in English that have a one-letter prefix. For example: x-ray, g-string, t-shirt They all have hyphens too. For this reason I, and most other writers of the time, wrote "e-mail" and "e-commerce" with the hyphens. Majority usage, though, very quickly grew tired of the hyphen. Today, most sources write these "e" words without the hyphens. Indeed, my preferred dictionary lists it without a hyphen, though it includes "e-mail" as an acceptable alternative. Short answer: No; "email" doesn't need a hyphen. Mind you, that won't stop me from continuing to use one. :-) Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Should I use "will be" or "would be"? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent, Denise, has been receiving grief from the grammar checker in her word processor. She writes that it advised changing this sentence: We were told it WILL BE several days. to: We were told it WOULD BE several days. Let me start by saying that you should always take the advice of any software-based grammar checker with a great deal of scepticism. Microsoft Word's grammar checker, for example, remains notoriously bad. Even in Word 2007, the following sentence passes the grammar checker without comment: Microsoft the company should big improve Word grammar check. Sigh. Now back to Denise's two sentences. Consider the first one: 1. We were told, "It will be several days". As you can see, I've punctuated this as a quotation as it sounds like Denise is reporting someone else's exact words. Here "were told" refers to the past and "will be" to the future. This clash of tenses is the cause of the grammar checker's suggestion that the sentence needs changing. It doesn't, though. The sentence makes complete sense as written. (At some time in the past you were told that an event will take place several days into the future.) By the way, in US English, the full stop in that sentence would be placed *inside* the closing quotation mark. Putting it outside is a characteristic of British English. Now let's look at the suggested correction: 2. We were told it would be several days. Similarly, this is also fine. (At some time in the past you were told that an event would take place several days into the future.) It's also worth noting that the meanings of the two statements may be slightly different. In the first sentence, "will" implies that the event is certain. The second sentence may seem less certain to you. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Does "focused" have one "s" or two? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent, Megan, wrote in to say: My query is how to spell focused/focussed. I'm a teacher and each report writing time I get asked to change my "focused" to "focussed". I have actually never in my life spelt it with a double "s" and find it rather frustrating. Can you help me? Am I wrong? Good news: you're not wrong. Both forms are listed in numerous dictionaries of both British and US English. Several of the dictionaries that I consulted suggested that the two-ess spelling was more common in British English. Why might this be so? Well, my slightly rambling answer is to observe that after the American War of Independence from the British, one Noah Webster sat down and began to write the first dictionary of American English. As the work progressed, he chose (quite sensibly) to simplify certain British spellings. Usually he replaced a double-ell or double-ess with a single-ell or single-ess. So if you find a pair of words like "focused" and "focussed", a reasonable assumption is that the American spelling is the simpler one; that is, one-ell or one-ess. In this case, "focused" is an American spelling that seems to have become quite common in British English as well. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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.scribe.com.au/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- This month you may like to consider the many different meanings of the word "up". For example: Something can come up. We can call up our friends. You can dress up. A much fuller list of the various meanings of "up" can be found here: http://www.theblackriver.net/attic/20020424up.html Enjoy. -- (c) 2009 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my web site, you'll find my range of jargon-free, downloadable e-books that will help you to become a better writer. 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