----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, August 2011 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Capital letters and school-related words 2. "Lessons learned" or "lessons learnt"? 3. Apostrophes and quotation marks 4. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send email to: info@scribe.com.au Cheers, Tim North (Perth, Western Australia) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Capital letters and school-related words ----------------------------------------------------------------- When my first correspondent this month, Zina, sent me an email with the subject line "Capital punishment", I wasn't sure what to expect. Readers sometimes take me to task for small errors, but the death penalty seemed a bit much. :-) Fortunately, I needn't have worried. Zina wrote in with a tricky question about the use of capital letters in school-related words: Please could you clear up when to use upper case for deputy principal, principal, teacher, environmental education programs, staff room, soccer, hat policy etc. Let's start with the first three: deputy principal, principal and teacher. The names of trades and professions are generally written in lower case. For example: Jane is a teacher. Jane is a deputy principal. Jane is a solicitor, but don't hold it against her. Specific job titles, however, are usually written with an initial capital: Deputy Principal Jane Smith I'll ask Principal Smith for her thoughts. Next year, Director Jane Smith will be on sabbatical. Jane Smith, Principal The other examples in Zina's list would be written in lower case: Several environmental education programs are available. The staff room is at the top of the stairs. John excels at French, maths and soccer. We don't have an official hat policy yet. Note that in the third example here, "French" has an initial capital as it is a proper noun (the name of a language and an ethnic group). "English" and "Asian studies" would, likewise, have an initial capital. Note, though, the lower-case "s" for "studies". Other schools subjects and activities like "soccer", "maths" and "science" are usually written without the initial capital. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2011 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. "Lessons learned" or "lessons learnt"? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent, Luke, asks about the pesky "t" suffix that still attaches itself to a few words: Should it be "lessons learned" or "lessons learnt"? Both are correct terms in English, although I understand the latter is more archaic but is correct British English. I understand the former is US English. What are you thoughts on this? Luke is quite right. "Learnt" with its increasingly-rare "t" suffix is an older form that is more common in British English. "Learned" is a newer form that is more common in US English. The Oxford dictionary lists a number of words that operate similarly. These include: burn, dream, kneel, lean, spell and spill. "Learned" (LER-ned) is also used in phrases such as "the learned consultant", in which case it is pronounced with two syllables. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2011 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! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Apostrophes and quotation marks ----------------------------------------------------------------- My final correspondent this month, Mircalla, wrote in asking about the correct use of apostrophes and punctuation marks: Please can you clarify when apostrophes are used. My understanding is that they are only used in the possessive case. Apostrophes are a source of confusion for many people and one of the most-requested subjects for this newsletter. Rather than provide the overly long answer here, I have a PDF file on my web site that explains how and when to use apostrophes: http://www.scribe.com.au/apostrophes.html In short, Mircalla is correct when she says that apostrophes are used in the possessive case ("Tim's newsletter"). They're also used in contractions such as "isn't" and "we'll". Mircalla also asked about quotation marks, also known as inverted commas: Also, can you clarify when inverted commas are used. Are they only used when quoting what someone has said? It is correct that they are not used when writing a document and stating the name of something eg: The new brochure "Your Stay with Us" - this is wrong. The new brochure Your Stay with Us - is correct. Quotation marks have two main uses: 1. They can indicate speech: "Hello", he said. 2. They can be used to indicate the title of a book, article or other document. You can find more on this usage in "The Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers". This means that the first usage above is acceptable. The quotation marks help us to identify the name of the brochure. A modern alternative is to use italics instead of surrounding a title with quotation marks. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2011 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Just for fun ---------------------------------------------------------------- Following on from the subject of quotation marks, you may find this next web site entertaining (or possibly frustrating). It collects examples of inappropriate uses of quotation marks: http://www.UnnecessaryQuotes.com Enjoy. Cheers, Tim. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. These e-books will help you with business proposals, report writing, term papers, technical writing, grant writing, creative writing and more: http://www.scribe.com.au/ebooks.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- REPRODUCING THIS MATERIAL You're welcome to reproduce the articles from this newsletter that are copyrighted by Tim North, but please don't modify or sell them. Also, please provide a clickable link back to: http://www.scribe.com.au FUTURE MAILINGS You can prevent (or receive) future mailings by visiting this page: http://www.scribe.com.au/newsletter.html This is a GENUINE service, and you will not receive any unsolicited email as a result. You have my word on it. -----------------------------------------------------------------