----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, August 2012 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. The use of commas in lists 2. Should we start a sentence with "however"? 3. Should job titles always have initial capitals? 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. The use of commas in lists ----------------------------------------------------------------- Before getting to my first correspondent for this month, let's quickly review the use of commas in lists as doing so will set up the first question nicely. Consider this simple sentence: Please congratulate Mike, Sue and Bob. British English usually omits the comma before the "and". American English is more likely to include it. In most cases, there is no ambiguity to either usage, so both are quite acceptable. Just pick a style and stick to it. In some cases, though, a comma between the final two list elements can remove ambiguity. Consider: For breakfast I'll order tea, bacon and eggs and toast. Without the comma, the items may be "tea", "bacon and eggs" and "toast", but they may also be "tea", "bacon" and "eggs and toast". In cases such as this, a well-placed comma removes the ambiguity. This brings us to my first correspondent for this month, Alan, who writes in with a question about lists: I have a question for you about the use of "and" in lists. Take the following example: Today I visited Abercrombie and Fitch, Marks and Spencer and Williams and Griffin. Although this is a list of three shops, all of the shops have 'and' in their names so it's unclear what I'm actually referring to and looks a bit messy. I usually get around it by using ampersands, i.e. Today I visited Abercrombie & Fitch, Marks & Spencer and Williams & Griffin. Is this correct? It's certainly an unambiguous solution. I generally prefer not to use an ampersand in normal writing, though, as it seems too casual for business-like formality. An alternative would simply be to use a comma: Today I visited Abercrombie and Fitch, Marks and Spencer, and Williams and Griffin. I would interpret this as you having visited three stores, the latter being "Williams and Griffin". If Williams and Griffin were two separate stores, I'd write: Today I visited Abercrombie and Fitch, Marks and Spencer, Williams, and Griffin. If this all seems a bit subtle, quotation marks would remove all doubt: Today I visited "Abercrombie and Fitch", "Marks and Spencer" and "Williams and Griffin". [Three stores] Today I visited "Abercrombie and Fitch", "Marks and Spencer", "Williams" and "Griffin". [Four stores] Hope this helps. -- (c) 2012 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Should we start a sentence with "however"? ----------------------------------------------------------------- In last month's newsletter, we discussed the punctuation associated with the word "however": http://www.scribe.com.au/newsletter.html Several readers asked if it was okay to start a sentence with "however"; others indicated a dislike for doing so. So, can you start a sentence with "however"? Yes. Sentences like these are clearly correct: However hard he tried, he couldn't beat her score. However you do it, do it quickly! Here "however" means "in whatever way". Notice that it's not followed by a comma in this context. But what about these examples: Serif fonts are commonly used in print. However, an important proviso must be made for online use. This is unacceptable. However, it can be fixed. In these examples, "however" means "but" and is followed by a comma. This latter usage is often frowned upon. Many of us feel strangely guilty if we use "However," in this way. Despite this, many well respected style manuals and other authorities argue that this usage is quite acceptable. Just because it's technically correct, though, doesn't mean that you should overuse it. The most practical advice I've read on the subject comes from blogger "Grammar Girl" who wrote: Despite the fact that it's not wrong to start a sentence with however, a lot of people think it's wrong; so I wouldn't advise doing it in a really important situation where you don't know the people you are writing for and you won't get a chance to defend yourself. For example, I wouldn't start a sentence with however in a cover letter for a job. I'd rather be hired than be right. http://goo.gl/hti3b Hope this helps. -- (c) 2012 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. Should job titles always have initial capitals? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My next correspondent, Suzanne, wrote in with a question about capitalisation: When expressing someone's job title, should their title appear in capitals? For example: John Doe, our Managing Director, is currently speaking at the ABC education conference. As a quick aside before answering Suzanne's question, I'd probably write "the ABC Education Conference" with initial capitals as it seems to be the name of one specific conference. This reflects the general rule that the name of one particular person, place or thing (a proper noun) is written with initial capitals. Now back to the main topic: yes. The title of a specific job has initial capitals. For example: This is Dr Jane Smith. This is Bob Smith, Managing Director of SmithCorp. John Doe, our Managing Director, is currently speaking at the ABC Education Conference. The names of professions or trades, though, are not usually capitalised. For example: Jane Smith is a doctor. Bob Smith is a managing director. John Doe, a managing director, is currently speaking at the ABC Education Conference. In these latter examples, there are no initial capitals because we are naming a trade or profession in general, not one job in particular. Suzanne went on to ask: Also, should the title be separated from the name by commas as I have here? Yes. When a person's name is followed by their title, the title is usually set off with commas. For example: John Doe, Managing Director, said that he was announcing record profits. Record profits were announced by John Doe, Managing Director. But note that there's no comma if the title precedes the name: Managing Director John Doe announced record profits. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2012 Tim North: http://www.scribe.com.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Just for fun ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to frequent-contributor Denise for sending in a list of unintentionally amusing notices found in church bulletins. Here are my favourites: Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. Don't let worry kill you off -- let the Church help. Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation. Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the Church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days. The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in the Church basement on Friday at 7:00 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy. Enjoy. Cheers, Tim. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my new 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. I also run in-house writing-training courses for government and industry. http://www.scribe.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 my web site. 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. -----------------------------------------------------------------