Here are three more grammatically-oriented Power Points to add to your Workplace Writing Tool Kits, for those of you who want to be grammatically correct every time.
1. Comma Phrases – when you use commas to indicate that part of the sentence is not essential, be sure to use the second comma to close off the phrase.
Wrong – Bruno, our assistant since July has already earned a promotion.
Right – Bruno, our assistant since July, has already earned a promotion.
2. Have fun trashing what you learned in 7th grade English. Today, you can begin sentences with ‘And’, ‘But’ or even ‘Because’. Doing so can make your writing sound more conversational and useful for your readers.
3. Punctuate parens properly. If an entire sentence is in parenthesis, then place your final punctuation inside the closing paren. But, if only a part of the sentence goes in parenthesis, then place your finial punctuation outside the closing paren. For example –
Angela was promoted to run R&D at the Corporate level. (She ran R&D for the Western Division for over five years.)
Angela ran R&D for the Western Division (for over five years).
Three more simple ways to write more consistently and accurately in the workplace. No need to thank me – it’s part of the job.