Business Writing with UpWrite Press

The plurals of symbols, letters, numbers, and words discussed as words are formed by adding an apostrophe and an s. Using &'s, @'s, and %'s in place of the words and, at, and percent will save room in this report. Don't forget to cross your t's. And, avoid using too many and's in your writing...

Consequently means "as a result of"; subsequently means "following closely in time or order." We were late for the meeting; consequently, we missed the reading of the minutes. The general had retired to his study but was subsequently interrupted by a knock at the door...

A conscience gives one the capacity to know right from wrong. Conscious means "awake or alert, not sleeping or comatose." Your conscience will guide you. Mr. Kreutz needs two cups of coffee to be fully conscious at this hour...

The plurals of most nouns ending in an o that's preceded by a consonant are formed by adding es. potato - potatoes ...

Unparallel construction is a very common stylistic error that is relatively easy to correct. To create parallelism in a sentence, use similar grammatical structures - words, phrases, clauses - to express thoughts that have a similar function...

If sentences were in a fashion show, here's what you might see: Some sentences might appear perky and preppie and ready for action, others might flow on and on in exotic layers of meaning, still others might hit you right between the eyes with their boldness or sneak up on you because of their...

The plurals of nouns ending in an o that's preceded by a vowel are formed by adding only an s. cameo - cameos

A confidant is someone you trust. Confident means "self-assured." Mr. Barker had no confidant with whom he could share his ideas. Confident of her talent, Sharon leapt at any chance to speak. (From Write for Business, page 228, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 40)