Contents
Contents
2
Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
End punctuation 2.3
Full stop 2.4
Question mark 2.5
Exclamation mark 2.6
The comma 2.6
Commas and independent clauses 2.6
Comma splices and run-on or fused sentences 2.7
Commas and items in a series 2.7
Commas with coordinate adjectives and
compound nouns 2.8
Commas, sentence beginnings and ambiguity 2.8
Other misuses of the comma 2.9
Commas and restrictive and non-restrictive
elements 2.10
The semicolon 2.11
Semicolons and independent clauses 2.11
The colon 2.13
The apostrophe 2.15
The apostrophe: a doomed punctuation mark? 2.17
Capitalisation 2.18
Capitals, proper nouns and adjectives 2.18
Capital offences? 2.19
Parentheses and brackets 2.20
The dash 2.23
The hyphen 2.23
Quotation marks 2.25
Quoted material: short and long 2.26
Quotation marks and other punctuation 2.26
Scare quotes 2.27
Ellipsis 2.27
Spelling 2.28
Spelling errors: where do they come from? 2.29
Eggcorns, mondegreens, malapropisms, homonyms,
contranyms and the other usual suspects:
beware! 2.29
Spelling: the rules 2.34
Suffixes 2.34
Global English: American versus British
spelling 2.38
Spelling reform: the impossible dream? 2.39
Vocabulary and usage 2.40
accede/exceed 2.40
adverse/averse 2.40
advice/advise 2.41
affect/effect 2.41
all ready/already 2.41
anticipate/expect 2.41
apprise/appraise 2.41
because/as/since 2.42
bought/brought 2.42
by 2.42
comparison, false 2.43
compliment/complement 2.43
comprise/consist/compose/include 2.43
counsel/council 2.44
criterion/criteria 2.44
disinterested/uninterested 2.44
dependent/dependant 2.44
elicit/illicit 2.45
enormity/enormousness/immensity 2.45
ferment/foment 2.45
fewer/less 2.45
flaunt/flout 2.45
hopefully 2.45
imply/infer 2.46
irregardless/regardless 2.46
it’s/its 2.46
literally 2.46
loathe/loath 2.47
more 2.47
obsolete/obsolescent 2.47
personnel/personal 2.47
phenomena/phenomenon 2.48
principle/principal 2.48
question, begging the 2.48
sanction 2.49
that/which 2.49
they’re/their/there 2.49
to/too/two 2.50
Summary 2.50
Student study guide 2.51
KEY T ERMS 2. 51
R EVI EW QUES TI ON S 2. 51
APPL I ED AC TI V I TI ES 2. 52
W HAT WO ULD YOU DO ? 2. 54
R EFER EN CES 2.55
SUG G ESTED READI N G 2. 56
ACKN OW L EDG EMENT S 2. 56
Writing skills 2: punctuation,
spelling and usage
After reading this chapter you should be able to:
• Explain the relationship between grammar and punctuation
• Explain the use of end punctuation, such as the full stop, the exclamation mark and the
question mark
• Explain the use of other punctuation marks, such as the comma, the colon, the semicolon, the
apostrophe, the dash, the hyphen, parentheses and brackets, quotation marks and ellipses
• Identify and correct the major mechanical and cultural pitfalls in spelling
• Identify and correct some of the major pitfalls in vocabulary and usage
In online chapter 1 we looked at the grammatical basis of writing skills. Now we turn our
attention to the areas of punctuation, spelling and usage. All these areas interconnect in
interesting ways. For example, we shall soon see that punctuation and grammar are merely
two sides of the same coin and that it is impossible to have a good grasp of grammar without
understanding punctuation.
Indeed, the most influential book on punctuation in recent times, Eats shoots and leaves:
The zero tolerance approach to punctuation (Truss 2003), bears this out (see also Truss &
Timmons 2008). While this author has undoubtedly done a great service by making punctuation a matter of popular discourse (having sold several million copies of Eats . . . worldwide),
critics have pointed out mistakes in her approach (Crystal 2006; Garner 2005). The main fault
of her approach, however, is that there is little or no grammar in it. This fault makes it almost
impossible to give a complete rationale for run-on sentences, sentence fragments or the case
theory behind it’s versus its — to name a few. Truss’s argument is that ‘I am not a grammarian. To me a subordinate clause will forever be (since I heard the actor Martin Jarvis
describe it thus) one of Santa’s little helpers’ (Truss 2003, p. 32).
Many misunderstandings arise regarding what is ‘proper English’. The material we will consider here may help to eliminate at least some of these misunderstandings. For example, in the
battle between language descriptivists and prescriptivists (online chapter 1), prescriptivists
may assert that language changes little, if at all, and to the extent that it does, we should
follow the precedents of the ‘classics’ of the canon of English literature. This is not, however,
as easy as it might at first appear. Consider, for example, table 2.1, which shows some of the
spelling and punctuation used by Jane Austen in the first edition of Pride and Prejudice (1813).
Table 2.1: Spelling and
punctuation: then and
now
Austen’s spelling
Austen’s punctuation
Choose = chuse
Develop = develop
Teasing = teazing
Mien = mein
Sore throat = sore-throat
Ankles = ancles
Showed = shewed
Style = stile
Screens = skreens
Sofas = sophas
Headache = headach
Hers = her’s
Yours = your’s
But Jane could think with certainty on only one
point, — that Mr Bingley . . .
Very true, indeed; — and now, my dear Jane . . .
Mr Darcy’s shameful boast of what misery he had
been able to inflict, gave her a keener sense . . .
His attachment to Rosings, certainly increases.
Communicating in the 21st Century
Source: Austen 2006 (1813).
2.2
Rhetorical punctuation:
punctuation based on the
idea that units within a
sentence should be
separated according to
breath capacity
Syntactic punctuation:
punctuation based on the
idea that word units within
a sentence should be
separated according to
meaning
Of particular interest is the punctuation employed by Austen. Sutherland (2007) suggests
that Austen’s original manuscript style followed rhetorical punctuation rather than syntactic (or
grammatical) punctuation (see table. 2.2), and that male editors changed her style to syntactic
punctuation (and compositors or typesetters inserted paragraphing). (Note Austen’s use of the
apostrophe in possessive pronouns — see online chapter 1.)
Austen was fighting, in a sense, a losing war, as the long-term trend in English for
centuries has been moving away from rhetorical grammar (based on sound or phonology, and
the breathing capacity of the reader if reading out loud) to syntactic, based on meaning units
within sentences, although Charles Dickens was in the habit of re-working various editions of
his books, including re-punctuating a later edition of Oliver Twist to a more rhetorical style,
with shorter sentences and the replacement of many commas with colons (Horne 2003,
pp. 533–4). This use of rhetorical grammar may have been because Dickens was building a
career as a public reader of his works. He was, however, a heroic exception. As history
repeats, Baron now argues that email is shifting the balance back, with email writers
punctuating as if they were speaking rather than writing (Baron 2000; see also Schou 2007).
This, of course, may not necessarily be a good thing.
Thus, even today, the most common myth is that punctuation is rhetorical, meaning they
are little better than ‘breath marks,’ rather than tools to clarify meaning.
Table 2.2: Rhetorical and
syntactic punctuation
Rhetorical punctuation
Syntactic punctuation
Rationale
A comma is inserted wherever a major breath
group ends, regardless of the overall grammatical
structure of the sentence. The restrictive relative
clause ‘who lurked outside my office for weeks
on end’ is rhetorically separated from the main
verb (‘turned out’) by a comma.
Grammatical punctuation forbids
breaking up the subject and the
verb.
Example
The shadowy figure who lurked outside my office
for weeks on end, turned out to be a private
detective.
The shadowy figure who lurked
outside my office for weeks on
end [no comma] turned out to be a
private detective.
Source: Adapted from Baron (2000, p. 170).
Try to avoid using a rhetorical approach in your writing. If your hypothetical reader
reading your text out loud is to avoid going blue in the face waiting for a comma (and in
danger of lapsing into a coma), recast your sentence using appropriately placed commas,
colons, semicolons and dashes (see table 2.3). You may find that the sentence, or more than
one sentence split from the original, will give your prose a rhythm and grace that it might
otherwise lack, and will help to frame your meaning, not only with commas and dashes, but
italics for emphasis and dashes and ellipses for special effects.
Punctuation marks are used to make the meaning of written words clear. Some are pauses;
some have other functions (see table 2.3). In this respect, they are like the musical notation to
match, reinforce and counterpoint the words or the ‘lyrics’ of the sentence.
Long pause
Medium pause
Short pause
Full stop
.
Colon
:
Exclamation mark
!
Semicolon
;
Question mark
?
Dash
—
Comma
,
End punctuation
Syntax is the aspect of grammar that deals with sentence formation, and we have already
considered grammatical tests for sentences and sentence fragments (see online chapter 1,
p. 1.28). There are three forms of punctuation signalling the end of a sentence (see table 2.4).
Table 2.4: Forms of end
punctuation
For
Use
Example
Full stop
Used at the end of a statement.
I handed her the document.
Question mark
Used at the end of a direct question.
Did you give her the document?
Exclamation mark
Used at the end of a forceful and/or
emotional statement.
Give me that document now!
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Table 2.3: Punctuation
marks and different
pause lengths
2.3
Full stop
Full stop: used to show the
end of a sentence
Full stops (also known as points or periods) perform different functions from exclamation marks
or question marks, but some commands and questions are more appropriately punctuated with
full stops. For example:
Mild command
Would you please fasten your seat belts.
Can you fill in the form using ink, not pencil.
Indirect question
She asked whether I would have it completed
by five o’clock.
(Compare with the direct form: She asked,
‘Will you have it completed by five o’clock?’)
Full stops are also used to show abbreviation, or shortening (see table 2.5).
Communicating in the 21st Century
Table 2.5: Common abbreviations using full stops
2.4
Abbreviation
Full form
Dr.
Doctor
M.D.
Medicinae Doctor (Latin, doctor of medicine)
Ph.D.
Philosophiae Doctor (Latin, doctor of philosophy)
B.A.
Bachelor of Arts, British Academy
Mr.
Mister
Mrs.
Mistress
Ms.
Alternative to Mrs. and Miss (note that Miss is not an abbreviation)
A.M.
ante meridiem (Latin, before noon)
P.M.
post meridiem (Latin, after noon)
B.C.
Before Christ
A.D.
anno Domini (Latin, in the year of Our Lord)
B.P.
Before Present (before 1950: reference date for carbon dating)
Table 1.5 (continued)
Open punctuation: a style of
punctuation that uses
minimal punctuation marks
or no punctuation
Abbreviation
Full form
B.C.E.
Before Common Era (same as B.C., but without Christian reference)
C.E.
Common Era (same as A.D., but without Christian reference)
e.g.
exempli gratia (Latin, for example)
i.e.
id est (Latin, that is)
p.
page
Be aware, however, that usage is changing all the time; some organisations and style
authorities now prefer the full stop to be dropped in abbreviations, as long as ambiguity does
not occur as a result. This style is known as open punctuation.
When in doubt, try to find out what is acceptable to your audience.
Question mark
The question mark is a unit of end punctuation used to show that the preceding sentence is
interrogative (asking a question) (see online chapter 3, p. 3.19).
Question marks are used for direct questions, but not indirect questions. Remember that a
question mark, like an exclamation mark, has the same punctuation weight or value as a full
stop and therefore does not require any additional punctuation to terminate a question. Thus,
He asked, ‘Can you bring it over here?’.
is wrong. The full stop is unnecessary.
Questions in a series each take a question mark, even though each question may not be a
complete sentence:
We have to consider every possible aspect of this contract. What are the terms? Who
benefits? What price will they offer? Over the market value? Under? About the average?
Question marks are sometimes used to signal to the reader that the writer has doubts about
a date or figure:
Charlemagne (742?– 814) was the first Holy Roman Emperor.
We lost 230 (?) litres of oil in that storm.
This usage is acceptable for brief statements, such as birth and death dates, about which
there is uncertainty, but try to avoid it in other situations. Convey uncertainty or approximation
with words such as about:
We lost about 230 litres of oil in the storm.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Question mark: a unit of
end punctuation used to
show that the preceding
sentence is interrogative
2.5
You should also try to avoid conveying sarcasm or irony with a question mark:
I am sure you will enjoy her off-beat (?) sense of humour.
Question marks are also used for rhetorical questions, or questions to which no real answer
is expected because the answer is so obvious.
Is the sky blue?
How many times have I told you not to do that?
Exclamation mark
Exclamation mark: a unit of
end punctuation used to
indicate a forceful, loud or
angry remark
To maximise the impact of exclamation marks, minimise their use. Try to avoid constructions
such as:
We’ve really got to perform well this year! No ifs buts or maybes! It’s number one or
nothing at all for us! We’ve got to get the numbers up! All of us!
You may think you are being persuasive and inspirational, but others may think you are
merely being shrill and hysterical. As with the use of capital letters (p. 2.18), a little goes a
long way, while more than a little is self-defeating. As F. Scott Fitzgerald once put it, ‘Cut out
all those exclamation marks. An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes’ (cited
in Underwood 2004).
Try to avoid using the exclamation mark to convey amazement, sarcasm or irony. For
example:
Head Office has announced that the production goal is 23 000 units (!) this year.
If you have doubts about a situation, and you are willing to draw attention to such doubts,
express the doubts in words so that your meaning is clear:
Head Office has announced that the production goal is 23 000 units this year (my personal
view is that we may have difficulty reaching this figure).
The comma
Communicating in the 21st Century
Comma: a unit of
punctuation internal to a
sentence used to show
separation of ideas or
elements
2.6
The comma is a unit of punctuation internal to a sentence used to show a separation of ideas
or elements.
Commas and independent clauses
Commas can be used in compound sentences to separate independent clauses linked by the
coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so (see online chapter 1, p. 1.26):
She said that she would fax me, but I’ve received nothing so far.
The new model will have leather upholstery, and it should be available next week.
In shorter sentences the comma can be omitted:
The new model was available and it was affordable.
Comma splices and run-on or fused sentences
Two of the most common sentence construction faults are the comma splice and the run-on
or fused sentence:
Comma splice
The new model will be blue in colour, it
should be available next week.
Run-on/fused sentence
The new model will be blue in colour it should
be available next week.
The comma is not ‘strong’ enough to separate these two independent clauses, while the
run-on or fused sentence simply jams the clauses together without any pausing. The thoughts
conveyed in independent clauses should be given their full weight or value in the overall
rhythm of the sentence. Looking at or listening to comma splices and run-on sentences is like
listening to a drummer who keeps hitting the beat too soon. Don’t be in such a hurry. If you
are linking independent clauses, use one of several means (see table 2.6).
Link
Clauses/sentences
Conjunction + comma
It sounded like a bus, but the street was empty of any vehicle.
Semicolon
The northern division claims that it will deliver on budget this year;
time, of course, will tell if this is true.
Colon
There are only two things that will see us on top this year: they are
technical excellence and the will to win.
Full stop (break into two
sentences).
The goal is simply unattainable. The sooner people around here
acknowledge that, the sooner we can set some more realistic
figures.
Note that combining independent clauses with no punctuation or conjunctions leads to a
fused sentence (See online chapter 1 for definitions and examples of sentences and sentence
fragments, p. 1.28).
Commas and items in a series
Consider these sentences:
We will need costings on computers, printers, screens and modems.
They walked in, looked around, and then walked out again.
Stylistic conventions vary about whether a comma should come before the final and in
such sentences. The style in the United States has been to use a comma before the final and,
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Table 2.6: Linking independent clauses
2.7
whereas the British and Australian styles have tended towards leaving it out, unless it is
needed to remove any ambiguity (see also Wilson 1993).
If a list is complex, particularly if the items are modified by clauses or phrases that in turn
are set off with commas, it is better to use semicolons:
To get optimal performance, we will use Access, the Microsoft database package;
Lotus 1-2-3, the IBM spreadsheet; and Word Perfect, the Corel word processor.
Commas with coordinate adjectives and
compound nouns
Coordinate adjectives modify the same noun or pronoun. They are separated by coordinating
conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) (see online chapter 1, p. 1.26) or by a comma. If
their order is reversed, or if the conjunction and is inserted between the adjectives, the
meaning of the sentence does not change.
A loud, ugly crowd gathered in the square.
The sleek, streamlined photocopier hummed when turned on.
A comma is also not required between an adjective and a compound noun (adjective +
noun). In the following examples the compound nouns are technical officer and area
manager.
He is such a foul-tempered technical officer.
Tim and Liza are aggressive area managers.
Commas, sentence beginnings and ambiguity
Sentences often begin with introductory words, phrases and clauses. The comma can provide
the pause needed to separate such introductions from the major message of the sentence
(see table 2.7).
Some writers prefer to leave out these types of commas, arguing that such commas are
unnecessary. It is true that commas can be overdone, but they can help to reduce ambiguity
and avoid confusion (see also online chapter 1). Consider, for example, these sentences:
He painted rose and left.
Communicating in the 21st Century
When the operator has completed the wiring display voltage may decline.
2.8
If all letters are signed quickly post them.
Once you have checked the draft data reports can be completed.
She stood abruptly closed her computer and left.
DOS performance is not sacrificed providing instantaneous screen updates in the latest
games.
With added investigative powers available to police Victoria’s rate of apprehending
criminals is the best it’s been for 18 years.
Table 2.7: Commas at sentence beginnings
Introductory unit
Examples
Example in sentence
Conjunctive adverb
however, still, indeed, finally,
consequently
Indeed, the very reliability of that
data is suspect.
Transitional expression
on the other hand; in addition;
for example; as a result; in
conclusion
In conclusion, we need to
smarten up our act in all four of
these areas.
Prepositional phrase
beyond the window; down the
street
Beyond the window, a beautiful
vista spread out to the horizon.
Participial phrase
walking down the street; opened
only yesterday
Opened only yesterday, the store
was already doing a thriving
business.
Infinitive phrase
to cut a long story short
To cut a long story short, we
failed to meet the deadline.
Absolute phrase
training funds now being
available; other things being
equal
Other things being equal, we
should be able to meet that
deadline.
Adverb clause (starting with
subordinating conjunction)
before you begin that course;
unless we hear from you
Before you begin that course,
make sure that your voicemail
message is updated.
Meaning 1
Meaning 2
When the operator has completed the wiring,
display voltage may decline.
When the operator has completed the wiring
display, voltage may decline.
Any misunderstandings arising from such confusion might be minor, but they could well
be major in certain circumstances. Punctuation may help clarify, but some recasting, with
additional and/or different words, may also be necessary (see online chapter 3).
Other misuses of the comma
We saw earlier the distinction between rhetorical punctuation and syntactic punctuation
(online chapter 1), and how the syntactic style is now preferred. Bear this in mind when
placing your commas, as rhetorical punctuation may distract your reader, and throw the wrong
emphasis upon the different ideas in your sentences. Keep the following guidelines in mind.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Some of these ambiguities relate to words that can be either verbs, nouns, adverbs or adjectives, depending on context. Your reader should not have to work hard to decipher your
meaning. Your reader should have to read your words only once, not twice or a number of
times. Even multiple readings may not yield your true meaning if the ambiguity is embedded
in the structure of the sentence:
2.9
Firstly, don’t use a comma after a subject or a verb:
No: The big Doberman dog, walked down the hallway.
No: The big Doberman dog walked, down the hallway.
Yes: The big Doberman dog walked down the hallway.
Don’t use a comma after conjunctions (and, but, because, although):
No: She disagreed with me at the outset but, we eventually agreed.
Yes: She disagreed with me at the outset but we eventually agreed.
Yes: She disagreed with me at the outset, but we eventually agreed.
Yes: She disagreed with me at the outset, but, we eventually agreed. (dramatic pause).
Commas and restrictive and non-restrictive elements
Phrases, clauses and words can act as modifiers in sentences. Some of these sentence elements
need to be punctuated with commas, and some do not. Consider for example these sentences:
Computer monitors, using either traditional cathode ray tube technology or newer plasma
technology, are an important part of our budget planning for next year.
Computer monitors using plasma technology are expensive but safer and more compact.
Both sentences feature phrases modifying or telling us about the same subject: computer
monitors. In the first sentence, the phrase ‘using either traditional cathode ray tube technology
or newer plasma technology’ is a non-restrictive element or a piece of non-essential information.
It could be chopped out, leaving a sentence that would still be meaningful and fairly specific:
Original sentence
Sentence with non-essential information removed
Computer monitors, using either traditional cathode ray
tube technology or newer plasma technology, are an
important part of our budget planning for next year.
Computer monitors are an important part of our budget
planning for next year.
Communicating in the 21st Century
In the second sentence, the phrase ‘using plasma technology’ is essential information, and
removing it will distort the sentence’s meaning:
2.10
Original sentence
Sentence with essential information removed
Computer monitors using plasma technology are
expensive but safer and more compact.
Computer monitors are expensive but safer and more
compact.
Non-restrictive elements, such as non-restrictive phrases, clauses and words, can be removed
from a sentence without doing too much damage to the basic meaning of the sentence. These
elements are usually set apart with commas, although sometimes parentheses or dashes are
used. Restrictive elements cannot be removed without changing or destroying the meaning of
the sentence, and should not be set off with punctuation (see online chapter 1).
Here are some other uses of commas:
After salutations
Dear Mary,
Ladies and gentlemen,
After closings
Yours sincerely,
With titles
Prakesh Shastri, Manager, Acquisitions Division
Robert Sanborn, Jr.
Celeste Sanborn, Ph.D.
With addresses
2056 Lagrange Grove, Duckburg 68023
Leading into quotations
At this point in the play, Hamlet says, ‘To be or not to be’.
ASSESS YOURSELF
The semicolon
Semicolon: a unit of
punctuation internal to a
sentence, usually
separating two independent
clauses linked in meaning
The semicolon is a unit of punctuation internal to a sentence that usually separates two
independent clauses linked in meaning.
Semicolons and independent clauses
Independent clauses are often separated by coordinating conjunctions ( for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so), but they can also be separated by semicolons, colons and full stops. The full stop is
used to break the clauses into separate sentences, and is chosen when the writer wants to
separate one complete thought from another.
Writers use semicolons and colons when they want to emphasise the link between two
(or more) clauses. The semicolon is used when the clauses are relatively equal and balanced,
and when the writer wants to create mild suspense or expectation in the reader:
Here is the first statement; here is the second statement.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Make any changes you feel are necessary to the punctuation in the following:
(a) The main question the meeting had to consider, he said with some force, was whether the
performance of under-achievers was to be tolerated any longer?
(b) The police officer shouted ‘Stop!’.
(c) Where is it, I thought I left it over here?
(d) The main thing to concentrate on is the production report anything else is purely second
priority.
(e) I have never read such a depressing, annual report.
(f) I have never encountered such an apathetic, accounting class.
(g) If we don’t see the draft data reports may not be as reliable as head office wants.
(h) You need to tell it to him straight away, from the prying eyes and ears of certain team
members.
(i) Customer contact staff, from the night shift, need to be made aware of this fault in the
equipment.
(j) Yours, sincerely Jo Baynes.
2.11
I was angry with her; she was angry with me.
Handling databases was one of her skills; handling spreadsheets was another.
The semicolon is sometimes an invitation to read the first part of the sentence with a rising
inflection, and the second part of the sentence with a falling inflection.
Conjunctive adverbs, such as accordingly, also, anyhow, anyway, besides, consequently,
furthermore, hence, however, indeed, meanwhile, moreover, namely, nevertheless, similarly,
still, therefore and thus can be used to link independent clauses. The semicolon is often used
to link clauses that start with a conjunctive adverb, as some writers believe that the full stop
is too strong (see online chapter 1).
She has the qualifications; consequently, she must be considered to be a candidate for the
job.
The machine is producing only 305 units an hour; therefore, we know that something is
amiss.
The semicolon can be replaced by a comma (or by nothing) if a coordinating conjunction
is added to the link between independent clauses:
She has the qualifications, and therefore she must be considered to be a candidate for the
job.
The semicolon is a medium pause signal, halfway in strength between the comma (short
pause) and the full stop (long pause). It can be usefully employed when a sentence contains a
number of phrases and clauses already separated by commas, but where the commas are not
adequate to unambiguously define discrete units of meaning (see table 2.8).
The main misuse of the semicolon is to use it as a colon — in particular, to introduce a
quotation.
Table 2.8: The semicolon used to reduce or eliminate ambiguity
Discrete units of meaning
Potentially ambiguous sentence
Clearer sentence
To get optimal performance
To get optimal performance, we
will use Access 2010, the
Microsoft database package,
Lotus 1-2-3 v 10, the IBM
spreadsheet, Mozilla
Thunderbird email, and Word
Perfect X3, the Corel word
processor.
To get optimal performance, we
will use Access 2010, the
Microsoft database package;
Lotus 1-2-3 v 10, the IBM
spreadsheet; Mozilla
Thunderbird email; and Word
Perfect X3, the Corel word
processor.
We will use
Access 2010
Communicating in the 21st Century
the Microsoft database
package
2.12
Lotus 1-2-3 version 10
the IBM spreadsheet
Mozilla Thunderbird email
Word Perfect X3
the Corel word processor
Semicolon (for)
Semicolon (against)
(It) is indispensable for healthy reasoning . . .
‘Punctuation is not leftwing or rightwing; it
transcends the political divide . . . For me it is
a symbol of a Republic that reasons
correctly’.
Alain Rey (Editor, Robert Dictionary)
No semicolons. Semicolons indicate
relationships that only idiots need defined by
punctuation. Besides, they are ugly.
(Richard Hugo, The Triggering Town: Lectures
and Essays on Poetry and Writing)
You practically do not use semicolons at all.
This is a symptom of mental defectiveness,
probably induced by camp life. (George
Bernard Shaw to TE Lawrence, on The Seven
Pillars of Wisdom)
(It is) a parasite, a timid, fainthearted, insipid
thing, denoting merely uncertainty, a lack of
audacity, a fuzziness of thought. (François
Cavanna)
They are a close cousin to conjunctions: one
could write ‘Billy kicked Susan and Susan
cried’ or ‘Billy kicked Susan; Susan cried’.
Whereas the conjunction explains the
relationship between these two events, a
semicolon slyly suggests one without
revealing it. It could mean ‘and’, ‘so’, ‘then’ or
even ‘but’. Readers must stop and consider
what relationship is implied. We must slow
down and search for the context. (Marguerite
Sheffer)
If you really want to hurt your parents, and
you don’t have the nerve to be a homosexual,
the least you can do is go into the arts. But do
not use semicolons. They are transvestite
hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely
nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to
college. (Kurt Vonnegut)
. . . it can stop a sentence from touching the
ground, from grinding to a halt; keeps it
suspended, awake. It is a most upmarket
punctuation mark. (Michel Volkovitch)
I had decided about this time that the
semicolon is an unnecessary stop and that I
would write my next book without one.
(George Orwell)
Sources: Henley (2008); Bremner (2008); Sheffer (2006).
Colon: used to introduce
information that amplifies,
exemplifies or summarises
what precedes it
The colon
The colon is used primarily to link a clause to a word, phrase or another clause that amplifies,
exemplifies or summarises it.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
But do we really need the semicolon? In April 2008, controversy erupted in France about
the perceived decline of the point-virgule or semicolon (Henley 2008). Some French writers,
such as Claude Duneton, seemed to believe that English was having a negative effect on
French, and as English sentences were perceived to be shorter, there was less opportunity to
use the semicolon: ‘To make long sentences, you need a nice fountain pen and a good piece
of paper. Short sentences come from the more direct, ‘Anglo-Saxon’ style that reflects the
modern age and the need for speed’ (Claude Duneton, in Bremner 2008). You might not think
that a punctuation mark would evoke passionate responses, and would have enemies and
friends, but it is so. Here are some of their views.
2.13
This system has even greater capacity: it can hold 2000 gigabytes of data.
We have only one aim this year: to beat the competition hands down.
My fantastic success can be explained by one personal quality: humility.
Some American writers use a capital letter after a colon, but this convention is rarely used
elsewhere (an initial capital is of course appropriate if that word is a proper noun).
The colon is also used to introduce a list or series:
Production levels, in the final analysis, will depend upon three factors:
• good weather,
• low equipment downtime, and
• harmonious industrial relations.
The colon can also be used to introduce a quotation:
One expert sums it up thus: ‘The greenhouse effect could be substantially slowed if people
simply walked, used bicycles, or drove electric cars’.
Other uses of the colon include:
After salutations
Dear Mary:
In memos
To: You
From: Me
Re/Subject: The Meaning of Life
Date: 4th June, 2005
To separate hours, minutes, seconds
10:32:16
In Bible citations
Psalms 23:6
To separate book titles and subtitles in
reference lists
Curzan, Anne & Adams, Michael 2009. How
English words: A linguistic introduction,
Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson/Longman.
Communicating in the 21st Century
If a sentence finishes in a noun or noun phrase the material after the colon will be in
apposition (providing a further explanation) (see online chapter 1).
Don’t place a colon between a verb and its complement, a verb and its object, or a
preposition and its object, or after including or comprising:
2.14
No
Yes
The two months of the year named after
Roman emperors are: July and August.
The two months of the year named after
Roman emperors are July and August.
We will be listening to various jazz-oriented
keyboard players, including: Diana Krall,
Keith Jarrett, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock
and Jamie Cullum.
We will be listening to various jazz-oriented
keyboard players, including Diana Krall, Keith
Jarrett, Joe Zawinul, Herbie Hancock and
Jamie Cullum.
The apostrophe
The apostrophe has two main uses:
• to show possession or ownership in nouns and indefinite pronouns
• to show that one or more letters have been omitted from a word.
In the previous chapter, we considered the possessive case of personal pronouns (online
chapter 1).
With singular nouns, the apostrophe plus an s is placed at the end to indicate possession.
With plural nouns, only an apostrophe is placed at the end to indicate possession. If a plural
noun does not need an s suffix to form a plural — for example, children, sheep, women — the
plural noun behaves like a singular, taking an apostrophe before the s. Indefinite pronouns
include anybody, anyone, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, one, some
and somebody. These behave like singulars, even if plural reference is obvious:
Before the s
After the s
Singular nouns
Special plural nouns
Indefinite pronouns
Plural nouns
• The bird’s cry
• The report’s
conclusions
• Iraq’s oil
production
• Destiny’s child
• Children’s laughter
• Men’s hats
• Sheep’s fleeces
• Everybody’s
responsibility
• Anyone’s guess
• The birds’ cries
• The reports’
conclusions
• Both countries’ oil
production
• The boys’ toys
The rules set out in table 2.9 should also be considered.
Table 2.9: More apostrophe rules
Rule
Example
When singular nouns end in s, add ’s to
indicate possession.
The glass’s contents
Santa Claus’s beard
Barry Thomas’s anger
When plural nouns end in s, add only the
apostrophe to indicate possession.
The glasses’ contents
The Santa Clauses’ beards
The Thomases’ anger
In compound words or word groups, add the ’s
only to the last word.
Her sister-in-law’s phone number
The plant manager’s schedule
The deputy assistant director’s mail
When two or more words show joint or
combined possession, add ’s or an apostrophe
only to the last word
Laurel and Hardy’s films
Linda and Michael’s wedding
Marks & Spencer’s sale
When two or more words show individual or
separate possession, add ’s or an apostrophe to
each of them.
Laurel’s and Hardy’s differing styles
Personnel’s and Marketing’s parking slots
Barry’s and Melinda’s individual results
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Apostrophe: a unit of
punctuation used to show
omission and words in
possessive or genitive case
2.15
Apostrophes can be used to show that letters, numbers or words have been omitted (see
table 2.10).
Table 2.10: Apostrophes and contractions
Shortened form
Original form
Shortened form
Original form
can’t
cannot
shan’t
shall not
we’ve
we have
we’ll
we will/shall
who’s
who is/has
they’re
they are
you’re
you are
doesn’t
does not
I’m
I am
let’s
let us
won’t
will not
aren’t
are not
surfin’ (non-standard)
surfing
talkin’ (non-standard)
talking
o’clock
of the clock
’95
1995 (but context may
suggest another
century: e.g. 1895)
Communicating in the 21st Century
Apostrophes are not used to form plurals of nouns:
2.16
No
Yes
Vegetable’s for sale
Vegetables for sale
The computers’ need an upgrade.
The computers need an upgrade.
There are some rare exceptions to this rule (e.g. p’s and q’s). If in doubt, consult a style
guide.
Apostrophes are also not needed in verbs:
No
Yes
• He walk’s
• He walks
• It barks’ all night
• It barks all night
Apostrophes should not be used to show possession in personal pronouns. Pronouns such
as his, hers, its, ours, yours and theirs are already in the possessive case (see online
chapter 1), and do not require an apostrophe to show possession:
No
Yes
• What’s our’s is yours’
• What’s ours is yours
• It’s bark is annoying
• Its bark is annoying
It’s/its causes much confusion. Remember that the apostrophe in it’s shows omission, not
possession. If you are in doubt, expand any its/it’s to it is. If this expansion makes sense,
then the it’s in question is actually it is; if it doesn’t make sense, then the its is a possessive:
Sentence
Expansion
Analysis
The dog is here on the
verandah. It’s wagging its tail.
• It is wagging
• Makes sense — therefore it’s is punctuated correctly.
• It is tail
• Makes no sense — therefore its is punctuated correctly.
The dog is here on the
verandah. Its wagging it’s tail.
• Its wagging
• Makes no sense as a possessive pronoun before a gerund
form of wagging; therefore, its is punctuated incorrectly.
• It is tail
• Makes no sense; therefore it’s is punctuated incorrectly.
The apostrophe: a doomed punctuation mark?
ASSESS YOURSELF
Punctuate the following sentences correctly using semicolons, colons and apostrophes.
(a) Make sure you invite Joe Bolling, the area manager, Julia Soames, the personnel director, the
chief financial officer, and Roland Tau, our negotiation consultant. (Punctuate to show that four
people are being invited.)
(b) The A team will use its translation skills to decipher the Internet site text similarly the B team
will use its translation skills to make sense of the documents which have been held in the vault
for ten years.
(c) We all need to remember that old saying; don’t wish too hard, or you might end up getting your
wish.
(d) The project will test the abilities of our top team, comprising; Louis, from IT, Mai from
merchandising, and Wally from production.
(e) The four daughter’s stockings were getting drenched hanging on the line.
(f) Its in everyones’ best interests that we talk to the police sooner rather than later.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
The apostrophe causes much confusion, and for most of the history of the English language
writers managed to do quite well without it. It was introduced in the sixteenth century only
to indicate omission. The possessive use came in later centuries, often surrounded with as
much confusion as there is today. Some language reformers have suggested getting rid of it
altogether or at least getting rid of it to indicate possession (Burridge 2004). Other stylists,
however, find it indispensable. What do you think?
2.17
(g) We need to consider both Sales and Purchasing’s points of view on this one.
(h) Whose you’re malicious’ little friend?
(i) I find it quite hard mastering the intricacie’s of apostrophes’.
(j) When alls said and done, whats’ mine’ is yours’ and whats your’s is mine.
Capitalisation
Capital letters are upper-case letters (e.g. A, B, C), as opposed to lower-case letters (e.g. a, b,
c). An initial capital letter is used for the first word in a sentence:
Please walk down the street.
Walk down the street!
Will you walk down the street?
Capitalisation: upper-case
letters used to begin the
first word in a sentence,
words of special
significance and/or proper
nouns or adjectives
Capitalisation can be considered to be an aspect of punctuation or an aspect of spelling.
Capitals are also used for complete quotations, where a sentence leads into a quote:
The writer then said, ‘There is a case to be made for the abolition of the apostrophe’.
However, note this construction:
‘There is a case to be made,’ the writer said, ‘for the abolition of the apostrophe.’
Here, a capital begins the sentence, and begins the quotation, but is not used for the second
part of the quotation because it is not the beginning of the sentence being quoted.
Note also this:
The writer noted that there is a case to be made for ‘the abolition of the apostrophe’.
The quotation is not a complete sentence, and therefore does not need a capital letter.
Capitals, proper nouns and adjectives
Communicating in the 21st Century
Initial capital letters are used for proper nouns and adjectives. Proper nouns are those that
identify people by name or by title, divine/sacred entities, geographical places, religions, days,
months, festivals, organisations, common nouns when personified and given unique reference, publications, languages, nationalities and proprietary/brand objects. Proper adjectives
are those adjectives formed from proper nouns.
2.18
Proper nouns
Proper adjectives
China
Chinese
Islam
Islamic
Aborigine
Aboriginal
Rubens
Rubenesque
Notice that some proper nouns become common nouns or adjectives when a general, rather
than a specific, meaning is intended:
The excavation and rewiring taking place in the Department of Environment building have
made it a distinctly noisy and dusty environment.
Over time, some proper nouns become common nouns/adjectives or eponyms (objects, ideas
or groups that have taken on the name of a person) (e.g. cardigan, sandwich, boycott,
spoonerism, bunsen burner, sadistic, chauvinist). As such, they begin with lower-case letters.
Similarly, some commercial product names or trademarks have, in different parts of the
world, become virtually generic terms. These include:
Original proprietary name
Use as generic term for
Lower-case usage
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Spam
Scotch tape
Rollerblade
Band Aid
canned meat
adhesive tape
in-line skates
an adhesive dressing
spam
scotch tape
rollerblades
bandaid
Be wary of overusing capitals. A writer can very quickly give the impression that he or she
is trying too hard to impress.
Capitalisation protocols have varied enormously over the centuries, and from place to place.
German uses capitals for virtually all nouns, and if you hunt around in libraries or on the net
to try to find examples of very early modern English, especially the seventeenth and eighteenth century, many nouns were capitalised also — so much so, that the effect can be quite
jarring for the modern reader. Romance (i.e. Roman or Latin-derived) languages, such as
French, Spanish and Italian, make much less use of capitals.
Concerns have recently been raised that communication practices on electronic hardware
and software (such as computers, instant messaging, text messaging, email, MySpace, Facebook and so on) are undermining modern traditions of capitalisation — indeed, to the extent
that its demise has been predicted (Lewin 2008). A 2008 study of American students and their
parents, however, was less pessimistic, with most students believing that texting was not
‘writing’ in the conventional sense — it was, in effect, a dialect or sub-language or register,
and they would naturally switch back to established conventions rather than texting shorthand or smiley faces if they want good grades or marks (Lenhart et al. 2008).
In other words, the functional value of doing away with capitals to begin sentences and to
denote proper nouns (shorthand or speeding things up, a playful sense of language, and
throughout history, the attraction of slang, jargon or sub-languages to denote membership of
an in-group) were not proving fatal to formal conventions of spelling, and punctuation for
that matter.
You would, for example, be most unwise to use ‘net lingo’ in a resume or job application
letter. There is no great problem here: style or register in new forms of communication can be
fun and reinforcing one’s sense of identity, and in a sense makes you more ‘multilingual’ —
able to effortlessly shift between language communities, demonstrating your versatility, and
perhaps even gain insights into the behavioural dynamics of those communities — in the
same way a business executive might use highly formal diction at a meeting, slang in a pub
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Capital offences?
2.19
Code switching: the
practice of switching
between languages,
dialects or slang within the
one language to explore
and/or reinforce group
solidarity in different
communities or groups
or bar, and abbreviations, slang and diminutives at home. Such code switching can help your
communication repertoire.
The value of the initial capital however remains: mediaeval manuscripts had no capitals
and simply ran sentences together, all in lower case. The introduction of the initial capital
reduced the cognitive load on the reader trying to work out where one thought ended and
another began, and that virtue persists today. Also note that some writers will use capitals in
quasi-facetious sense to cue us, as readers, to suggest a rhetorical tactic of emphasis of
another writer of speaker:
The candidate, rather tiresomely, retreated to clichés about Working Families and the
threat of The Terrorist Next Door to appeal to, and frighten, his audience.
Parentheses and brackets
Parentheses: a unit of
punctuation used to
separate the main material
of a sentence from
explanations, digressions,
examples, references or
abbreviations
Brackets: a unit of
punctuation used to
perform the same functions
as parentheses. Commonly
used to enclose
parentheses within
parentheses, to show
changes and comments
within quotations, and to
show quoted material from
different aspects
Parentheses, brackets and dashes are all punctuation marks that allow a writer to add extra
information, usually subsidiary to the main thrust of the sentence.
Note that British and American usage vary here: what Americans call parentheses, the
British call brackets, and what Americans call brackets, the British call square brackets.
Australian usage tends to follow either British or American usage, as tradition and logic
dictates. American usage is followed here.
Commas can also be used to convey additional information. For example:
She performed, unlike the others, extremely well in the test.
Punctuation marks setting off additional information — commas, parentheses, brackets
and dashes — occur in pairs. Dashes can appear in pairs as in the previous sentence, or
singly. Just to complicate matters, such additional information is usually referred to as
parenthetical material (even though punctuation apart from parentheses, or curved brackets,
may be used).
When reading aloud sentences that contain material set apart with commas, parentheses,
brackets or dashes, a convention is to lower the pitch of the voice for the duration of the
material set apart:
↓
She performed unlike the others extremely well in the test.
Communicating in the 21st Century
When you use abbreviations and acronyms, consider providing an explanation or expansion in parentheses the first time they are mentioned, and then the abbreviated form can be
used thereafter:
2.20
• His research was concerned with understanding the similarities between tsunamis
(large waves caused by underwater earthquakes) and maelstroms (very large
whirlpools).
• Infinitives are discussed elsewhere in this book (see online chapter 1).
• The beach was bathed in bright moonlight (a sight that reminded me of another beach,
in another place, at another time).
• Further research, this time funded by the WHO (World Health Organization),
produced findings that were quite different. The WHO researchers based in Tokyo,
for example . . .
Place the main sentence punctuation outside parentheses:
No
Yes
She sat down at the machine, (A Compaq
Xeon D) and proceeded to show us just how
fast she could type. (120 words per minute)
She sat down at the machine (a Compaq
Xeon D), and proceeded to show us just how
fast she could type (120 words per minute).
Parentheses can also be used with numbers and letters in lists or series:
To travel safely in that area, you are by law required to have (1) a four-wheel-drive vehicle,
(2) a winch fitted to the vehicle and (3) a two-way radio.
We were confused and upset, and didn’t know whether we should (a) stay where we were,
(b) walk along the highway or (c) try and make our way back over the hills.
Parentheses in lists can be double or single (right-handed):
(a) (B) (iii) (2.4) (§4.22)
a) B) iii) 2.4) §4.22)
Use either according to taste, but be consistent.
Brackets (or square brackets) can be used for parentheses within parentheses:
For further information, consult an authoritative source (e.g. Chambers, Mark L.
[2008] MacBook for Dummies [New York: John Wiley & Sons]).
Brackets can also be used within quotations to show changes and comments. Consider, for
example, an original passage from which you want to quote:
Brackets can be used to show quoted material from different aspects:
With capital letters adjusted
to fit the sentence in which
you quote it
‘[T]he best place for the Human Resources Department will
be on the twelfth floor’ is the only recommendation I would
take issue with in this report.
With explanations and
expansions
The good news in this report for our department is that
‘[the Human Resources Department] will be closer to
Central Administration, and they will be best placed to begin
using the new mainframe virtually on the day it is installed
[July 23, 2010]’.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Given the changes proposed, the best place for the Human Resources Department will be on the
twelfth floor. They will be closer to Central Administration, and they will be best placed to begin
using the new mainframe virtually on the day it is installed. We believe that all these changes can
be put in place by January 1910.
2.21
With mistakes not edited out
of the original
The report concludes, ‘We believe that these changes can be
in place by January1910 [sic].’
Sic is the Latin word for ‘thus’ or ‘so’ and is used when a
writer needs to quote the original passage without tampering
with it, even though the original has a mistake in it. It is
usually italicised.
Note: Parentheses and brackets come in pairs. Always proofread your work to check that
you have matched an opening parenthesis or bracket with a closing one.
No: Dogs from the terriers group (such as the Jack Russell and the West Highland White —
although small in size, might not be as suitable as those from the toy group — including
breeds such as the silky terrier or the pug if you live in an apartment or flat.
Perhaps: Dogs from the terriers group — such as the Jack Russell and the West Highland
White — although small in size, might not be as suitable as those from the toy group —
including breeds such as the silky terrier or the pug — if you live in an apartment or flat.
Yes: Dogs from the terriers group (such as the Jack Russell and the West Highland White),
although small in size, might not be as suitable as those from the toy group — including
breeds such as the silky terrier or the pug — if you live in an apartment or flat.
Notice how the use of parentheses ‘seals off’ an interpolated remark in such a way that it is
easier on the eye, and less confusing, to place a comma after a closing parenthesis than after
a dash.
Communicating in the 21st Century
ASSESS YOURSELF
2.22
Correct the capitalisation and place parentheses, commas and brackets where necessary in the
following.
(a) a Number of the christian churches have been Undergoing Some Turbulent times, what with
Issues like Women’s Ordination, Declining Congregations and Sexual Misbehaviour Bedevilling
a Shell-Shocked Leadership.
(b) She jumped up and shouted, ‘you are talking nothing but nonsense, and-’ she staggered, caught
her breath, and continued,’ You will all pay for this at the Shareholders’ meeting.’
(c) ‘You are little better than a female Chauvinist,’ he hissed, ‘and a Sadistic one at that!’
(d) It seems to me that this model, in stark contrast to, the others is clearly superior.
(e) Surely by now it is obvious that Apple computers (although clearly superior technically to
Windows machines are never going to capture more than 30 per cent of the market.
(f) The main reference I have drawn upon for this paper is Henriksson, Anders (2001 Non Campus
Mentis: World History According to College Students [New York: Workman Press).
(g) I believe that the only way to go about this is to look at (a) the depreciation costs, b) the real
currency costs (taking into account deflation and exchange rates [American to Singaporean}
and [c) GST (goods and services tax (factors).
(h) It’s funny how what some now believe to be a generic concept, such as Kleenex (or tissue), in
fact once was simply a proprietary ( [brand] ) name [ i.e., kleenex] ).
(i) ‘)every right-thinking person’ is a phrase used continually throughout the pamphlet, which leads
me to believe that it is little but propaganda.
(j) When you talk of using ‘peters’ usage Book,’ you really need to specify whether you are
referring to her Australian Book (Peters, Pam [1995 The Cambridge Australian English Style
Guide [Melbourne: Cambridge University Press)] or her International Book Peters, Pam (2004[
The Cambridge Guide to English Usage Cambridge: Cambridge University [press])).
The dash
Dash: a unit of punctuation
used to show abrupt
changes in tone or thought,
hesitation or suspense, to
emphasise appositives or
modifiers, and to follow an
introductory series and fi
series and explanation
The dash allows for a stronger pause than the comma, and can be used to achieve a number
of purposes:
To show abrupt changes in tone
or thought
• He submitted his report — if we can dignify it with such
a term — three weeks late.
• They chose me — why does it always have to be me?
— to do the presentation to the board of directors.
To show hesitation or suspense
• ‘I don’t know whether I should tell you about —’ she
said, turning aside.
• The final outcome was — disaster.
To emphasise appositives or
modifiers
• The focus of their deliberations — whether such a large
budget item should be approved or not — was being lost.
• The paint that they had chosen— mixed especially for
them — was ghastly.
To follow an introductory series
and final series and explanation
(single dash)
• Famine, disease, war — all of these had hit the small
country in the past three years.
• The small country had had numerous afflictions in the
past three years — famine, disease, war.
• Of the afflictions they had suffered in the past few years,
the villagers feared one above all — the bloody civil war
that would rip their country apart again.
The hyphen
The hyphen, like capitalisation, can be considered as being part of punctuation or part of spelling.
Hyphens are used when words are divided between lines, usually because there is not
enough room in the line to give the word in its unbroken form. For example:
It is important when breaking a word between lines to ensure that hyphenation does not cause confusion.
Many hyphenation problems are solved by using word processors, which tend to break words
cleanly between lines. With or without word processing technology, however, ensure that the
hyphen falls between naturally occurring syllables, and ensure that there are two or more letters
of the word at the end of a line and three or more letters at the beginning of a line:
No
Yes
• hyp-henation
• hyphenati-on
• h-yphenation
hyphen-ation
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Hyphen: a unit of
punctuation used to link
parts of a compound word
or syllables of a word.
2.23
Avoid hyphenating single-syllable words. If necessary, replace the single-syllable word
with a synonym, or else change the justification of the line in which the word appears (see
chapter 2, ‘Document design and graphic communication’).
Hyphens can cause and can be used to prevent confusion:
Confusion caused by
Examples
Ambiguous end-of-line hyphenation
•
•
•
•
tee-thing
fat-her
he-art
dog-ma
Hyphens can be useful in reducing ambiguity, particularly with prefixes that end in the
same consonant or vowel as the word that follows it.
Confusion reduced by
Before hyphen
After hyphen
Adding hyphen to clarify
meaning
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
coopt
shelllike
prooutsourcing
antiinflationary
reeducate
co-opt
shell-like
pro-outsourcing
anti-inflationary
re-educate
Prefixes such as self-, all- and quasi- usually take hyphens:
self-control
all-inclusive
quasi-governmental
Communicating in the 21st Century
Hyphens are also used in some compound adjectives. A compound adjective is formed when
two or more words are placed before a noun and modify that noun. When such compound
adjectives occur after a noun, rather than before it, a hyphen is not used:
2.24
Compound adjectives before nouns
Compound adjectives after noun or pronoun
He was the author of a little-known novel.
He read the ten-page document.
Her off-the-record comments were revealing.
The novel is little known around here.
The document was ten pages long.
I will speak to you, but only off the record.
Note that compound modifiers containing an adverb with an -ly ending do not usually take
a hyphen:
• upwardly mobile couple
• dangerously aggressive approach.
A suspended hyphen is used in parallel compound adjectives:
The figures showed a clear contrast between
pre- and post-war inflation rates.
The first- and second-quarter figures were
not impressive.
Hyphens are also used with numbers, such as:
• fractions (three-quarters)
• double-digit numbers (sixty-six)
• number-word combinations (20-to-1 odds, 70-minute recording).
ASSESS YOURSELF
Quotation marks
Quotation marks: a unit of
punctuation consisting of
superscript marks, either
single or double, that occur
in pairs. Used to show
material that is quoted
verbatim from a person or
or unusual meanings
Quotation marks (or inverted commas) are used to show direct quotation — that is, when we are
faithfully reporting the direct speech or writing of others. We use indirect quotation when we
recount the words of a person (but not necessarily word for word). This process does not
require quotation marks:
Direct quotation
Indirect quotation
‘I’m just not getting the productivity out of
these machines that I expected,’ Maria
observed.
Maria said that she was just not getting the
productivity out of those machines that she
expected.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Correct any errors you find in the following using dashes and hyphens.
(a) We endured the presentation: believe me, ‘endured’ is the appropriate word; for all ninety-five
teeth-grinding minutes.
(b) Once we have put in all this preliminary work, then I feel sure that we will eventually gaze upon
that which motivates all of us success.
(c) We will need to relay those cables as the circuit re-lays now appear to be faulty. Can you
confirm this in a memo and relay the new schedule by email to the cable gang supervisors?
(d) I will have to reedit the whole thing, probably using one of the checkasyougo software
packages.
(e) As an after dinner-speaker, he was one of the best, but then it all depends on what you consider
to be the best use of your time after-dinner.
(f) The contrast between the before and after-training performance levels was striking.
(g) We have to ensure that, budget constraints or not, we do not allow present circumstances to overwhelm us, with the result that we end up not
having the nerve to see the long term- reengineering program put in place.
(h) The ultra nationalists moved their militias with-the-aid-of nine-semi trailers.
(i) Please send twenty five litre cans to the work site over the next-12 hour-period.
(j) Crass jeering, stereotyping, playing to the lowest common-denominator- all of these - were part
of the antiintellectual crusade of the tabloid-media.
2.25
There are two types of quotation marks: double quotation marks (“ ") and single quotation
marks (‘ ’). Usage varies considerably, but there is no compelling reason to choose one over the
other for basic punctuation. Choose one style, but then use it consistently to avoid confusion.
The two types of marks can be useful for showing quotations within quotations:
Quotation within quotation: style 1
Quotation within quotation: style 2
Mary whispered, “Did you notice that he said ‘some
departments will be exempt from these cutbacks’?”
Mary whispered, ‘Did you notice that he said “some
departments will be exempt from these cutbacks”?’
Quoted material: short and long
By convention, quotation marks are used only for short quotations. But what is short? How
long is a piece of string? Over time, these conventions have developed:
Quoting
• Poetry: one or two lines
• Prose: Less than 30 or 40 words
Quoting
• Poetry: three or more lines
• Prose: More than 30 or 40 words
Incorporate quoted material into sentence, setting off
words with quotation marks
Do not use quotation marks; lead into the quote with a
colon, and indent (and possibly italicise) the text.
Here are some examples of approaches to short and long quotations:
One expert sums it up thus: ‘The greenhouse effect could be substantially slowed if people
simply walked, used bicycles, or drove electric cars.’ (short quotation)
One expert sums it up thus:
The greenhouse effect could be substantially slowed if people simply walked, used
bicycles, or drove electric cars. Electric vehicles powered from fossil-fuel-burning
power plants are not necessarily a solution, of course, but if solar panels are installed
on domestic garage roofs, then solar power can be collected throughout the day and
stored in batteries, to be transferred to cars overnight. (longer quotation)
Quotation marks and other punctuation
Communicating in the 21st Century
When using quotation marks, where do we place other punctuation marks? Conventions vary
throughout the English-speaking world:
2.26
British, Australian usage: punctuation marks
tend to fall outside quotation marks
American usage: punctuation marks tend to
fall inside quotation marks
‘She is just a damned nuisance’, he
whispered harshly.
‘She is just a damned nuisance,’ he
whispered harshly.
‘It’s over there’, he responded.
It’s over there,’ he responded.
Exceptions to this include sentences containing quoted material whose punctuation is
integral to its meaning:
I smell a rat, and when he talks about ‘helping others because it simply feels good to do so’,
I immediately think of the question the cynical Romans would ask in situations like this —
‘Cui Bono?’ (who profits?).
The sergeant yelled ‘Stop!’, but none of us had any intention of stopping.
Scare quotes
Quotation marks can also be used as scare quotes. Scare quotes are used to suggest:
Unusual or slang usage, which the writer is
either drawing attention to or is
uncomfortable with
• You might thus well qualify for ‘special
consideration’ under the wording of the
Act.
• On Friday, everyone around here has a
sneaky little custom known as ‘long lunch’.
Irony or sarcasm
• I doubt whether ‘realistic leather-look
upholstery’ is quite what we are looking
for.
• Watch out he doesn’t give you his ‘special
treatment’.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis marks (three full stops) are used to indicate that matter has been
Ellipsis: a unit of
punctuation consisting of
sentence or larger unit of text. This is done to shorten and/or to emphasise
three full stops used to
word groupings.
show deletion of material in
For example, consider this passage:
a sentence, interruption or
suspense
removed from a
certain words or
Given the changes proposed, the best place for the Human Resources Department will be on the
twelfth floor. They will be closer to Central Administration, and they will be best placed to begin
using the new mainframe virtually on the day it is to be installed. We believe that all these
changes can be put in place by January, 2010. This will prove helpful, as Human Resources need
to improve their performance drastically. Their figures in the past twelve months, even allowing
for the chaos of staff turnover, could not be worse, and things need to get better very quickly if
heads are not to roll.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Be careful about over-using scare quotes. Like sign writers who use quotes around the
most ordinary words and phrases, we can easily devalue the tools we have for emphasis by
emphasising the unremarkable (the same can be said for exclamation marks and capital
letters). This is particularly true if we use scare quotes around terms that have passed into
common usage.
Note that some people use ‘air quotes’; that is, while speaking they gesture with the first
and second fingers of each hand as a body language mimic of scare quotes.
2.27
Using this source as a guide, note the following suggestions about ellipses:
Use ellipsis to indicate deletion of material.
• Look what he says in this paragraph: ‘Their
figures in the past twelve months . . . could
not be worse.’
Use ellipsis to indicate interruption or
suspense (compare the use of the dash —
p. 19).
• He had just got up to reading the bit about
‘Their figures . . . could not be worse . . .’
when the phone went dead.
• I leave it to your imagination about just
whose heads are going to roll . . .
Do not use ellipsis to distort meaning in the
source passage.
• My previous employer in fact stated in a
memo that ‘[My department’s] figures in
the past twelve months, even allowing for
the chaos of staff turnover, could not be . . .
better . . . ’
ASSESS YOURSELF
Communicating in the 21st Century
Correct any errors you find in the following using quotation marks and ellipses.
(a) My boss shouted ‘he expected better things from you and others with your experience.’
(b) She said, ‘Do you want to come and see the new Star ‘Wars’ movie’?
(c) George Bernard Shaw referred to dancing as ‘The vertical expression of a horizontal intent set
to music. and I think that there is a lot of truth in that.
(d) Have you read Albee’s script of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(e) I find young people’s music rather ‘groovy’ and ‘funky’, especially by bands that feature ‘bass’
guitar, don’t you, ‘baby’?
(f) I find it ironic that when para-military groups are successful, history refers to them as freedom
fighters, but when they are unsuccessful history refers to them as terrorists.
(g) Hitting the golf ball, Rick said, ‘Things were going so well, and then suddenly Deirdre bursts into
the boardroom and virtually screams ‘no documents get signed around here without me being a
part of it’ ‘ !
(h) Hamlet shows that he is an incurable optimist, believing that the choices in life are always
between two positive pathways, when he makes his famous ‘To be or . . . to be, that is the
question’ speech.
(i) The main thing I got out of the report was this section here: ‘no staff member, past or present . . .
may make retrospective claims on the superannuation fund.
(j) ‘Go now’! was all he said, so we went.
2.28
Spelling
English spelling can present problems for writers, even for those who are born into Englishspeaking cultures. Other languages, such as Italian or Korean, by comparison are quite phonetic (i.e. most letters are pronounced, and most letters are pronounced in a consistent way).
There are a number of letters in English that are not pronounced or pronounced differently in
certain words. This pattern of irregularity affects only about 25 per cent of English words, but
within that 25 per cent are 400 or so of the most frequently used words (Crystal 2003).
People who have difficulty spelling might draw little comfort from the fact that, had they
lived prior to the eighteenth century, their ‘poor’ spelling might have gone unnoticed. Up
until that time, there was considerable flexibility in the way people spelt words. Shakespeare,
for example, spelt his own name in several different ways, and did not think that this was
remarkable. The invention of dictionaries in the eighteenth century ‘froze’ the language.
Thereafter, a line was drawn between ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ spelling.
So much for history. What about your survival as a speller today?
Spelling errors: where do they come from?
There are other causes of spelling error apart from the irregularities of the language itself:
• Sometimes people misspell because they do not understand the parts of speech or word
classes: for example, they might mistake the verb advise for the noun advice.
• Sometimes people misspell because of mispronunciation. If, over a long period of time,
enough people say goverment instead of government, or enviroment instead of environment,
then the words may eventually be spelled that way.
• Sometimes people misspell because they have made typing errors, or in taking notes by
hand they have been scribbling, and have left out letters or added letters, even though they
are usually quite good spellers. Typing errors that occur when people are using word processing programs on computers can be partly corrected by computerised spellcheckers; but
be warned: spellcheckers are far from perfect, and are not a replacement for the hard grind
of improving your spelling.
• Sometimes, however, people misspell because of vocabulary problems; they simply do not
understand the correct meaning of a word, and have mistaken it for another word. We will
consider a number of these vocabulary problems soon.
In order to avoid making such errors in spelling and/or vocabulary, we need to get a systematic overview of how such errors occur, how we can identify them, and how we can prevent them happening.
Let’s explore the mechanics of some of these problems.
Eggcorns are a type of language error, usually based upon a mishearing of the original word
or words (Liberman & Pullum 2006; ‘Eggcorns’ 2006), sometimes leading to unintentionally
hilarious effects, but which still make sense at some level.
Eggcorn
Original meaning
Lame man’s terms
Layman’s terms
Kill over and die
Keel over and die
Cutting off your nose despite your face
Cutting off your nose to spite your face
In high dungeon
In high dudgeon
With flying collars
With flying colours
To name a view
To name a few
(continued )
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Eggcorns, mondegreens, malapropisms, homonyms,
contranyms and the other usual suspects: beware!
2.29
Giga counter
Geiger counter
In times of trial, we must rest on the pillows
of our faith.
In times of trial, we must rest on the pillars of
our faith.
Sources: ‘Eggcorns’ (2006); Liberman and Pullum (2006); The Eggcorn Database (2005).
Eggcorn:
error, usually based upon a
mishearing of the original
word or words sometimes
leading to unintentionally
hilarious effects, but which
still make sense at some
level
Mondegreen: a word or
word group based upon a
mishearing of texts such as
poetry or music
Communicating in the 21st Century
Malapropism: a type of
language error where
words are comically
mispronounced and/or
ideas are confused
2.30
Eggcorns are close relatives of mondegreens and malapropisms. A mondegreen is a word or
word group based upon a mishearing of texts such as poetry or music, so that the Scottish
ballad The Bonnie Earl O’Murray’s final lines ‘They hae slain the Earl Amurray/and laid him
on the green’ was misheard as ‘Lady Mondegreen’ (Wines 2007; Wright 1954).
A malapropism is named after a character — Mrs Malaprop — from the 1775 play The
Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, where words are comically mispronounced. Thus Mrs
Malaprop announces at one point:
If I reprehend [i.e. apprehend] any thing in this world, it is the use of my oracular [i.e.
vernacular] tongue, and a nice derangement [i.e. arrangement] of epitaphs! [i.e. epithets].
Act 3, Scene 3.
Other malapropisms are also used to humorous effect in modern television programs,
usually to show — as with the original character — that the person uttering the lines is not
terribly bright, and thus is an object of ridicule for us, the audience:
Television program
Malapropism
Original meaning
Kath and Kim
‘I want to be effluent mum!’,
‘You are effluent Kimi . . .’
Affluent
The Sopranos
‘Revenge is like serving cold
cuts’ . . .
Revenge is a dish best served
cold — proverb
‘prostate with grief’
Prostrate
‘Quasimodo predicted this’
Nostradamus
‘Create a little dysentery
among the ranks.’
Dissent
Don’t let your audience — your reader, or for that matter, your listener — draw similar conclusions. As with spelling (and the two categories overlap), don’t let your vocabulary let you down
by leading you into usage traps. Use print and online dictionaries and thesauri to check your
meanings, and you will garner respect, admiration, and perhaps even promotion. Perfect
spelling, vocabulary, usage, grammar, punctuation and style do not necessarily correlate perfectly with intelligence and competence, but most people infer that they do. Perception is reality.
Beware also of other word groups and phrase groups that can cause you spelling and
vocabulary problems. These words exemplify differences in spelling, pronunciation and
meaning. Also be aware that there is some confusion, or at least disagreement, as to what to
actually call the different types of word groups and phrase groups that can lead to error.
In other words, just to make your spelling and vocabulary problems even more annoying,
even the experts — the dictionary writers — cannot always agree on how to classify the error
patterns behind the word/phrase groups, and classification is the first step to understanding.
And so we have not just confusion, but confusion about confusion.
But don’t be deterred: such confusion, at however many levels, reveals so much about the
way English works (and doesn’t work), and may stimulate you to think about why one word
or the spelling of one word is correct, and why another is not.
Homonyms, for example, are words that have the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. While they are of interest to us, particularly in terms of
parts of speech or word class tables or matrices (see online chapter 1), they do not cause too
many problems for writers and speakers, primarily because the syntax of sentences will probably prevent confusion. Thus, to ‘effect an effect’ or ‘affect the affect’ may sound strange, but
they do have meaning. Problems usually arise when different words in the same category
become confusables.
Homophones are words that have different spellings and meanings but the same pronunciation. A spellchecker will not save you if you confuse homophones, as the checker simply
checks to see if the word exists, and then will approve it — even if is the wrong word in
context. The only way to beat the homophone trap is to read widely, and to learn the
differences.
In the 2 × 2 array or matrix of table 2.11, we have just considered three categories of definitions that exist in dictionaries. And, while dictionaries do not always agree on precise
Table 2.11: Analysis of
problematic words and
phrases
Same pronunciation
Same spelling
Different spelling
Effect (verb, noun)
Affect (verb, noun)
Stern (adjective, noun)
Quail (verb, noun)
Fair (noun, adjective)
Water (noun, verb)
Slap (noun, verb)
Out (adverb, adjective, interjection,
noun, preposition, verb)
Altar/alter
Site/cite/sight
Bow/bough
Assent/ascent
To/two/too
Awe/oar/or/ore
Right/rite/write/wright
Vein/vane/vain
Homophones
Different
pronunciation
Tear (drop, rip)
Bow (tie, ribbon, weapon/bend
knee, body, incline head)
Desert (verb, noun)
Permit (allow, pass/licence)
Wind (verb, noun)
Bass (fish, voice/instrument)
Convict (verb, noun)
Eggcorns
Mondegreens
Malapropisms
Confusables
Howlers
Bloopers
Parapraxes
Heteromorphs
Heteronyms
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Homonyms
2.31
Homonym: words that have
the same spelling and the
same pronunciation but
have different meanings
Homophone: words that
have different spellings and
meanings but the same
pronunciation
Heteronym: words which
have the same spelling, but
have different
pronunciations and
meanings
Heteromorph: words and
phrases that have different
spelling and/or different
pronunciation, but which
in some manner
Confusables: words and
phrases that writers and
speakers get wrong
Howlers: examples of
writers and speakers
having a very poor grasp of
the material (fact,
vocabulary, terminology,
and spelling) that they are
meant to be demonstrating
mastery of (British usage)
Bloopers: examples of
writers and speakers
having a very poor grasp of
the material (fact,
vocabulary, terminology,
and spelling) that they are
meant to be demonstrating
mastery of (US usage)
Communicating in the 21st Century
Parapraxes: speech and/or
actions which reveal
unconscious thoughts,
which are often sexual in
nature
2.32
meanings (consult them on homograph, heterophone, polyseme, paronym and capitograph,
for example), the spelling and pronunciation dichotomy helps us to analyse differences.
Now consider the fourth quadrant in table 2.11 of different spelling/different pronunciation? Strictly speaking, such a category could apply to any two dissimilar words in the
language, and would be so large as to be meaningless. It is only by meaning that we could
group such problematic words and phrases, and it is usually not meaning but misunderstood
meaning that makes the different spelling/different pronunciation quadrant worthy of
investigation.
Unfortunately, there is no term to clearly classify this concept of misunderstood meaning, as
in the case of the conventionally defined terms of homonym, homophone and heteronym. So, I
will borrow one from a different field of study — heteromorph. This ‘new’ term encompasses a
number of word mistakes — eggcorns, mondegreens, malapropisms, confusables, howlers,
bloopers, and parapraxes. Whether the category makes sense remains to be seen, but at least it
contains patterns and examples that are useful, and give us models of what not to write or say.
We already know about eggcorns, mondegreens and malapropisms, but what of confusables, howlers, bloopers, and parapraxes?
Confusables (sometimes spelled, perhaps as some type of self-referential joke, confusibles)
are words and phrases that writers and speakers get wrong (Urdang 1988; Room 2000; Glatzer
2004; Dowling 2006).
Room (2000) finds that certain words are confused because of particular similarities, such
as:
• shared elements (syllables, stress patterns) — militate/mitigate
• transposable or exchangeable elements — calvary/cavalry, accept/except
• words mistaken for phrases and vice versa — all ready/already
• semantic proximity — baroque/rococo, nadir/zenith, acid/alkali
• uncertainty arising from different uses in different varieties of English — biscuit (British
usage), cookie (American usage).
Howlers and bloopers are, in fact, an example of different varieties of English describing
the same thing — in this case, usually blunders in student essays or exams and in the media.
‘Howlers’ tend to be of the British usage provenance (also sometimes known as ‘clangers’),
while ‘bloopers’ tend to be American usage. Howlers/clangers and bloopers are examples of
writers and speakers demonstrating a very poor grasp of the material (fact, vocabulary, terminology, and spelling). The howling involved is usually that of the intense anguished
laughter of lecturers, tutors, teachers and instructors marking documents that students have
submitted. The same students might be howling, but not with laughter, when they see what
the consequences are for their marks or grades.
Here are some examples:
Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.
People performed morality plays, about ghosts, goblins, and other mythical creatures.
In midevil times most of the people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the time was
Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verses and also wrote literature. Another tale tells of
William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son’s head.
The Renaissance was an age in which more individuals felt the value of their human being.
Martin Luther was nailed to the church door at Wittenberg for selling papal indulgences.
He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a bull.
It was the sculptor Donatello’s interest in the female nude that made him the father of the
Renaissance. It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented the
Bible and removable type. Sir Walter Raleigh discovered cigarettes and started smoking.
And Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.
(Lederer 1997; Lederer 1996)
The early Britons made their houses of mud, and there was rough mating on the floor.
This packet of ready-made pastry will make enough for four persons or twelve tarts.
(King 2005)
Rome was overthrown by invasions of the Huns, Visigoths and Osteopaths.
Solomon had 300 wives and 700 cucumbers.
Coal is decayed vegetarians.
As he walked through the room he heard the sound of heavy breeding.
(McGreevy 2007)
Parapraxes are also known as Freudian slips or slips of the tongue (Jamison 2007; Erard
2007; Reason 2000; Larocque 2000; Harley 2006). They are named after the Austrian psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who coined the term. Freud argued that sometimes
our speech and/or actions reveal unconscious thoughts, which are often sexual in nature
(Jamison compares the phenomenon to that of non-verbal or body language ‘leakage’ or lack
of congruence: see chapter 8, ‘Non-verbal communication’, p. 261, and chapter 9, ‘Interpersonal communication 1’, pp. 291–5). Example of parapraxes:
‘I declare this Department of Cynical — er, I mean Clinical — Psychology open’
(British politician opening a department of clinical psychology).
Contranym: a word that can
have two diametrically
opposed meanings
Table 2.12: Contranyms
or autoantonyms
Jamison (2007) argues that slips of the tongue by US President George W Bush and his
colleagues revealed foreign policy intentions that were different from those publicly stated.
Numerous sites on the internet give examples of ‘Freudian typos’, or typing errors that have
sexual overtones. Reason (2000) suggests that there are often more commonplace cognitive
processing reasons explaining why people do and say the things they do, but concedes that
the concept is an interesting one.
We will shortly consider a list of vocabulary and usage problem words and phrases, but, as
a final warning about the ambiguity or treacherousness of English, let’s briefly consider the
contranym or autoantonym. A contranym is a word that can be its own antonym, or in other
words can have two diametrically opposed meanings, depending on the context. The different
meanings sometimes arise because, at some stage in the past, the words were actually
different spelling or pronunciation, and meaning different things. Over time, the spellings
and/or pronunciations changed. These are all useful words, but make sure that if you put one
in a sentence that the syntax and phrasing make it clear that only meaning is being used.
Contranym
Different meanings
Oversight
close supervision
ignoring something important
Moot
something not worth arguing about
an arguable point
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
‘A Freudian slip is like saying one thing, but meaning your mother’ (pun).
2.33
Table 2.12 (continued)
Contranym
Different meanings
Sanction
endorse, approve
disapprove, punish
Inflammable
liable to catch fire
not liable to catch fire
Citation
an honour, award or commendation
a summons to appear in court; written notice of traffic violation
Table
to put forward for discussion (british usage)
to postpone discussion on (american usage)
Scan
to read carefully
to skim over
Cleave
to separate (cleaver, cleavage, cleft palate)
to bring together (cleave to my principles/wife/the past)
ASSESS YOURSELF
Communicating in the 21st Century
1. Use print and internet resources to compile lists of homonyms, homophones, heteronyms and
the various possible types of heteromorphs.
2. Create sentences that use at least two types of the one category, taking care to ensure that no
ambiguity or misunderstanding is caused.
3. Create sentences that use at least two types of the one category, and then ensure that there is,
in fact, ambiguity or misunderstanding. Briefly speculate on how these errors could be avoided.
4. Using print and internet sources, find at least four other contranyms.
5. After finding your contranyms, place the them in pairs and in sentences that clearly show their
distinct meanings.
2.34
Spelling: the rules
Let’s now consider some basic rules that can help you predict English spelling.
Suffixes
Suffixes are word endings. They are important when words change form: for example, when
the adjective loud changes to the adverb loudly, or when the noun noise changes to the
adjective noisy or the adverb noisily.
Final e
Drop the e if adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:
move + able = movable
force + ible = forcible
impede + ance = impedance
love + ing = loving
Retain the e if adding a suffix beginning with a consonant:
reinforce + ment = reinforcement
passionate + ly = passionately
care + ful = careful
shape + less = shapeless
The final e is kept in some cases to prevent ambiguity and mispronunciation. For example,
when someone is close to death, they are dying. When someone is changing the colour of
fabrics with dyes, they are dyeing. Retaining the e thus prevents confusion of the two meanings. When a c or g is followed by an e (sage, page, mace, practice), the consonants stay soft
(i.e. are pronounced j and s). When the e is removed, these consonants become hard
(sagacious, pagan, macaroni, practicable). To prevent this hardening occurring, some c and g
words retain the e:
outrageous
manageable
noticeable
irreplaceable
Final y
When a word ends in y, change the y to i when it follows a consonant:
ally ➞ allies
happy ➞ happiest
rely ➞ relies
sixty ➞ sixtieth
Exception: when the suffix is -ing:
relying ➞ trying
The y is retained, however, when it follows a vowel:
display ➞ displayed
play ➞ playing
Doubling final consonants
Words with final consonants sometimes double such consonants. Pronunciation of the word
in its unchanged and changed forms has an influence on whether this occurs or not. For
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
try ➞ tries
2.35
example, if a one-syllable word has a single vowel before the final consonant, then the final
consonant is doubled:
ship ➞ shipping
shop ➞ shopping
mat ➞ matting
sob ➞ sobbing
However, if two vowels, or a vowel and another consonant, precede the final consonant,
then this doubling does not occur:
book ➞ booking
pain ➞ pained
depart ➞ departing
mark ➞ marked
In words of more than one syllable, doubling occurs if a single vowel precedes the final
consonant, and if the final syllable of the word is pronounced when a suffix is added:
control ➞ controlled
prefer ➞ preferring
permit ➞ permitted
In words of more than two syllables, doubling does not occur if two vowels, or a vowel and
another consonant, precede the final consonant:
contain ➞ containing
consent ➞ consenting
Plurals
Most nouns change from singular to plural simply by adding an s:
dog ➞ dogs
battleship ➞ battleships
Some nouns, however, already end in s, or else end in ch, sh, x or z. In these cases, the
plural is formed by the addition of es:
Communicating in the 21st Century
circus ➞ circuses
2.36
beach ➞ beaches
sash ➞ sashes
box ➞ boxes
topaz ➞ topazes
This also pertains to verbs with such endings when they change to third person singular
form:
I reach
he reaches
you finish
she finishes
we tax
he taxes
Some words ending in o also require an es plural form:
potato ➞ potatoes
zero ➞ zeroes
buffalo ➞ buffaloes
Most nouns ending in f change to ves in the plural:
loaf ➞ loaves
calf ➞ calves
shelf ➞ shelves
Exceptions:
belief ➞ beliefs
safe ➞ safes
Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form plurals by dropping the y and taking on
ies; verbs ending in the same way form their third person singular forms in the same way:
money ➞ monies
pony ➞ ponies
reality ➞ realities
bury ➞ buries
worry ➞ worries
Nouns ending in y preceded by vowels form plurals by adding s; verbs ending in the same
way form their third person singular forms in the same way:
bay ➞ bays
toy ➞ toys
betray ➞ betrays
Some words borrowed from other languages — Latin, Greek, Italian and French, in particular
— usually form plurals as they did in the original language:
radius ➞ radii
datum ➞ data
analysis ➞ analyses
appendix ➞ appendices
bureau ➞ bureaux
criterion ➞ criteria
ie and ei
For most words with these letter pairs, remember the rhyme:
I before e,
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
buy ➞ buys
2.37
Except after c,
Or when sounded like ay,
As in neighbour and weigh.
Note these examples and exceptions:
I before e
belief, relief, thief, chief, hygiene, piece, friend
Except after c
receipt, deceit, conceit, perceive, ceiling
Or when sounded like ay
neighbour, weigh, vein, sleigh, eight, beige
Exceptions
either, neither, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, seize, sleight, weird
Global English: American versus British spelling
You should be aware that English spellings vary according to where the writer comes from.
The biggest division in usage is between British and American spellings. There is a long tradition in America, starting with scholars such as Noah Webster, of changing or reforming
British spellings for various reasons (Blake 1996).
There are, of course, substantial differences between these two language groups in terms of
vocabulary: braces/suspenders, nappy/diaper, vest/undershirt, waistcoat/vest, lorry/truck,
Autumn/Fall, aluminium/aluminum, and so on (Crystal 2003).
Accordingly, dictionaries and computerised spelling checkers will reflect their origins in the
spellings they give as ‘correct’.
Communicating in the 21st Century
British
2.38
American
-our
colour, labour
-or
color, labor
-ae, -oe
encyclopaedia, foetus
-e
encyclopedia, fetus
-que
cheque
-ck
check
-em
empanel
-im
impanel
-en
enquiry
-in
inquiry
-c
disc
-k
disk
-re
centre, metre
-er
center, meter
-e
acknowledgement
-e omitted
acknowledgment
-ll
travelled
-l
traveled
-ise/ize
organisation/organization,
realise/realize
-ize
organization, realize
As we move towards a more global English in the twenty-first century, however, historical
research is showing us that it is not always as simple as it seems to characterise spellings as
being ‘American’ or otherwise. Some British-area language traditionalists sometimes find it
irritating to contemplate ‘American’ spellings such as ‘center’ rather than ‘centre’, or ‘theater’
rather than ‘theatre’, or ‘gray’ rather than ‘grey’, but in fact many of these ‘Americanisms’
were in fact the preferred spellings at the time of Shakespeare, as any reading of original
texts from that time will show.
Many people migrating to the ‘new world’ of America from the ‘old world’ of England took
such spelling, and vocabulary choices, with them. Thus changes often occurred in England,
while ‘traditional’ usage was kept in America. There was an emphasis, for example, in
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British dictionaries to adopt French usage, which accounts
for some of the later, twentieth-century differences in usage between the United States and the
United Kingdom. This also accounts for why the -ize suffix is just as ‘non-American’ as the
‘-ise’ suffix, as even the Oxford Dictionary attests.
Language, in other words, is often influenced by politics and history as much as ‘pure’ linguistics. There is a long tradition, going back to 1066, of seeing French and other Latinderived usage as more sophisticated than Anglo-Saxon usage, which perhaps accounts for
numerous modern-day American drama companies spelling their premises’ names as ‘theatres’
rather than ‘theaters’. Such preferences also have real present-day implications for readability
and plain English (see online chapters 3 and 4).
Also, Americans today buy computer disks but put compact discs in their stereos. This is
primarily because Philips, the Dutch company that invented and named the compact disc or
CD format, chose a British spelling for the new technology.
Australian usage tends to follow British rather than American usage, and there are few
uniquely Australian style patterns. The Macquarie Dictionary notes that the -ise suffix is
perhaps the most distinctively Australian spelling practice (Macquarie Dictionary 2001, p. xii).
Spelling reform: the impossible dream?
When looked at globally, most of our spellings cater to a wide variation of pronunciations. If
we insisted on strictly phonetic renderings, girl would be gurl in most of America (though
perhaps goil in New York), gel in London and Sydney, gull in Ireland, gill in South Africa,
gairull in Scotland. Written communications between nations, and even parts of nations,
would become practically impossible. (Bryson 2001, p. 133)
Thus, we are probably stuck with the inanities of four/fourteen/forty and debt and island
(with the b and s inserted by 17th century scholars who were trying to copy what they imagined to be more prestigious Latin spellings).
Unfortunately, there is no other way of learning English spelling than by reading as widely
as possible (and even then, by not trusting everything that you read). Use, but do not depend
upon, software spell checkers that simply use a dumb algorithm that looks at its own dictionary, and that then tells you if the word exists, not if it is the right word. Spell checkers,
at their current stage of development, cannot read context — only you can do that. We will
shortly look at vocabulary and usage, and we will see that, unless we understand the differences that emerge from context, we will be let down by spell checkers.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
There have been many attempts throughout the history of the English language to rationalise
it, making it more or even totally phonetic. While such reform efforts seem to have common
sense on their side, the sheer success of English in becoming a global language, together with
the conflict between orthography (spelling) and phonology (pronunciation), make such
reforms unlikely. As Bryson points out, if we decide to standardise the spelling of words,
whose pronunciation shall we use?
2.39
But does spelling really matter? Yes, it does. As Buerger remarked in prehistoric (in computer terms) 1988, on the mixed blessings of staff downsizing and email:
One obvious problem (with email) is poor grammar and spelling. Email advocates love to
push the benefits of direct communication. Managers send and receive messages on a
one-to-one basis. Now that secretaries don’t fix their sloppy writing, the whole world
wonders how they passed English 1A. (Buerger 1988, p. 17)
Snobbish? Possibly. Unfair? Perhaps. But that’s the way the world works, and you should
make the system — bearing in mind Butler’s comments (online chapter 1) — work for you,
rather than against you.
Quite a few email programs do not have reliable spelling or grammar checkers. So, it is
very easy to make typographical errors in emails. Either compose your text in a word processor, check and then copy and paste into the email program, or compose in the email program, copy and then paste into a word processor to check for errors. Be very wary of using
free, cheap or minimal-feature word processors. Limited as these spelling and grammar
checking tools are, they have their uses. This is also particularly relevant if you are accessing
your email remotely via programs that have no checking or formatting capabilities. In this
situation, it is also worthwhile to spell- and grammar-check your emails in a program that
has these features.
Vocabulary and usage
There are many words, phrases and concepts that present problems for us. Sometimes words
are confused because they are homophones (i.e. they sound the same but are spelt differently
and mean different things) or near-homophones. Other problems arise when a single word
means different things in different contexts, when words are used wrongly because of
misunderstandings about their original meanings, and because of breakdowns in syntax or
sentence structure.
Here are some of these problem words and phrases.
accede/exceed
Accede (verb): to agree to something, to give consent. It can also mean to assume or take on
an office or a position.
After her fourth telephone call, I acceded to her request.
The heir-apparent acceded to the throne in 1835.
Exceed (verb): to be greater than; to go beyond the limits of.
Communicating in the 21st Century
The police officer said that I had been exceeding the speed limit.
2.40
adverse/averse
Adverse (adjective): negative; antagonistic.
His work attracted a lot of adverse criticism.
Averse (adjective): opposed to, avoiding.
They were averse to taking any more risks on the project.
advice/advise
Advice (noun): counsel, opinion or information.
I gave him the benefit of my advice on the matter.
Advise (verb): to give advice, counsel.
Can you advise me on this matter?
affect/effect
Affect (verb): to have an influence on, to put on a false show, to simulate.
The alcohol affected his ability to drive.
He affected an American accent.
Effect (verb): to bring about, accomplish.
They effected their escape under cover of darkness.
Effect (noun): result.
The rain had the effect of eroding the soil.
all ready/already
Already (adverb): By this or a specified time, before, so soon.
He was already there.
Are you leaving already?
All ready (adjectival phrase): to have everything prepared.
We were all ready for the announcement when it was made.
anticipate/expect
I anticipated their strategy, and took appropriate counter-measures before they even
arrived.
Expect (verb): to look forward to the likely occurrence or appearance of someone or
something.
I expect them here by 10 o’clock.
apprise/appraise
Apprise (verb): to inform.
He apprised us of our rights.
Appraise (verb): to evaluate, to estimate.
He appraised the market value of our house for us.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Anticipate (verb): to foresee, to act in advance of so as to prevent.
2.41
because/as/since
Because (conjunction): for the reason that.
Because I hired Jack, Mary won’t speak to me.
I hired Jack because Mary was transferring to another city.
As (conjunction): to the same degree that; while, when, during; for the reason that.
She was late as usual.
Since (conjunction): between now and the past time when, in view of the fact, because.
He’s been gone since 10 o’clock.
As and since can have causal meanings identical with that of because. Ambiguities may
arise when this causal sense is used, but the context may suggest a time sense (as = during;
since = between now and the past time when):
Since I hired Jack, Mary won’t speak to me.
(a statement of time rather than reason or cause)
I hired Jack as Mary was transferring to another city.
(a statement about simultaneous events rather than a statement of reason or cause)
Compare also although/while.
bought/brought
Bought: past tense and past participle of verb to buy.
She bought the flowers at the shop on the corner.
Brought: past tense and past participle of verb to bring.
She brought the flowers to the hospital.
by
By can have numerous meanings, but confusion can arise over the meanings ‘no later than’
(preposition), ‘through the action or agency of’ (preposition), and ‘near to, alongside’ (adverb).
For example:
Communicating in the 21st Century
The survivors were discovered by a giant cactus.
2.42
Also, some grammar checkers will recommend that this sentence . . .
Much of this work should be completed by the end of 2007.
. . . be recast as:
The end of 2007 should complete much of this work.
This wrong reading is due to checkers reading the first sentence as being in passive voice,
with ‘by’ identifying the sentence subject as ‘the end of 2007’ (see online chapter 1).
comparison, false
Check to ensure that properties or things of people or things are matched to properties or
things of other people or things, rather than simply with other people or things.
New Zealand has had a consistently higher growth rate than Singapore. No
New Zealand has had a consistently higher growth rate than Singapore’s/Singapore’s
growth rate/ that of Singapore. Yes
compliment/complement
Compliment (noun): an expression of praise, admiration or congratulation.
He paid her the compliment of saying that she was the best in the class.
Compliment (verb): to praise or flatter.
She complimented him on his skiing skills.
Complement (noun): something that completes, makes up a whole, or brings to perfection.
We have a full complement of officers on this carrier.
Complement (verb): to complete.
That corsage complemented her gown and her complexion perfectly.
comprise/consist/compose/include
Comprise (transitive verb; active voice): to consist of or be composed of, and relates to all of
the parts of a whole.
A pack of cards comprises 52 cards
A pack of cards is composed of 52 cards.
. . . as the parts compose or constitute the whole.
However, using include in the sentence . . .
A pack of cards includes 52 cards.
. . . implies that there is something more to be considered, rather than the totality of what is
being described.
Similarly, some object to the passive voice construction of:
A pack of cards is comprised of 52 cards.
One of the traditional arguments is that comprise means the same thing as consists (of),
and thus it would be absurd to write ‘a pack of cards is consisted of 52 cards’.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
. . . as a pack of cards = whole = subject; 52 cards = parts = object; therefore the whole
comprises the parts.
This sentence is also correct (note passive voice) . . .
2.43
In spite of this, the passive usage has become more widespread, and a plethora of opinions
— many mutually contradictory — can be found in usage texts and on websites. If you know
that you are writing for an audience (even an audience of one) who holds strong traditional
views, don’t use ‘comprise’ in the passive. Alternately, you might simply avoid the problem
and use phrases such as ‘made up of’.
counsel/council
Counsel (noun): advice, lawyer.
The counsel for the defence rose to speak.
Counsel (verb): to give advice.
I can’t counsel you in this matter.
Council (noun): a group of people elected or chosen to make decisions and conduct
discussions.
City Council sits the first Monday of every month.
criterion/criteria
Criterion (noun): a standard, rule or test on which a judgement or decision can be based.
Criteria is the Greek plural, and thus it is incorrect to say:
Experience in the field is the sole criteria we are considering for this job.
Compare with other Latin and Greek plurals, such as media, phenomena and fungi.
disinterested/uninterested
Disinterested (adjective): neutral; unbiased, not personally involved.
The fact that the judge personally knew two of the defendants made you wonder just how
disinterested he really was.
Uninterested (adjective): lacking an interest in, bored.
Communicating in the 21st Century
Celeste was utterly uninterested in horse racing, and would yawn loudly whenever the
brothers began to discuss it.
2.44
The distinction is made harder to sustain because the noun uninterest is less well known
than the noun disinterest, and disinterest may sound more emphatic to some ears.
dependent/dependant
Dependant (noun): someone who depends on another, especially for financial support.
Dependent (adjective): contingent on or relying on something or someone else.
Her three surviving dependants were dependent upon the provisions of her will.
elicit/illicit
Elicit (transitive verb): to draw out, extract or obtain.
He elicited an opinion from her.
Illicit (adjective): unlawful.
They discovered an illicit whisky still in the barn.
enormity/enormousness/immensity
Enormity (noun): morally outrageous action, hugeness of size, scope
Enormousness/immensity (nouns): greatness of size.
The enormity of the violence they had committed was breathtaking.
The enormousness/immensity of the building was astonishing.
ferment/foment
Ferment (verb): to induce the chemical reaction of fermentation; to make turbulent.
Also a noun: a state of ferment.
Foment (verb): to incite.
The ferment of anti-government sentiment was such that it was easy for rabble-rousers to
foment street violence.
fewer/less
Fewer (adjective; comparative form of few): a smaller number of; relates to count nouns.
The shop sold ice-creams on sticks and in cones, but had fewer and fewer to sell as the
day warmed up.
Less (adjective; comparative form of little): a smaller quantity of, relates to mass nouns.
flaunt/flout
Flout (verb): to show contempt for.
She flouted all the conventions of good taste by behaving in that way.
Flaunt (verb): to exhibit ostentatiously.
She flaunted her new-found wealth in a way that embarrassed her family.
hopefully
Strictly speaking, hopefully is an adverb, meaning with hope:
He spoke hopefully of his life after graduation.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
She served ice-cream from the tub, and as the dinner party progressed, there was less and
less that could be salvaged for any late-comers.
2.45
It has become fairly common in the past few decades to use hopefully as a substitute for it
is hoped that/I/we/you/they hope that, placing it in the same class as sentence modifiers or
disjuncts such as regrettably and fortunately:
‘Hopefully, life will be much more relaxed after graduation,’ he said.
Be aware that some readers/listeners do not like the newer meaning.
Hopefully can also cause problems by creating squinting modifier ambiguity (see online
chapter 1):
They will enter the contest hopefully on Monday morning.
imply/infer
Imply (verb): to suggest indirectly.
When he said that he wouldn’t consider any more job cuts at this time, he was perhaps
implying that he would consider them before too long.
Infer (verb): to derive conclusions from evidence or premises.
When he said that he wouldn’t consider any more job cuts at this time, we inferred that
perhaps the organisation was in worse shape financially than was hitherto thought.
Test: Speakers imply, listeners infer.
irregardless/regardless
Regardless (adverb): in spite of everything, heedless.
Ignore the noise. We will work on regardless.
Regardless is already the negation of regard, and thus ir-regard-less is a double negative.
Perhaps similarity to irrespective causes this error.
it’s/its
Its: possessive pronoun.
Communicating in the 21st Century
The dog was wagging its tail.
2.46
It’s: contraction of it is (pronoun + verb).
It’s a good thing we showed up when we did.
literally
Literally (adverb): actually, in a literal manner.
Don’t take my remarks literally.
Problems arise when people use literally as an intensive, or as a substitute for virtually or
figuratively:
She literally exploded with delight on hearing the verdict.
loathe/loath
Loathe (verb): to dislike someone or something greatly, abhor.
I loathe all of this grunge, rap, hip-hop, urban, techno and retro music.
Loath (adjective): reluctant (also spelt loth).
I am loath to put the radio on these days.
more
More can present problems when, depending upon the syntax of the sentence, it is acting as
an adverb modifying an adjective. For example:
I had to deal with more angry customers.
Are there more customers who are angry? Is a second group of customers angrier than the
first group?
To clarify, the sentence could be recast. For example:
I had to deal with another group of angry customers.
I had to deal with further/new/other angry customers.
I had to deal with customers who were even angrier than the ones we had in this morning.
I had to deal with angrier customers.
obsolete/obsolescent
Obsolete (adjective): no longer in use.
That batch of 1969 transistors is totally obsolete.
Obsolescent (adjective): becoming obsolete.
That model is still usable, but be aware that the industry considers it obsolescent, and you
should try to upgrade as soon as possible.
personnel/personal
Personal (adjective): private, individual.
Those books are my personal property, and I want them back now.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
More should be used to modify count nouns (see online chapter 1, p. 1.43), so that no ambiguities arise.
2.47
Personnel (noun): staff, persons employed in work, the department that looks after staffing
and related matters.
We’ve got the equipment, but not the personnel, to do this job properly.
phenomena/phenomenon
Phenomenon (noun): an occurrence, a circumstance or a fact that is perceptible by the senses;
an unusual, significant or unaccountable fact or occurrence; a marvel.
The lights in the sky were a most unusual phenomenon.
Phenomena is the plural of phenomenon. Avoid using the plural form in a singular
context.
This is a most unusual phenomena.
principle/principal
Principal (adjective): main, primary, chief.
The principal reason for my wanting the job is that I need the money.
Principal (noun): executive of a school; an amount of money generating interest; a main
participant in a situation.
The Principal strode down the corridor, oblivious to the hormonal warfare taking place
around him.
Spend the interest but don’t touch your principal.
I’ll have to contact my principal to see if we are willing to concede so much in what is, after
all, just a routine negotiation.
Principle (noun): a basic truth or law, a rule or standard.
I’m not going to walk away from my principles just because people like that wave money
under my nose.
question, begging the
Communicating in the 21st Century
Begging the question means circular reasoning, or assuming what needs to be proved.
Examples would be:
2.48
Students like hip hop music because it is the most enjoyable music around.
Have you started paying your fair share of taxes yet?
The first sentence is basically saying that people find something is enjoyable because it is
enjoyable, which is not very enlightening. The second sentence is a loaded question: the concept of what is a ‘fair share’ may not have been established, just as it may not have been
established that the person to whom the question is addressed has not been paying such an
amount (see chapter 13, ‘Argument: logic, persuasion and influence’).
Thus, begging the question refers to a particular type of logical fallacy. It should not be
used to merely signify ‘prompting or raising a question or issue,’ for example:
This performance begs the question of whether the team will play well tomorrow.
sanction
Sanction (verb; contranym): authorative permission, serving to support an action; a provision
of law; penalty. For example:
We will not sanction her conduct.
However, does sanction here mean to endorse or to penalise? This sentence is ambiguous,
and could be recast in two ways. For example:
We will not endorse her conduct.
We will not penalise her conduct.
Further clarity of meaning can be made by adding context and syntax. For example:
She has brought in so many contracts this month, I’m quite happy to sanction a bonus for
her.
If you keep stealing photocopy paper, and they find you out, you will be sanctioned heavily
by the boss.
Sanctions (noun) as a plural noun gives a clearly negative meaning. For example:
The United Nations approved economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
that/which
Some writers prefer to introduce restrictive clauses (containing essential information) with
that, preferring to introduce non-restrictive clauses (containing non-essential information)
with which and set off by commas:
Teams, which seem to be the norm in some workplaces today, need to have high internal
levels of trust to be very effective.
they’re/their/there
They’re: contraction of they are.
They’re coming over at 6 o’clock.
Their: third person plural possessive pronoun.
It’s their house, and they can do what they like with it.
There (adverb): at or in that place.
They’re going there in their car.
A homophone problem.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Teams that have a high internal level of trust tend to be very effective.
2.49
to/too/two
To (preposition): in the direction of; towards.
Walk to the balcony and look out.
Too (adverb): also, as well.
I’m coming too.
Two (noun): the number 2.
He rolled the dice and threw a two.
A homophone problem.
Communicating in the 21st Century
ASSESS YOURSELF
2.50
Correct any vocabulary errors you find in these sentences.
(a) Since I began that project myself, I have to be involved, and thus I find it very hard not to see
criticisms of it as being personnel criticisms of me.
(b) I can see flaws in that document just as you can, but I am loathe to expose it’s weaknesses to
all and sundry.
(c) When you talk in those terms, you seem to be inferring that there comfort is the only criteria we
should be applying when we consider overall budget outlays.
(d) I realise that you are disinterested in this entire task, but you have to get a grip on the
personnel and time constraints we are under, and schedule this so that it can be edited by
May or June.
(e) We need too ensure that our budget allocations, that can fluctuate from year to year, are at least
as great as Manufacturing or Marketing.
(f) Now that we have brought that property, we need to monitor local property prices and rates to
see if we have unwittingly triggered any negative affects on the situation.
(g) I am not adverse to criticism, irregardless of who makes it.
(h) Counsel members need to know if there is going to be any change in the wording of your
proposal, so please appraise me of any mooted variation.
(i) Your company’s marketing strategy will compliment ours precisely, so please be careful not to
jeopardise this outcome by being seen to flaunt any of the regulator’s rules on competitive
practices.
(j) When they didn’t show up for the meeting they demonstrated, in my view, that they propose to
literally freeze us out, and this begs the question of why we are involved with them in the first
place.
(k) We will not sanction her conduct.
Summary
In this chapter we explored different aspects of punctuation, spelling and usage. We saw that
punctuation is intimately linked to grammar. We looked at end punctuation, such as the full
stop or point, as well as the exclamation mark and question mark. As with all punctuation
marks, we saw that there are numerous correct and incorrect uses of such end punctuation.
We then considered the comma, the colon, the semicolon, the apostrophe, the dash, the
hyphen, parentheses and brackets, quotation marks and ellipses.
We then turned our attention to spelling. We identified some of the major mechanical and
cultural pitfalls in spelling. English is a difficult language. It has a number of letters that are
not pronounced or are pronounced differently in different words. This irregularity affects
approximately 400 of the most frequently used words. People often misspell because they do
not understand the parts of speech or because they mispronounce words and then spell them
that way. There are a number of rules covering suffixes and how the root word changes when
particular suffixes are added.
We then identified some the major pitfalls in vocabulary and usage. Words can be confused
when they are homophones or have more then one meaning, or when breakdowns in syntax
occur.
Student study guide
apostrophe p. 2.15
eggcorn p. 2.30
malapropism p. 2.30
bloopers p. 2.32
ellipsis p. 2.27
mondegreen p. 2.30
brackets p. 2.20
exclamation mark p. 2.6
open punctuation p. 2.5
capitalisation p. 2.18
full stop (period, point) p. 2.4
parapraxes p. 2.32
code switching p. 2.20
heteromorph p. 2.32
parentheses p. 2.20
colon p. 2.13
heteronym p. 2.32
question mark p. 2.5
comma p. 2.6
homonym p. 2.32
quotation marks p. 2.25
confusables p. 2.32
homophone p. 2.32
rhetorical punctuation p. 2.2
contranym p. 2.33
howlers p. 2.32
semicolon p. 2.11
dash p. 2.23
hyphen p. 2.23
syntactic punctuation p. 2.2
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A full stop is used to show the conclusion of a sentence. Define a sentence.
What is the difference between rhetorical punctuation and syntactic punctuation.
How might exclamation marks be misused?
How can commas be used to prevent ambiguity in sentences?
What is a comma splice, and how does it differ from a run-on or fused sentence?
What function does a colon perform?
How might a semicolon be misused?
What is the relationship between the apostrophe and the grammatical concept
of case?
9. What is the difference between a dash and a hyphen?
10. Most parentheses, brackets and quotation marks share a characteristic that is often
associated with editing errors. What is it?
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
KEY TERMS
2.51
11. How might an ellipsis be misused?
12. What are homophones, and why do they sometimes cause problems in spelling and
usage?
APPLIED ACTIVITIES
Communicating in the 21st Century
1. Because of the diverse history of the language, there aren’t that many rules for English
spelling, and of those that exist, there are often many exceptions to them. There is little
point in trying to memorise rules as an abstract exercise. The best way to learn basic
and advanced spelling skills is simply to use words in the context of sentences, and to
note how spellings change according to changes in tense, number, person or parts of
speech. In other words, in order to be able to spell words correctly, you need to know
the meanings of words. Spelling and vocabulary skills are thus merely two sides of the
same coin.
You also need to know how to use a dictionary. This could just be a catch-22
situation: how do I look up the spelling of a word when I’m not a good speller to begin
with? It is hard work, but it can be done. Most words by definition begin with
consonants, so at least you can start with the first letter — and there are only a few
consonants that sound like others (C/K, C/S, G/J, for example). Another technique is to
think of a similar word you do know how to spell, and look that word up in that other
indispensable tool, a thesaurus.
Over the next few pages, you will find many of the words most commonly misspelled in
English. Perform this exercise:
(a) Photocopy these lists, or perhaps better still, copy them out.
(b) Cut up the photocopy sheets or the sheets on which you have written so that each
word is on a separate scrap of paper.
(c) Place all scraps in a bowl and draw out three at a time.
(d) Take these three words, and then work them into a meaningful sentence.
(e) Staying with the same three words, create a second sentence by changing at least one
of the words: change to another part of speech (e.g. a noun to an adjective [criticism to
critical], an adverb to an adjective [wholly to whole], and don’t forget non-finite verbs),
or change a singular noun to a plural one, or change the tense of a verb.
Thus if you drew out reminisce, bureaucracy and separate, your sentences might be
similar to these:
2.52
We would often sit around
and reminisce about the
times the various arms of the
bureaucracy would try to
separate members of our
family.
The bureaucrats, who until
recently had worked in
separate but related
departments, shared
reminiscences of times
gone by.
Separately we would try to
destroy their bureaucratic
computer systems, in a
manner reminiscent of
better-known hackers
throughout the world.
Just to complicate matters, if a word is a homophone (having a similar sound), then
you should use as many other homophones of that word as you know in the sentence
(e.g. raze, raise, rays, Ray’s).
accommodate
dispel
lenient
raze
acquainted
dyeing
liable
receipt
acreage
ecstasy
library
reminisce
altar
eighth
license
reversible
amateur
embarrass
maintenance
rhinoceros
annihilate
environment
manageable
rhythm
apiece
fascinate
management
sacrifice
approximately
February
mathematics
sacrilegious
arraign
forfeit
mischievous
satellite
assassination
forty
misspelled
scene
Britain
gauge
mortgage
schedule
bureaucracy
government
muscle
separate
cafeteria
governor
museum
sergeant
category
grammar
noticing
sheriff
cede
grievous
nuclear
siege
ceiling
handkerchief
nuisance
skiing
cemetery
harass
occasionally
souvenir
characteristic
haven’t
occurred
stationery
chateau
height
omission
straight
coarse
hindrance
originally
strength
column
humorous
panicky
teammate
commercial
hypocrisy
parallel
technique
committee
ideally
paralysis
they’re
competent
idiosyncrasy
pastime
thoroughly
condemn
illogical
personnel
treacherous
conscientious
immigrant
persuade
twelfth
coolly
imminent
predetermine
tyranny
(continued)
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
Repeat this procedure of selecting words and writing sentences nine times. You
should thus end up with 10 × 2 = 20 sentences. Of course, you are free to do this as
many times as you like, and the more you do it, the better your skills will become.
2.53
criticism
independent
prejudice
unanimous
deceive
initiative
prevalent
unconscious
definitely
innocuous
principal
usage
descendant
irresistible
privilege
vacuum
diphtheria
it’s
psychology
vigilance
disappoint
kindergarten
psychiatry
weird
disastrous
laboratory
questionnaire
whether
discipline
length
quizzes
wholly
2. Explore some of the websites listed in the E-info sources section and discover some other
vocabulary problem words and phrases.
3. Experiment with the language feature of at least one word processor (where the ‘style ‘of
English is set to one particular national culture). Find out what spellings that language
style accepts and rejects.
4. Using print and online sources, create a list of spelling and vocabulary differences
between two different countries where English is used: for example, Britain and the US or
India/Canada or Australia/South Africa. Now write a simple story of 200–300 words,
creating two different versions of the story. Two sample beginnings are given below:
UK version
US version
One fine Autumn day, Joe walked down the
footpath to the centre of town to pick up his
new lorry, which was parked behind the
service station.
One fine Fall day, Joe walked down the
sidewalk to the center of town to pick up his
new truck, which was parked in back of the
gas station.
Communicating in the 21st Century
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
2.54
Your next-door neighbour, Natalya, has come in, asking you to witness a will she has
written. She has often said that she doesn’t want to waste money on lawyers (‘They’re all
parasites!’), and she has written her will with a do-it-yourself will kit. Her English is not all
that good, but looking over the will, you see that her expression is not all that bad.
Coughing hoarsely, she says that she wants to divide her estate among four equal parties.
You notice that one of these is your estranged spouse, Chris, with whom you are trying to
reconcile, although there is still a lot of ill feeling between you. Despite the distraction of
your neighbour’s coughing and her loud description of her health troubles, you
concentrate enough to see that there might be a problem in the wording. Part of it reads,
‘I bequeath my estate in equal portions to Sol Chassy, my brother; Myra Perton, my former
business partner; and Chris Waldon and Matthew Yii’. But does that mean that all four
parties get one-quarter each, or does it mean that the first two people get one-third, and
the last two people share one-third, or get one-sixth each? You start to explain the
potential problem to Natalya, when she suddenly stumbles, drops her cigarette, and gasps
for air, holding her chest. You realise that she may be having a heart attack! You telephone
for an ambulance, and you can soon hear its siren. At that very moment, Chris, using a
spare front door key, walks in.
1. How could the will be re-worded?
1. How might you explain the implications of the current punctuation in the will to Natalya
(if she recovers)? How might you explain the implications to Chris (without triggering a
major misunderstanding)?
Austen, Jane 2006 (1813), Pride and Prejudice, Penguin Red
series, London.
Baron, Naomi 2000, Alphabet to email: how written English
evolved and where it’s heading, Routledge, London.
Blake, NF 1996, A history of the English language, Macmillan,
London.
Bremner, Charles 2008, ‘Save our semi-colon, say French
campaigners’, Times Online, April 1, http://
timescorrespondents.typepad.com.
British Council, 2003, The language of sport — an essay, British
Studies Web Pages, http://elt.britishcouncil.org.
Bryson, Bill 2001, The mother tongue: English and how it got
that way, Perennial/HarperCollins, New York.
Buerger, David J. 1988, ‘Observing e-mail etiquette can make
communication clearer, more effective’, InfoWorld, vol. 10,
no 8, 22 February, p. 17.
Burridge, Kate 2004, Blooming English: observations on the
roots, cultivation and hybrids of the English language,
Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, David 2006, The fight for English: How language
pedants ate, shot and left, Oxford University Press.
Crystal, David 2003, The Cambridge encyclopedia of the
English language, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press.
Dowling, Dave 2006, The wrong word dictionary: 2,000 most
commonly confused words, Marion Street Press, Oak
Park, IL.
‘Eggcorns’, New Scientist, vol. 191, no. 2566, p. 52.
Erard, Michael 2007, Um . . . : slips, stumbles, and verbal
blunders, and what they mean, Pantheon, New York.
Garner, Bryan A. 2005, ‘Don’t know much about punctuation:
notes on a stickler wannabe’, Texas Law Review, vol. 83,
no.5, pp. 1443–1452.
Glatzer, Jenna 2004, Words you thought you knew: 1001
commonly misused and misunderstood words and phrases,
Adams Media Corporation, Cincinnati, OH.
Harley, TA 2006, ‘Speech errors: psycholinguistic approach’, in
K. Brown (Ed.) Encyclopedia of language & linguistics, 2nd
edn, Elsevier, New York, pp. 739–745.
Henley, Jon 2008, ‘The end of the line?’ The Guardian, April 4,
www.guardian.co.uk.
Hicks, Wynford 2004, Quite literally: problem words and how
to use them, Routledge, London.
Horne, Phillip 2003, ‘Selected textual variants’, in C. Dickens,
2003 (1838/1846), Oliver Twist, Penguin, London.
Jamison, Kathleen Hall 2007, ‘Justifying the war in Iraq: what
the Bush administration’s uses of evidence reveal’, Rhetoric
& Public Affairs, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 249–274.
King, Peter J. 2005, ‘Howlers and the like’, http://
users.ox.ac.uk.
Larocque, Laurette, 2000, Interactional parapraxes: A window
onto out representations of self and others, Journal of the
American Academy of Psychoanalysis, vol. 28, no. 1, pp.
25–37.
Lederer, Richard 1997, Fractured English, Pocket Books, New
York.
Lederer, Richard 1996, ‘Looking at Language Archives’, http://
www.verbivore.com.
Lenhart, Amanda et al. 2008, Writing, technology and teens,
Report by Pew Internet for The National Commission on
Writing, Washington DC.
Lewin, Tamar 2008, ‘Informal style of electronic messages is
showing up in schoolwork, study finds,’ The New York
Times, April 25, www.nytimes.com.
Liberman, Mark, & Pullum, Geoffrey K. 2006, Far from the
madding gerund and other dispatches from language log,
William, James & Co., Wilsonville, OR.
McGreevy, Norman 2007, Must try harder! The very worst best
(sic) howlers by schoolchildren, Constable, London.
Reason, James 2000, ‘The Freudian slip revisited’, The
Psychologist, vol. 13, no.12, pp. 610−611,
www.thepsychologist.org.uk.
Room, Adrian 1988 Dictionary of confusing words and
meanings, Dorset Press, New York.
Schou, Karsten 2007 ‘The syntactic status of English
punctuation’, English Studies, vol. 88, no. 2, pp 195–216.
Sutherland, Kathryn 2007 Jane Austen’s textual lives: from
Aeschylus to Bollywood, Oxford University Press.
The Macquarie dictionary: Australia’s national dictionary
2001, rev. 3rd edn, Macquarie Library, Sydney.
Chapter 2 Writing skills 2: punctuation, spelling and usage
REFERENCES
2.55
Truss, Lynne 2003, Eats shoots and leaves: the zero tolerance
approach to punctuation, Profile Books, London.
Truss, Lynne, and Timmons, Bonnie 2008 Twenty-odd ducks:
why, every punctuation mark counts! Putnam Juvenile/
Penguin, New York.
Underwood, Lamar (ed.) 2004, The quotable writer, The Lyons
Press, Guilford, CT.
Wines, Jacquie 2007 Mondegreens: A book of mishearings,
Michael O’Mara Books, London.
Wright, Sylvia 1954, ‘The Death of Lady Mondegreen,’ Harper’s
Magazine, no. 209, November, pp. 48–51.
SUGGESTED READING
Blamires, Harry 1997, The Cassell guide to common errors in
English, Cassell, London.
Blamires, Harry 2001, The Penguin guide to plain English,
Penguin, London.
Burchfield, Robert 2004, Fowler’s modern English usage (rerevised 3rd edn) Oxford University Press.
Burchfield, Robert 1998, The new Fowler’s modern English
usage, Oxford University Press.
Eunson, Baden 1994, Writing skills, John Wiley & Sons,
Brisbane.
Gordon, Karen Elizabeth 2004, The new well-tempered
sentence: a punctuation handbook for the innocent, the
eager and the doomed, Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin,
New York.
Greenbaum, Sidney & Whitcut, Janet 1996, Longman guide to
English usage, Penguin, London.
Hicks, Wynford (in press), Problem words, Routledge, London.
Lovinger, Paul W 2002, The Penguin Dictionary of American
English usage and style, Penguin, New York.
Peters, Pam 2007, The Cambridge guide to Australian English
usage, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press.
Peters, Pam 2004, Cambridge English style guide, Cambridge
University Press.
Reader’s Digest 1989, How to write and speak better, Reader’s
Digest, Sydney.
Rozakis, Laurie E 1997, The complete idiot’s guide to grammar
and style, Alpha Books, New York.
Sheffer, Marguerite 2006, The suggestive semicolon, http://
pronoiaprize.com.
Truss, Lynne 2003, Eats shoots and leaves: the zero tolerance
approach to punctuation, Profile Books, London.
Venolia, Jan 2001, Write right!: a desktop digest of
punctuation, grammar and style, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley,
CA.
Wilson, Kenneth G. 1993, The Columbia guide to standard
American English, Columbia University Press, New York.
Wolman, David 2009, Righting the mother tongue: from olde
English to email, the tangled story of English spelling,
Collins, London.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Communicating in the 21st Century
p. 2.32: Excerpts from ‘The World According to Student Bloopers’ from ‘Anguished English’ by Richard Lederer and Gibbs Smith,
ISBN 978 0 941711 81 4.
2.56