Business Communication for
Career Readiness
High Impact Business Writing
Module 2
with Sue Robins, M.S.
Lesson 2: Remember your
Grammar
Learning Objectives
• Use correct subject-verb agreement in
sentences
• Use correct verb tense in sentences
• Create sentences with
correct noun-pronoun agreement
• Identify and avoid double negatives.
• Know and use common rules of
punctuation
Subject-Verb Agreement
• Singular subject-singular verb
• Plural subject-plural verb
Subject-Verb Agreement
• Singular subject-singular verb
• Plural subject-plural verb
Examples:
• The boy walks the dog after school.
• The boys walk the dog after school.
• Boy – singular
• Walks – singular (the boy is walking)
Choose the correct form of the sentence:
• Jenny and her dog walks through the
park.
• Jenny and her dog walk through the
park.
• Through the park walk Jenny and her
dog.
• Jenny and her dog walks through
the park.
Choose the correct form of the sentence:
• CNN announces the next great
disaster.
• Announce the next great disaster CNN.
• CNN announcing the next great
disaster.
• CNN announce the next great disaster.
Verb Tenses
Perfect tense:
• Happened in the past and still has an
effect on the present
Past Perfect tense:
• Expresses an event that took place before
another action or event, also in the past
Future Perfect tense:
• An event that will have occurred some
time in the future
Choose the correct verb for each sentence:
By next year Metropolitan Mortgage
_______ a portfolio of 600 million dollars.
a) will have
b) has
c) had
Choose the correct verb for each sentence:
In 2008, Metropolitan Mortgage ________
responsible for $300 million in sub-prime
loans.
a) has been
b) had been
c) will have been
Choose the correct verb for each sentence:
By the time of completion in 2020, the
Wilshire Grand complex _________
severely over budget.
a) has been
b) had been
c) will have been
Choose the correct verb for each sentence:
The party invitation ________ sitting
under a pile of mail for the last 2 months.
a) have been
b) will have been
c) has been
Noun-Pronoun Agreement
• Nouns and pronouns must have
same gender and number as their
subjects
Noun-Pronoun Agreement
• Nouns and pronouns must have
same gender and number as their
subjects
• Sometimes it is better to write the
sentence in a gender neutral way
Noun-Pronoun Agreement
• Nouns and pronouns must have
same gender and number as their
subjects
• Sometimes it is better to write the
sentence in a gender neutral way
• If subject of sentence is singular
pronoun, verb remains singular
Noun-Pronoun Agreement
• Nouns and pronouns must have
same gender and number as their
subjects
• Sometimes it is better to write the
sentence in a gender neutral way
• If subject of sentence is singular
pronoun, verb remains singular
– Ex: Each of us is responsible
for the tasks assigned.
Choose the correct pronoun or verb for
each sentence:
The woman in charge of international
distribution has ___________work organized
efficiently.
a) Her
b) She
c) Their
Choose the correct pronoun or verb for
each sentence:
Neither of the board members ________with
the company president.
a) Talk
b) Talks
Choose the correct pronoun or verb for
each sentence:
The babies played ____ hearts out, then fell
asleep.
a) Their
b) His or Her
Choose the correct pronoun or verb for
each sentence:
When Max comes into the classroom, he
should have ________ homework ready to
turn in.
a) His
b) He
c) Their
Choose the correct pronoun or verb for
each sentence:
Neither of the girls brought _______umbrella.
a) Her
b) Their
Double Negatives
• Obvious vs. non-obvious
• Watch for a “not” plus another word with a
negative connotation
Double Negatives
• Obvious vs. non-obvious
• Watch for a “not” plus another word with a
negative connotation
Examples:
• “She couldn’t help but call her friend to
tell her about…”
• “She couldn’t help calling her friend to
tell her about…”
Choose the correct form of the sentence
which eliminates the double negative:
I don’t know nothing about birthing babies.
a) I don’t have no experience with
delivering a baby.
b) I don’t know anything about delivering
babies.
c) I don’t have no baby birthing
knowledge.
Choose the correct form of the sentence
which eliminates the double negative:
I cannot say that I do not disagree with you.
a) I disagree with you.
b) I won’t say that I do not agree or
disagree with you.
Choose the correct form of the sentence
which eliminates the double negative:
It wasn’t uninteresting.
a) It was somewhat interesting.
b) It was not interesting.
Common Punctuation Marks
Period (.)
Question Mark (?)
Exclamation Point (!)
Comma (,)
Apostrophe (‘)
Colon (:)
Semicolon (;)