Standards for Correct Communication

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Standards for Correct Communication
BAC 300
Adapted by Basic Business Communication, by
Raymond Lesikar, Ph.D and Marie Flatley,
Ph.D The Writing ProcessA Concise Rhetoric,
by John Lannon.
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Grammar Pre-TestHow many errors can you find?

• 1.Our files are completely up-to-date.
• 2.The set includes  knives, forks, and spoons.
• 3.I like cookies but Amy prefers brownies.
• 4.Would you call Al "weird?
• 5.Our offices are in Boston, MA, Orlando, FL, and
  Provo, UT.
• 6.The bad economic news will effect our annual
  bonus's.
• 7.More importantly, it will mean no raises!
• 8.Are those cars the Jones'?
• 9.Carly thinks Toms a "geek".
• 10.Whom shall I say is calling?

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Standards for Correct Communication

• Purpose Assist with communicating
• Reduce misunderstanding
• Make communication more
• precise

The Democrats, say the Republicans, will win.
The Democrats say the Republicans will win.
He looked at her stern.
He looked at her sternly.
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Standards for Punctuation

• Period
• Question Mark
• Exclamation Mark
• Comma
• Colon
• Semicolon
• Dash
• Parentheses
• Hyphen
• Apostrophe
• Quotation Marks
• Numbers

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Periods
.

• Used to indicate the end of a declarative
  sentence, an imperative sentence, or a courteous
  request.
• Used after abbreviations or initials (Inc., a.m.)
• Use a series of periods (ellipses) to indicate
  the omission of words or sentences from a quoted
  passage
• Logical explanations, however, have been given by
  authorities in the field. Some attribute the
  decline . . . to recent changes in the states
  economy . . . .
• . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Question Mark

• Used at the end of sentences that ask a direct
  question.
• Example
• What are the latest quotations on Ford common
  Stock?

• Not used with indirect questions.
• Garrick asked me what the latest quotations on
  Ford stock were.

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Exclamation Point!

• Used at the end of a sentence or an exclamatory
  fragment to show strong emotion.
• Oh, no!
• Congratulations! Your outstanding performance
  review qualifies you for merit pay.

• Use ! sparingly
• Dont overuse
• Never use with trivial ideas.

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Commas Correct / Incorrect?

• The most universal symptoms of the suicide
  impulse, is depression.
• This has been a long, difficult, semester.
• John, Bill, and Sally, are joining us on the trip
  home.
• An employee, who expects rapid promotion, must
  quickly prove his or her worth.
• I spoke by phone with John, and Marsha.
• The room was, 18 feet long.
• We painted the room, red.

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Comma
,

• Placed between two independent (equal) clauses
  only
• if accompanied by a coordinating conjunction
  (and, but, or, nor, and for).
• Not this MGT 387 is an excellent course, the
  work is difficult.

But this MGT 387 is an excellent course, but
the work is difficult.

• Usually placed between a complete and incomplete
  statement
• in a complex sentence when the incomplete
  statement comes
• first.
• Because she is overweight, Arlene diets often.
• When she pigs out, Arlene gains weight!

However, when the order is reversed (complete
idea followed by incomplete), the comma usually
is omitted.
Arlene diets because she is overweight.
Arlene gains weight when she pigs out!
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Comma
,

• Use after items in a SERIES, including the next
  to last item.
• Rob, Garrick, and Darren are my three sons.

,
NOT used if or or and appears between all
items in a series. Rick is willing to travel
to New York or Michigan or even California for
the job.
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,
Comma

• Use to set off INTRODUCTORY phrases (as well as
  interjections)
• Infinitive phrase To be or not to be, that is
  the question.
• Prepositional phrase In Rome, do as the Romans
  do.
• Participial phrase Being fat, the cat slow at
  catching mice.
• Moving quickly, the army surrounded the
  enemy.
• Interjection Oh, is that all you received
  for your hard work?

• Use to set off NONRESTRICTIVE elements
• Our new manager, who has only six weeks
  experience, is highly competent.
• The house, riddled with carpenter ants, is
  falling apart.
• Restrictive clause All students who have work
  experience will receive preference.

,
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,
Comma

• Use to set off PARENTHETICAL elements
• Emphasis This deluxe model, of course, is more
  expensive.
• Afterthought Your research report, by the way,
  was excellent. Clarification The loss of my
  job was, in a way, a blessing.
• Transition Our warranty, however, does not
  cover tire damage.
• Direct address Listen, my children, and
  you shall here . . .
• Begin Naturally, we will expect a full
  guarantee.
• End Thank you for your help, Rob!

• Use to set off QUOTED material
• Ken Blanchard said, No one of us is as smart as
  all of us

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,
Comma

• Use to set off APPOSITIVES when non-restrictive
• Mike, our new training representative, is
  redesigning the welding class.
• Please make all checks payable to Arlene Lewis,
  our golf treasurer.

• Used in COMMON PRACTICE
• Dates September 25, 2003
• June 15, 2004, is our graduation date.
• Three-digit intervals 10,500
• Address Mail to A. Lewis, 999 Ninth Street,
  Union Lake, Michigan 48386. Degrees Keven
  Korsky, Ph.D.

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,
Comma ERROR Examples
1. The most universal symptoms of the suicide
impulse, is depression.
The most universal symptoms of the suicide
impulse is depression.
2. This has been a long, difficult,
semester.
This has been a long, difficult semester.
3. John, Bill, and Sally, are joining us on the
trip home.

• John, Bill, and Sally are joining us on
  the trip home.

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4. An employee, who expects rapid promotion,
must quickly prove his or her worth.
An employee who expects rapid promotion must
quickly prove his/her worth.
5. I spoke by phone with John, and Marsha.
I spoke by phone with John and Marsha.
6. The room was, 18 feet long.
The room was 18 feet long.
7. We painted the room, red.
We painted the room red.
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Colon

• Used to introduce a statement of

• Enumeration
• Working in this department are three classes of
  support clerical, computer, and customer support.

• Explanation
• The company was pioneering a new marketing idea
  It was attempting to sell its products directly
  to consumers through its website.

• Formal Quotation
• Ken Blanchard said the following No one of us
  is as smart as all of us.

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Colon

• NOT used when the thought of the sentence should
  continue without interruption.
• If introducing a list, colon should be preceded
  by a word that explains or identifies the list.

Not this Cities in which new sales offices are
in operation are Fort Smith, Texarkana, and
Jackson.
But this Cities in which new sales offices are
in operation are Fort Smith, Texarkana, and
Jackson. Or this Cities with new sales offices
are as follows Fort Smith, Texarkana, and
Jackson.
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Semicolon

• Can replace the conjunction-comma combination
  that joins two independent clauses
• The project was finally completed, and we were
  elated.
• The project was finally completed we were
  elated.

• Must accompany conjunctive adverbs and
• other transitional expressions (e.g.,
  consequently, besides, otherwise, however,
  furthermore, therefore, on the other hand, etc.)
• Your resume is impressive in fact, it is the
  best Ive seen.

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Semicolon

• Separate the items in a list when the
• items have commas in them.
• I am applying for a job at General Motors in
  Warren, Michigan Rochester, New York Lordstown,
  Ohio and Shreveport, Kentucky.

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Dashes

• Used to set off an element for emphasis or to
  show interrupted thought.
• If you want a voice in the governmentvote.
• Kima true friendspent hours helping me clean
  house.

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Parentheses ( )

• Use to set off supplemental words that are
  parenthetic or are inserted to explain or
  supplement the principal message.
• Tom Jones explains that teams must exhibit 12
  key elements to be considered highly effective
  (reference Appendix A for details).

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Hyphen
-

• Divides words at the right-hand margin (end of
  the
• line) between syllables
• .Com-
• puter.

• Joins two or more words used as a single
  adjective
• when preceded by a noun but not if they
• follow it
• The rough-hewn wood
• The wood was rough hewn.
• The all-too-human error
• The error was all too human.

• Placed between the parts of some compound words
• brother-in-law

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Hyphen

• Joins words that begin with ex, only if ex
  means
• past.
• Ex-faculty member
• Excommunicate

• Joins fractions/ratios that are used as
  adjectives and that
• precede the noun (but does not follow it),
  and compound
• numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.
• In A two-thirds majority
• a four-to-one vote, the senate defeated the
  proposal.
• The proposal was voted down four to one.
• Thirty-eight windows were broken.

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Apostrophe

• Used to mark the place in a contraction where
  letters are omitted
• It is its
• Has not hasnt
• Cannot cant

• Used to show possessive case of
• nouns and indefinite pronouns
• ADD an apostrophe plus s at the end of a
  singular word or a plural word that does not end
  in s

The cats meow! Kims computer The peoples
candidate Could be anyones guess.
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ApostropheEXCEPTIONS

• Proper names and singular nouns ending in s
  sounds
• ADD either apostrophe or apostrophe and an s

Texas (singular) Texass, Texas Jones
(singular) Joness, Jones countess
(singular) countesss, countess

• ADD an apostrophe only to plural words that end
  in s

Joneses (plural) The Joneses home. Jacksons
(plural) The Jacksons wine cellar. cats
(plural) The cats treats.
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Quotation Marks

• Used to enclose the exact words borrowed from a
  speaker or writer.

• Used around titles of articles, paintings, book
  chapters, and
• poems.
• The enclosed article, The Job Market for
  College Graduates, should provide some helpful
  insights.
• NOTE Titles of books, journals, or newspapers
  should be underlined or italicized.

• Use a single quotation mark to enclose a
  quotation
• within a quotation
• The English 386 instructor said, its been a
  long time since I heard a student say, Prof, we
  need more writing assignments.

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Punctuation withQuotation Marks

• Place periods and commas inside quotation marks
• Hurry up, whispered Jacquelyn.
• Mike replied, Im busy.
• Place semicolons and colons outside quotation
  marks
• The OWL website clearly defines APA
  Guidelines
• however, it does not provide a format
  template.
• Place question marks and exclamation points
  inside if they apply to the quoted passage only
  and outside if they apply to the whole sentence
• Help! he screamed.
• Marsha asked John, Cant we agree about
  anything?
• Why did Garrick wink and whisper, Its a big
  secret?

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STANDARDS FOR THE USE OF NUMBERS
10, 11, 12

• Rule of Nine
• Spell out numbers nine and under
• Use figures for 10 and higher
• EXCEPTION
• Spell out numbers that begin a sentence
• Keep all numbers in the same form in comparisons
• Use numerals for all percentages (37)
• Use figures for days of the month when month
  precedes the day (September 20, 2003)

one
two
three
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EXCEPTIONS

• Use either of the two following orders for dates
• 29 June 2002
• June 29, 2002
• Present money amounts as you would other numbers.
• Usually spell indefinite numbers and amounts
• Over a million people live here.
• The current population is around four hundred
  thousand.

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EXCEPTIONS

• Spell out fractions that stand alone (without a
  whole number e.g, one-half) or begin a sentence
• Two-thirds of all jobs in the U.S. are jobs in
  the
• information industry.

• Use numerics with whole numbers and in technical
  contexts
• The share price of IBM rose by 3-7/8 today.

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Six Useful Spelling Rules

• Is it ei or ie ???
• Rule Use i before e, except after c or when
  sounded like ay as in neighbor and weigh.

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Spelling Rules

• Example
• believe, niece (i before e)
• receive, conceive (except after c)
• Neighbor, sleigh (sounds like ay)

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Exceptions

• Either, neither, foreign, height, etc.
• (see. P. 632)

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Adding Endings to Words

• Know the Rules See pages 632-633

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Do you keep or drop the final e when adding an
ending???

• Rule Keep the final e when adding an ending that
  begins with a consonant.
• Example
• Hope-ful hopeful
• Aware-ness awareness

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But, Drop the Final e

• When you are adding an ending that begins with a
  vowel.
• Example
• Hope ing hoping
• Write- ing writing

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Exceptions

• ending begins with a consonant
• True-ly truly
• Judge-ment judgment
• ending begins with a vowel
• Manage- able manageable
• Notice- able noticeable
• When in doubtLOOK it UP!

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How about When the word ends in Y?

• Rule Keep the y if the letter before the
• y is a vowel
• Example
• delay delaying
• buy buying

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However, drop the final y and change it to i

• If the letter before the y is a consonant .
• Example
• Defy Defiance
• Marry Married
• Note keep the Y if you are just adding ing
• Defying, Marrying

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One Syllable Word Rules

• Double the final consonant when adding an ending
  to a one-syllable word when
• A single vowel comes before it
• Example
• drop dropped
• Shop shopped

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However, dont double

• when two vowels or a consonant comes before the
  word
• Example
• Repair repairable
• Real realize

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How Do You Form a Plural?Is it -s or es ?

• Rule
• a. For most nouns add s
• Add es to words that end in o if the -0 is
  preceded by a consonant.
• Example
• hero heroes
• potato potatoes
• Note As always, there are exceptions to the
  rule.
• See p. 633

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Answers to Pre-Test

• Our files are completely up to date.
• 2.The set includes knives, forks, and spoons.
• 3.I like cookies, but Amy prefers brownies.
• 4.Would you call Al "weird"?
• 5.Our offices are in Boston, Mass. Orlando,
  Fla. and Provo, Utah.
• 6.The bad economic news will affect our annual
  bonuses.
• 7.More important, it will mean no raises!
• 8.Are those cars the Joneses'?
• 9.Carly thinks Tom's a "geek.
• 10.Who shall I say is calling?