Business Grammar

SESSION
TWO
Adaptation in
Business
Communication
- Fitting The Message To

A Specific Reader
Business Grammar
 Do’s
&
Dont’s
Golden Rules
Choose Short Words
• Short words communicate better exceptions
exist
• The antiquated merchandising strategy is
ineffectual in contemporary business operations
• The old sales strategy will not work in today’s
business
• They acceded to the proposition to terminate
business
• They agreed to quit business
Select Stronger Words
• Verbs -- Action Words --
Strongest
• Nouns -- Doers Of Action --
Are Second
• Adjectives And Adverbs --
Weak Words -- Add Length
And Distract
Illustrations of
Stronger Words
Strong Weak
Slump Period Of Decline In Market
Boom Period Of Business Prosperity
Tycoon Eminent, Successful Businessman
Use Concrete Words
• Concrete Words -- Form a
Sharp and Clear Meaning In
Mind
• Abstract Words -- Give a Vague
Or a General Meaning
Illustrations of Concrete Words
Abstract Concrete
A Substantial Gain A 60% Profit
A Piece Of Art A Painting
Administration Managing Director
Avoid Jargon
Avoid Legal Words Like Thereto,

Therein, Herein, Ipso Facto, Etc
The Land Adjacent Thereto Can
Be The Adjacent Land
Avoid ‘We Beg To State’
Illustrations of Jargon
 Replace “a stroke” with “a

cerebral vascular accident”
 Replace ‘ultimo’ with ‘of the
previous month’
 Replace ‘proximo’ with ‘of the
next month’
Replace Formal and Stiff Words
With Simple and Preferable
This is to acknowledge Thank you for your
We acknowledge Thanks for your letter
Attached herewith Attached
Would you be good enough Would you please
Instant, inst (of the same Write the month

month)
We hand you our latest Enclosed is our latest
quotation enclosed herein quotation
Use The Active Voice
ACTIVE
ACTIVE VOICE
VOICE
••SUBJECT
SUBJECTDOES
DOESTHE
THEACTION
ACTION
••STRONGER
STRONGERAND
ANDSHORTER
SHORTER
PASSIVE
PASSIVE VOICE
VOICE
••SUBJECT
SUBJECTRECIEVES
RECIEVESACTION
ACTION
••IT
ITDULLS
DULLSTHE
THEACTION
ACTION
Passive Voice has its Place
• When the doer of the action is not
important
• Helps to avoid accusing the reader
• Better when the performer is not
known or
• When the writer prefers not to name
the performer
Avoid Overuse of Camouflaged
Verbs or Abstract Nouns
A verb is camouflaged when it is
changed to a noun
(e.g. appear becomes appearance)
and then action words have to be
added
(e.g. make an appearance)
Illustration of Camouflaged
Verbs
»Passive, Indirect
• Elimination of the surplus was effected by
the staff
»Active, Direct
• The staff eliminated the surplus
• Assist -- Verb
• Assistance -- Noun
• Give assistance to -- Extra words added
Use Appropriate Synonym
• Differences In The Finer Shades Of
Meaning Has Its Effect On Writing
• E.G. ‘Beautiful’ And ‘Magnificent’

Convey The Same Meaning, Yet
– ‘Beautiful’ Is More Appropriate For A
Lady
– And ‘Magnificent’ For A Building
Use Technical Words and
Acronyms With Caution
 Use Only When Readers Know Them
 Use Initials Carefully, Define And Spell
Out
 Acronym Is A Word Formed From The
Initial Letters Of A Multiword Name.
 WAC Is Women’s Army Corps
Avoid Discriminatory Words
 Gender Bias
 Replace authoress, actress with
author, actor
 Avoid using ‘he’ for everyone, use
‘he’ or ‘she’
 Racial bias
Avoid Discriminatory Words
 Age Bias
 Do not include age when irrelevant
 e.g. Mr X, 56, has just joined our
company
 Disability Bias
 Replace “Crippled workers face
difficulties in their work place”
 with “Workers with physical disabilities
face difficulties in their work place”

“You” Attitude
• Avoid I, Me, Mine, We, Ours
• Use You And Yours
We attitude You attitude

We have four You have a choice of
different savings four savings
schemes in which schemes in which
our customers can you can invest your
invest their savings. savings
“You” Attitude
• But
Avoid It If It Makes You
Sound Dictatorial Or When
Someone Makes A Mistake
• e.g. Say “We Have A Problem”

Instead Of “You Caused The
Problem”
Emphasize the Positive
• Explain What You Have Done, What You Can Do,
And What You Will Do
• Avoid Saying What You Haven’t Done, Can’t Do Or
Won’t Do
Negative Positive
It is impossible to Your computer would
repair your computer be ready by Friday
today
Emphasize the Positive
• Avoid referring to failures, problems, shortcomings
• Focus on what the person can do to improve
Negative Positive
The problem with this The performance of this
department is a failure department can be
to control costs improved by tightening up
cost controls
Establish A Good Relationship
With Your Audience By
• Using “You” Attitude, Bias-free And
Positive Language
• Establishing Your Credibility
• Being Polite By Expressing Yourself
With Courtesy, Kindness, Tact
• Being Prompt In Your
Correspondence
• Projecting The Company’s Image
Bringing Clarity
 BreakUp Overly Long
Sentences
 Rewrite Hedging Sentences
 Impose Parallelism
 Correct Misplaced Modifiers
Misplaced Modifiers
Modifying words or words that describe.
Keep them near the noun
 Mr Jones is the person speaking to

Susan with the grey moustache
 Mr Jones is the person with the grey
moustache speaking to Susan
Misplaced or Dangling
Modifiers
• Walking to the office, a red sports
car passed her
• A red sports car passed her while

she was walking to the office
Unparallel and Parallel
Sentences
• To waste time and missing

deadlines are bad habits
• Wasting time and missing

deadlines are bad habits
Sentences
• To reduce expenses the company will
have to cut salaries, closing the canteen
and slashing travel expenses
• To reduce expenses the company will

have to cut salaries, close the canteen
and slash travel expenses
Sentences
• Two new duties for the job are
making phone calls and to call on
clients
• Two new duties for the job are

making phone calls and calling on
clients
Bringing Clarity
• Replace Camouflaged Verbs
• Avoid Starting Sentence With “It Is”
Or “There Are” (Expletive Forms)
• Spell Out Abbreviations, Acronyms
• Moderate Your Enthusiasm
Moderate your Enthusiasm
• We are extremely pleased to offer you a position
on our staff of exceptionally skilled and highly
educated employees. The work offers
extraordinary challenges and a very large salary
• We are pleased to offer you a position on our

staff of skilled and well-educated employees.
The work offers challenges and an attractive
salary.

Business Grammar

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SESSION

- Fitting The Message To

Avoid Legal Words Like Thereto,

 Replace “a stroke” with “a

Instant, inst (of the same Write the month

• E.G. ‘Beautiful’ And ‘Magnificent’

face difficulties in their work place”

We attitude You attitude

• e.g. Say “We Have A Problem”

 Mr Jones is the person speaking to

• A red sports car passed her while

• To waste time and missing

• Wasting time and missing

• To reduce expenses the company will

• Two new duties for the job are

• We are pleased to offer you a position on our

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