TIPS FOR OCTOBER 2002

• When you write, "According to . . ." before a direct quote, the quote does not begin with a capital letter. The time to use capital letters occurs when you use "normal" attributions–e.g., "he said/she said."
   

• Keep on watching out for redundancies: e.g., instead of writing "a short period of time," write "a short period" or "a short time."
   

• When using numbered bullets, or when writing short numbered lists in sentences, use two parentheses (they always come in pairs). For example: (1), (2), etc.
   

• After youıve used a trademark or service mark on first reference, it is not legally necessary to repeat it.
   

• If you use the title of a periodical, be sure to italicize it, but do not capitalize the word magazine. For example: Good Housekeeping magazine.

TIPS FOR JANUARY 2003

• In a sentence such as "She was with a firm based in Chicago, where she was a financial advisor," writers often omit the comma between the location and the word "where." The rule is that after a proper noun like Chicago, a comma before "where" is needed because the "where" clause is nonrestrictive (not essential).
   

• Be careful to distinguish between "never mind" and "nevermind." "Never mind" would be correct in a sentence such as "Never mind that the company had already agreed to make the changes." "Nevermind" is labeled "dialect" by dictionaries, to be used in constructions such as "He didnıt pay her no nevermind."
   

• I shouldn't have to include this next one in these tips, but it's such a common error that I must point it out. Here's an example I spotted in a magazine ad brought to us from the "I've fallen and can't get up" folks: "Elderly MOM or DAD? Are they alright?" Please help me get up off the floor! Are copywriters not using spell check? "All right" is still the only standard correct spelling for this term.
   

• Here's another one that everyone should know how to spell (non-Southerners donıt need to worry, since they rarely write this expression). It's "y'all," a contraction for "you all," with the apostrophe replacing the "ou." It's irritating to see one of my journalist colleagues repeatedly write "ya'll," evidently by incorrect analogy with "she'll," "we'll," etc.
   

• Never place any punctuation immediately before an opening parenthesis. Incorrect example: "In cases like these, (unless there is some major practical obstacle) the best way to proceed is to follow the model shown below. The comma after "these" should instead be placed after the closing parenthesis.

TIPS FOR FEBRUARY 2003

• A point that I've never seen discussed is the proper use of terms related to time in documents (say, reports and novels) written in the past tense. The "rule" is basically this: when writing in the past tense, do not use the words "today," "now," "yesterday," "tomorrow," and similar expressions. Instead of writing "He was planning to surprise his wife tomorrow," write, "He was planning to surprise his wife the following day." That wording keeps all words in the same perspective.
   

• Another point related to tense (and one that is emphasized in textbooks and style guides) is that writers should not shift from one tense to another without a logical reason. Incorrect example: "The sun burned down on us, and then we are invaded by a swarm of mosquitoes." The verb in the first clause, "turned," is a past form, but "are" in the second clause is in the present tense. There is no change in time, so "are" should be changed to "were."
   

• Many people inadvertently omit the helping verb "had." Simply, here's the deal: use "had" in a clause discussing something in the past that happened BEFORE another past event discussed in the same sentence. Example: "The company had cooked its books several years before the scheme was brought to light."
   

• Another verb issue involves the proper use of "would" in certain complex sentences. Incorrect example: "If the corruption would have been discovered earlier, the damage to employees and stockholders would have been much smaller." The key is to realize that you donıt want to use two "would haves," and you donıt want the "would have" to appear in the "if" clause. Rewrite: "If the corruption had been discovered earlier, the damage to employees and stockholders would have been much smaller."
   

• While I'm on the subject of verbs, let me caution writers specifically about correctly using plural verbs in sentences like the following: "Hiking and backpacking is my favorite outdoor activity." There are two issues: (1) The subject is plural and its completing word is singular, and (2) The subjects are -ing words (for some reason, some people think that two such subjects, especially if closely related in meaning, should take a singular verb). Either or both could explain why the singular verb is was incorrectly used. Better: "Hiking and backpacking are my favorite outdoor activities."

TIPS FOR MARCH 2003

• Be careful to make all items in a series parallel (grammatically identical). For example, the sentence "Both must be consistent, professional, friendly, and convey an attitude that you are willing to listen to." The fourth item in the series, a verb, is not parallel with the first three, which are adjectives.
  
  Here's a way to revise this sentence: "Both must be consistent, professional, and friendly and must also convey an attitude that you are willing to listen." (Or "... friendly as well as conveying....")
   

• One change in newer dictionaries is that "fundraiser" and "fundraising" are now written without hyphens. In the past, "fund raiser" was often written as two words, and "fundraising" was hyphenated. This new way is much simpler and easier to remember.
   

• What do you do when no dictionary includes the root word about which you have a hyphenation question when you add a prefix? Here are two words that a medical transcriptionist asked me about: "nonkeratinizing" and "transepithelial." You may have the same question about different words.
  
  Here are two ways to solve this problem. First, know the general rules about hyphenation of specific prefixes (e.g., "non" and "trans" are generally not hyphenated). Second, look for other words in the dictionary with the same prefix and see how theyıre handled; then follow the same pattern.
   

• The same professionals who asked me about the words in the above tip also asked about the hyphenation of phrases such as "insulin dependent" and "ill defined." My answer: phrases in which the second word is a verb form (like "defined") are always hyphenated. In the case of "insulin-dependent," you need to determine whether the phrase functions as a single idea. If it does, as is true with "insulin-dependent," it should be hyphenated.
   

• What's the difference in the use of "much" and "many"? And what difference does it make? The answer: "much" is used to modify singular nouns (e.g., "I donıt have much time"), and "many" modifies plural nouns (e.g., "many thanks").

TIPS FOR APRIL 2003

• If you want to signal that a phrase of two or more words is used as single modifier, you can use one of two techniques: hyphenation or enclosing the phrase in quotation marks. The point is that you don't need both, as in this example: "do-whatever-it-takes" attitude. I prefer hyphenation; quotation marks add unnecessary clutter.
   
• Here's the way to determine whether to use a comma before "so." If it means "so that," no comma is needed. If "so" means "therefore," use a comma. Example One: "You want to deliver more value to clients so [that] can do the same for their customers." Example Two: "The company didn't advertise widely, so they didn't enjoy robust sales."
   
• Generally, no comma is needed before "from" unless the "from" phrase modifies the word immediately preceding. Example One: "We've tried to identify best practices, from contract negotiation through execution." Example Two: "Today the wind is gusting from the northwest." The pause in your voice will tell you when to use the comma.
   
• Remember that "flout" and "flaunt" have very different meanings. Most people use "flaunt" when they mean "flout." A journalist, paraphrasing a Kuwaiti official, made this error in this sentence: "....dictators cannot be allowed to flaunt the will of the United Nations."
  
  "Flaunt" means "to show off ostentatiously," and it's a much more common word than its evil twin. Most people never say "flout." "Flout" means "to mock, scorn, or scoff." Obviously this is the meaning required in the example above.
   
• "Hone" is commonly used incorrectly. The error is typically made in a sentence such as this one: "We're going to hone in on the problem that caused the shuttle disaster."
  
  "Home," not "hone," is the correct choice in this example. "Home" means "to focus on, to zero in on, to guide toward." "Hone" means "to sharpen or smooth."