Hints & Tips

The plurals trap

Plurals can cause problems, especially nouns that end with 'o' as in hero, or 'ey' as in monkey.  Here are some simple rules.

1. For nouns ending in ey simply add an 's'.
2. For nouns ending in 'y' change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'.
3. For most short nouns ending in 'o' add 'es'.

Watch out for these:

• The plural of 'person' is 'people', not 'persons'.
• Addendum (singular) vs Addenda (plural)
• Bureau (singular) vs Bureaux (plural)
• Fish (singular) vs Fish or Fishes (plural)
• Medium (singular) vs Media (plural)

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Quotation Marks.

The Style Manual for Authors and Editors (Fifth Edition) states that direct speech is enclosed in single quotation marks:

'Yes, that is the situation', she replied.

The direct quotations can be incomplete or interrupted:

He agreed that he was trying to add 'an air of respectibility' to the meeting.

Double marks are used around a quotation within a quotation:

I told the class: 'The first word of Melville's Moby Dick are "Call me Ishmael" and these words are full of significance'.

If a punctuation mark is part of the quotation it should be placed inside the quotation mark:

He shouted,'Stop thief!', but the robber got away.

'Am I my brother's keeper?' he asked.

If the punctuation mark relates to the sentence rather than the quote, it should be placed outside the quotation mark:

The girl said,'I wish you would keep quiet. Her brother took no notice.

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Using the right word

Do you present yourself in the best possible light to your customers, clients, friends, family and the world in general? Using the right word at the right time is like wearing appropriate clothing for the ocassion. It's another way of presenting yourself to the world. Taking the time to use the right word at the right time is a courtesy to others and a favour to yourself. Note: Sloppy language makes for muddled thinking and bad impressions.

A common mistake and a good example of sloppy language is the misuse of the words Affect and Effect.

Effect is frequently mispelt as affect since the two words are often pronounced the same.  The difference and meaning of the two words is quite clear but they are commonly misused.

Effect when used as a noun means a result or influence. 'His speech had a profound effect on my thinking.'

Affect is commonly used as a verb related to the second sense of 'effect', meaning to have an effect upon or to influence. For example, 'Alcohol affects people in different ways.'  The use of the word 'affect' in this example is with respect to how people are influenced by alcohol or the resultant effect of alcohol on different people.  

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Be Active

There is nothing more certain to turn an interesting sentence into a boring one.

"Three people were chased by a naked man in Victoria Park last night"

versus

"A naked man chased three people in Victoria Park last night."

The word you should avoid using in your copy is "by"The first sentence is using what is called passive voice. This should be avoided at all costs. The second sentence is using the active voice.  Active voice gives a sentence or story more impact and immediacy - a far stronger sense of action. Passive voice is slow and boring.

Say good bye to "by".

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Color

Use of color is a greaty of communicating a message.  If you can't afford color try these alternatives:

• Print in black ink on colored or pre printed paper.
• Buy a single color toner cartridge for your printer and use that instead of black.
• For text reproduction, check out photocopier as it may contain red ink as well.

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