Business Writing Tips from The Writing Center

We'll end this series with words that can devalue business documents if used improperly:

percent, percentage: Percent is used with numbers. (Fifty percent of the class passed the exam.) Percentage is used without numbers. (Only a small percentage of the population responded.)

precede, proceed: Precede means to go before in order or time. (A neutral statement should precede the reasons for refusal in a letter of refusal.) Proceed means to go onward. (The meeting proceeded smoothly in spite of interruptions.)

principal, principle: As an adjective, principal means chief or main, as in principal residence. As a noun, principal means leader or chief officer or in finance, a capital sum. (The principal reason the principal of our school changed banks was to get higher interest on his principal.) The noun principle means fundamental law or truth. (He explained the principle behind laser technology.)

secondly, thirdly, etc.: Unless you are prepared to begin with firstly and defend its use, do not use -ly with numbers. Use second, third, and so on.

shall, will: Shall is used to express determination in contracts, directives, and policy statements. Will is correctly used to express the future tense for all persons. (Local procedures shall be approved by the Manager of Procurement. We will meet with ABC's Customer Service Representatives on January 3.) 

state: Do not use state as a substitute for remark or say. Use it in the sense of to express definitely or specifically. (She stated their position on the case.)

than, then: Do not use than (a conjunction used in comparisons) for then (an adverb indicating time). (He is older than I. I will see you at dinner, and I will return your book then.) Use than to express degrees of comparison.

that, which: That always introduces clauses essential to a sentence's meaning. Which may introduce either an essential or nonessential clause, but it is preferred to use it only when introducing a nonessential clause. (The report that I'm writing is due on Tuesday. The Johnson report, which I received yesterday, is superb.)

unique: Several adjectives such as unique, perfect, round, straight, and complete name qualities that do not vary in degree. They should not be used with comparative and superlative forms such as more or most. Do not say It was the most unique suggestion.

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This edition was adapted from our Business Grammar Program. Previous editions may be read at http://www.uliveandlearn.com/newsletters/index.cfm.
 

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