Essential Business Grammar

MMS-Business Writing DSIMS _________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Use of Articles
This section discusses the use of articles - A , AN and THE . A or AN is used when you refer generally to something; in other words, something not specifically known. They are indefinite articles. y A meeting must have an agenda y A manager has to be a good leader It is also used when introducing someone or something not mentioned before. Exception: An must not be used for all words that begin with vowels a , e , i , o , u . It must be used only for those words where the pronunciation is a vowel sound. Therefore we say, an umbrella but a university . We also say an honest man because h is silent. Use A or An when referring to, i. A SINGLE thing or person. y There is a meeting room on every floor. y It is an important topic. y It was quite an interesting meeting. y She is a colleague of mine. Professions or jobs y She is an engineer y He is a personnel officer
ii.
The is used when, 1. Referring to things that are UNIQUE1. 2. 3. 4. The White House I am worried about the future. The Queen of England has a say in this matter. The weather is improving.
Exception: Though we say the rain , the sun , the future - when you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Essential Business Grammar-Student Handout Page 1
y There is a cold wind blowing. y She has a promising future ahead of her. 2. When you are referring to a particular person or thingy The person who chaired the meeting must sign. y The problem must be solved. y The manager of our Accounts Department is Mr. Manish. 3. When referring to the same thing that the speaker has already mentionedy She has a girl. The girl is five years old. 4. When it is obvious what you are referring toy y y y We are returning the supplies May I use the phone? The meeting starts at 8 am sharp. Do you have a copy of the report?
5. When a particular thing or person mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. 6. The is also used for, y y y y Oceans, seas & rivers (The Pacific, The Nile) A range of Mountains, Island groups Hotels, museums Geographical points on the globe
Note: An article must NOT be used for, a) Generalizations about plural ideas, people or things y Meetings are important. y Shopkeepers are usually self-employed. y Students don't usually have much money. b) Generalizations about ideas that cannot be counted
y Knowledge is power. y Watching television is relaxing. y Timing is very essential. c) When talking about sports d) For Planets, continents, states, countries (except when they indicate multiple areas or contain the words kingdom, state(s), republic and union). e) For languages f) For parks, streets and public buildings
2.
Forms of Verb
Simple Tense verbs have only one part. These verbs express a meaning completely on their own and are often called the Main Verb. y She walks to office every morning. y The wind blew off the roof. y She wrote a long letter Now consider the following sentences, y The wind had blown off our roof y The dog has eaten up half of my shoe. In these sentences, the words had , has help the verbs blow and eat to form the correct tense. These verbs are said to have multiple parts. Words like have , had and has are called Helping (Auxiliary) Verbs. Some common helping verbs have, be, do, shall, will, may, am, is, are, was, were, been, being. In the above examples, the words blown and eaten that appear after the helping verb are referred to as the Participle . They have two forms Past and Present. The Present Participle is fairly straightforward; they all end in -ing . However, when it comes to the Past Participle form of the verbs, they do not follow a consistent pattern. In some cases the Past Participle is the same as the Simple Past form of the verb. y We talked to him yesterday. y We have talked to him about this matter. In other cases, the Past Participle is different. It is important to develop a good understanding of these verb forms to ensure that there are no errors in your writing. y She wrote her essay and left. (Simple Past) y Once she has written her essay, she can leave. y The bird flew away. (Simple Past) y The bird may have flown away, hearing the noise.
3.
An Introduction to Tenses
4. Use of Tenses Tenses help in understanding the time of an event or action and whether the event is completed or still going on. Events related to The Present: To indicate Permanent states or situations, habits or regular happenings. Facts and general truths Tense Simple Present Examples The sun rises in the east.
He lives in Mumbai but spends every weekend in Pune. Present Continuous She is typing a paper for her class.
Something that is happening right now. It has begun and the event is still in progress. Temporary events. Events or things that began in the past but are still continuing. The duration of something that began in the past and continues into the present.
I am reading the new novel by John Grisham. Present Perfect We have lived in Mumbai for several years.
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been working here since 2003. He has been studying for one hour. We have been living in Andheri for the last two years, but plan to move.
Temporary events that have been in progress recently.
Events related to the Past: To indicate An event completed in the definite past and no longer true in the present An action in progress at some point of time in the past. An action that was in progress when another action occurred. An event that took place first when two events occurred in the past. Past Perfect Tense Simple Past Example We booked a room at the Taj last month.
Past Continuous
I was staying at the Taj last month. He was bathing when the doorbell rang. (For the second action use Simple Past) He had bathed before the taps ran dry. (For the second event use Simple Past) I have seen this movie several times.
An event that occurred in the indefinite past
Present Perfect
Events related to The Future: The words will and be going to are often used to describe future actions. To indicate A promise Tense Simple Future Example Prices will go up next year due to exchange rate changes. I will meet you sometime next week.
A plan or arrangement, referring to timetables or schedules
To indicate What you are going to do
Tense Future Continuous
Example I will be visiting Delhi in March. She will be arriving by the evening train.
Two events in the future, where one event will be completed before the other. A schedule
Future Perfect
We will have finished the exam by the time the class finishes tomorrow. She is meeting a new client at 11 o clock. The train leaves at 6:00 am tomorrow.
Present Continuous
Simple Past
Note: Do not switch from one tense to another unless the timing of an action demands that you do. Keep the verb tense consistent in sentences and paragraphs.
5. COMMON ERRORS TENSES This section discusses a few common errors in tense usage. You can avoid these errors if you understand and memorize a few rules. i. We use present continuous (am working, is working) to talk about an action that is GOING ON AT THE TIME OF SPEAKING. The present perfect continuous (has been working, have been working) is used to talk about an action that has STARTED IN THE PAST AND IS STILL CONTINUING. It must not be mixed with present continuous. The words FOR and SINCE are very common when writing sentences in present perfect continuous. Wrong: I am working for the last two hours. (Present Continuous) Correct: I have been working for the last two hours. (Present Perfect Continuous) Wrong: He is working in this office for three years now. (Present Continuous) Correct: He has been working in this office for three years now. (Present Perfect Continuous) iii. You cannot use the present perfect tense (has read/have read) to mention something that was completed in the definite past. To mention a point of time in the past, use simple past. Wrong: I have written to him yesterday. (Present Perfect) Correct: I wrote to him yesterday. (Simple Past) Wrong: We have visited them last week. (Present Perfect) Correct: We visited them last week. (Simple Past) The present perfect tense is used to talk about an event in the indefinite past the specific time of the event is not important. iv. The past perfect tense (had read) IS ONLY USED FOR AN ACTION THAT WAS COMPLETED AT SOME POINT IN THE PAST, BEFORE ANOTHER PAST ACTION. The first action must be put into the past perfect to make the order clear. If you want to talk about A SINGLE ACTIVITY THAT WAS COMPLETED IN THE PAST, use simple past.
ii.
Wrong: I had been to Bombay recently. Correct: I went to Bombay recently. (Simple Past) Correct: I had been to Bombay before I went to London. (Past Perfect) Wrong: I had spoken to him last night. Correct: I spoke to him last night. (Simple Past) Correct: I had spoken to him before he left for the airport. (Past Perfect)
v.
The Past Simple is used for REPEATED ACTIONS IN THE PAST. The Past Continuous is used to indicate that an activity WAS IN PROGRESS AT A SPECIFIC POINT OF TIME IN THE PAST. It indicates the DURATION of the activity. Wrong: I was smoking when I was in high school. (Past Continuous) Correct: I smoked when I was in high school. (Simple Past) Wrong: I watched a film while my wife was cooking dinner. (Simple Past) Correct: I was watching a film while my wife was cooking dinner. (Past Continuous)
6. SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT Subjects and Verbs must agree in number and in person, irrespective of whether the subject comes before or after the verb in the sentence. ALL THIRD PERSON, SINGULAR SUBJECTS REQUIRE A SINGULAR VERB. Note: Verbs do not form their plurals by adding an s , as nouns do. Hence, in other words All third person, singular subjects require an s after the verb. You must keep the following rules in mind to decide whether the subject is singular or plural. 1. Two or more subjects connected by and are plural. Ram and John are waiting outside. 2. If two subjects are connected by or or nor or either/or or neither/nor or not only/but also, the verb must agree with the subject nearest to it. The students or the teacher is to blame. The teacher or the students are to blame. 3. Words such as along with, together with, as well as, besides, or not that follow a subject must be ignored when determining the subject. The king as well as his subjects is happy with the alliance. 4. If the word no or modifying words each, every everyone, every one, everybody, anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody appear before the subject, it is singular and requires singular verbs. Everyone has to die some day. Each of the girls was given a blue ribbon. No smoking and drinking is allowed. Every man and woman is required to check in. 5. The five indefinite pronouns - some, part, half, most, and all - have no clear number. They are singular or plural depending on what they are referring to. Some of us are going there today. Part of the butter has already melted.
6. The indefinite pronouns few, many, several or both always take the plural form.
7. With words that indicate portions percent, fraction, half of, part, majority, some, all, none, more, most, any, remainder, etc. look at the noun to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb. A small percentage of voters fall into the disabled category. Fifty percent of the employees live in close proximity to the plant. One-third of the cake was eaten by the dog. A small fraction of the work force is in favor of the new rules. 8. Collective nouns such as team, staff, senate, class, crowd, jury, etc. may be either singular or plural depending on their use in the sentence. Usually it takes a singular verb when the collection is thought of as a whole; a plural verb when the members it is composed of are thought of. The jury has found the man guilty of murder. A crowd has collected outside the building. The jury are divided on this issue. 9. The expression "more than one" takes a singular verb. More than one student has tried this. 10. All mathematical expressions are singular. Two and two is four. Four times four divided by two is eight. EXCEPTIONS: In addition to the above rule, there are a couple of exceptions you must keep in mind Agreement problems typically occur in relative clauses using which , that , or one of those who . In fact, these clauses can never contain the subject. In such sentences, check what or whom the relative pronoun is referring to. In other words, find the word the pronoun stands for. He decided to write novels, which are his favorite form. (Here, which refers to novels , and therefore the verb must be plural).
A dog that loves its owners deserves a reward. (Here the subject is not owners, but dog, which is singular and gets a singular verb deserves .) Sachin is one of those bosses who believe in giving their employees freedom to make decisions. (Here, who refers to bosses , and therefore the verb must be plural).
We are already familiar with prepositions words that are placed before a noun or pronoun to complete the full sense or relation of the noun with the remaining part of the sentence. A prepositional phrase is a group of words that starts with a preposition at, by, for, from, in, of, off, on, out, through, till, to, up, with, about, etc. and is followed by a noun or pronoun. A few examples of prepositional phrases are, Of the report, in the factory, at home, under the table Such prepositional phrases may be placed between the subject and the verb. However, that should not affect the verb. For Example, The cars on the road are sometimes dangerous. (Road is not the subject. Are agrees with the plural subject, cars) The car with many passengers is following us. ( Passengers is not the subject. Is agrees with the singular subject, car)
7. PREPOSITIONS Prepositions (pre-positions) means that which is placed before . Prepositions are placed before a noun or pronoun to complete the full sense or relation of the noun with the remaining part of the sentence. There are nearly 200 prepositions in the English language; we look at the key ones here and consider their usage. Some examples of the common prepositions - At, In, On: y in a meeting, at lunch y on the radio, on television y on a bicycle, on a horse, on a motorbike y in a car, on a train y on a bus, at the bus-stop y in a helicopter, on a plane y in a boat, on a ship y at university, at college, at school, at work, at home y in a row, in a line y on the left, on the right y at the top, at the bottom, at the side y in Mumbai y on M.G. Road, at the end of the street y in the sky, in the garden y on the way Note: We say in the front but at the back of a car We say in the corner of a room but at the corner of the street . In is used when the area is not specified:
The Chief Minister lives in a bungalow. At is used when the area is named: The Chief Minister lives at Varsha. The following prepositions indicate location, o After The little girl ran after her mother. o Among I enjoy being among friends. o Behind The car park is behind the building. o Next to In class, I sat next to Ashwin. o Opposite I live opposite Joggers Park. o Between I held the pen between my thumb and fingers. o In front of The teacher stands in front of the class. o Over There was a board hanging over the door. o Above I enjoy watching the clouds floating above me. o Under The child was standing under the tree. We also use At, In, On to indicate time, days of the week, month, year, etc. y at 9 o clock, on Monday y at 2:30 p.m., on Friday afternoon y on 15th December, at midnight y on 20th November, in 1999 y in May y in summer, in the morning Other common prepositions of time include, y By (indicates a deadline) I will be there by the end of July. y Till/until (indicates an end point)
We ran until the bus was out of sight. We waited there till 5 p.m. y Since (indicates a beginning, point in time) I haven t visited him since April. y During I took notes during the meeting. y For I have not met him for a long time. y Throughout It has been raining throughout August. Exception: When we say last, next, this we do not also use at, in, on.
y y y
I went to Delhi last June. (not in last June) He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday) We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)
8. TRANSITION WORDS Transition words build proper flow between related ideas. Let us look at a few key transition words and the purpose they serve. Type of Word Addition Words And, moreover, as well as, in addition, also, additionally, another, besides on the other hand, unlike, as opposed to, in contrast to, than, although, similarly, conversely, instead, yet, but, however, still, nevertheless, likewise accordingly, as a result, consequently, hence, otherwise, subsequently, therefore, thus Above all, chiefly, especially, in particular, particularly for instance, for example, to illustrate, as an example in other words, in brief, to put it another way, in short, namely, that is to say after, before, firstly, as soon as, when, while, during, until, once, at first, at the same time, in the first place, for the time being, later on, meanwhile, in the meantime, simultaneously, earlier in conclusion, on the whole, after all, by and large, in short, in the final analysis, in any case, in any event, to sum up, finally then, next, first, previous
Contrast/Comparison
Consequence
Emphasis Illustration Restatement
Sequence
Summarizing
Narrative
9. ESSENTIAL PUNCTUATION Comma 1. Use a comma in a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction; use a comma after each term except the last. They are used to create a file, name a file, save a file and print a file. Read the letter, copy the important points and include it in the presentation.
2. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause. An independent clause is one that is complete in meaning and in grammar. The situation is dangerous, but there is still one chance of escape. I have heard the arguments, yet am still unconvinced. 3. Use a comma after every introductory phrase or clause. An introductory phrase or clause introduces the main idea of the sentence or directly affects the main idea. In recent times, several economies have faced a downturn. 4. Use a comma before and after a parenthetic expression (an expression that you would have otherwise enclosed in a parenthesis). These expressions are that part of the sentence which can be removed without changing the essential meaning of that sentence. The parenthetical expression is sometimes called "added information . The best way to see the country, provided you have the time, is to travel on foot. My teacher, Mrs. Gandhi, came to visit us today. Normally, when used with a parenthetic expression, the comma always occurs in pairs as is indicated in the examples above. However, there may be cases where the parenthetic expression is used in the beginning or end of the sentence. Of course, we will be visiting him on Tuesday. We will, of course, be visiting him on Tuesday. Besides of course , a comma also follows other additives like After all , Of course and For Example .
5. Use a comma if multiple adjectives are used. He is tall, dark and handsome. I live in a very old, run-down house. However, we say, The poor old woman was hit by a bicycle. And not, The poor, old woman was hit by a bicycle. How do we distinguish? If we can put an and or or between the adjectives, a comma will belong there. So a man can be tall and dark. As in, He is tall and dark and handsome . You can therefore use a comma here. However, you don t say, The poor and old woman was hit by a bicycle ; you therefore write it without a comma. 6. Use a comma in date expressions if they are written as, Thursday, April 28, 2009 Feb to July, 1988 April 6, 1987 However, the preferable format is, 6 April 1920 (without a comma). 7. Before quotes. I said, Of course. The rules apart, remember that you must use commas to avoid confusion and ensure your sentence is understood in the right context. Outside, the lawn was cluttered with hundreds of broken branches. Because they played with a killer instinct, they were able to win the game. Although we have been there several times in the past, we have been unable to see her. But what if the because clause appears later in the sentence? They were able to win the game because they played with a killer instinct.
Here, we didn t use a comma since the because clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Do not use a comma 1. To join independent clauses, if the clauses are not joined by a conjunction. (Use a semicolon here instead) See the section on Semicolon. 2. For a quoted element introduced by the word that She says that even if you see me it is too late now .
Semicolon Use a semicolon between two related complete sentences where there is no conjunction such as and or but , and where a comma would be ungrammatical. Consider the following example. It is nearly five. We cannot reach town before dark. The best way to indicate a relationship between statements that are closely related is to write them as a single sentence. Therefore, It is nearly five; we cannot reach town before dark. The second clause may be preceded by an adverb such as accordingly, besides, then, therefore, or thus; the semicolon is still required. The only exception is if the sentences are very short. In such cases, a comma may be used. Man proposes, God disposes A semicolon is also used in a list if the items in the list contain commas. We visited four cities: Raipur, Madhya Pradesh; Shimla, Himachal; Nagpur, Maharashtra and Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Hyphen Also referred to as the en dash, this little dash is used between words. 1. Hyphens create compound words, particularly modifiers before nouns Well-known author Six-month-old infant 2. Always hyphenate a noun phrase when it is used to quality another noun. Time-management skills but good time management The utensil is made out of stainless steel but a stainless-steel utensil A small-business problem is quite different from a small business problem. Inaccurate use of hyphens can completely alter the meaning of the sentence. 3. All based, defined, related, sensitive, oriented, intensive, specific words must be hyphenated unconditionally. 4. Anti , un , pro , quasi and self prefixed words are always hyphenated.
5. Hyphens are used for writing numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine as well as for fractions e.g. one-fourth, two-third 6. All pre , re , sub , non , multi , semi , inter , intra , mini prefixed words are not hyphenated. The only exception is if the word that follows begins with the same letter that the prefix ends with. Prehistoric but pre-establish
Apostrophe Use an Apostrophe 1. To create Possessive Forms. If the word is singular, the apostrophe is placed before s Karan s pencil If the word is plural, there are two possibilities: The plural word ends in s Place the apostrophe after the s Jokers caps The plural word does not end in s Men s room Place the apostrophe before the s
2. To create contractions Does not Doesn t She is She s They are They re (Different from Their) Who is or Who has Who s (Different from Whose) There is There s (Different from Theirs) You are You re (Different from Your) Note: Let us dwell upon one of the most common errors in writing It s Vs. Its. It s A contraction of the word It is or It has Its A possessive form of It It s a cat. Its tail is white. 3. To form Plurals, especially plurals of letter and digits. Don t forget to dot your i s and cross your t s. In a context in which the plural is clear, apostrophes after upper-case letters are not necessary. "He got four As, two Bs, and three Cs."
It is not necessary to create the plural of years or decades or abbreviations with an apostrophe: The independence movement of the 1940s There are fifteen PhDs on our faculty. However, if the abbreviation is written with periods, it is better to add an apostrophe before the s . It is also better to add an apostrophe if the abbreviation ends in s. S.O.S's Quotation Mark When a sentence concludes with a quote, should the punctuation be enclosed within the quote? In American English, the punctuation is always enclosed within the quote, irrespective of the nature of the sentence. Let us consider a few examples. If the quote is in the beginning of the sentence, include the appropriate comma within the quote. I hope we are doing the right thing, she said. If the sentence ends with a quote, She said, We must be careful with our money in these trying times. This is also true if the quote is a complete sentence. In the following example the sentence ends with the quote, which is a question. In such cases, include the question mark within the quote. She said, Is there any other way to convey the message? On the other hand, if the statement is itself a question, put the question mark outside the quote to end the sentence. Who from this class said, I hope the exam gets postponed ?
Remember, 1. It is not necessary to put a question mark at the end of an indirect question. The teacher asked the students if they have understood the lesson I asked them if this was the right way to the city. 2. Use a colon before a list or explanation that is preceded by a clause that is independent and complete (can stand by itself). You may also use a colon if there is an independent clause, following the first clause, which completes the sentence. 3. It is important to remember that parentheses de-emphasize text while a dash tends to highlight its importance.
4. Usually, single quotes are used to enclose quoted material within other quotes.
5. Exclamation marks are used to indicate delight, indignation, joy, rage and other feelings.
6. Italics are the print equivalent of underlining. It can be used to emphasize words.
7. There is no appropriate contraction for "there are." Don't confuse "they're," which means "they are" with "there are".

Essential Business Grammar

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MMS-Business Writing DSIMS _________________________________________________________________________________________

MMS-Business Writing DSIMS _________________________________________________________________________________________

MMS-Business Writing DSIMS _________________________________________________________________________________________