EN

BusinessWritersGuide.pdf

The Five-Way Access System

The five-way access system of The Business Writer’s Handbook provides readers with multiple ways of retrieving information:

1. Alphabetically Organized Entries

Alphabetically organized entries with color tabs enable readers to find information quickly. Within the entries, terms shown as links refer to other entries that contain definitions of key concepts or further information on related topics.

2. Contents by Topic

The complete “Contents by Topic” on the inside front cover groups entries into categories and serves as a quick reference for finding all topics covered in the book. The “Contents by Topic” allows a writer focusing on a specific task or problem to locate helpful entries; it is also useful for instructors who want to correlate the Handbook with standard textbooks or their own course materials. The list of “Commonly Misused Words and Phrases” (see page 601) extends this topical key by listing all the usage entries in the book.

3. Checklist of the Writing Process

The “Checklist of the Writing Process” (see page xxv) helps readers reference all writing-process–related entries.

4. Comprehensive Index

The user-friendly Index (see page 555) lists all the topics covered in the book—including subtopics and model documents—in an alphabetical arrangement.

5. Model Documents and Figures by Topic

The list of “Model Documents and Figures by Topic” (see page 610)

makes it easy for readers to find the abundant real-world examples and sample documents throughout the text that provide models for effective business communication.

Contents by Topic Use this list as a quick reference for finding entries by topic. To

search this book in more detail, see the Index.

Business Writing Documents and Elements Business Plans Description FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) Forms Indexing Instructions Job Descriptions Mission Statements Policies and Procedures Process Explanation Promotional Writing

Brochures Newsletter Articles Newsletters Press Releases Sales Letters

Proposals Grant Proposals

Questionnaires Report Components

Abstracts Appendixes Conclusions Executive Summaries Glossaries Introductions Tables of Contents Titles

Reports Annual Reports Feasibility Reports Formal Reports Incident Reports Investigative Reports Progress and Activity Reports Trip Reports

Writing for the Web

Correspondence Acknowledgments Adjustment Messages Collection Letters Complaints Correspondence Cover Messages (or Transmittals) E-mail Form Letters

Inquiries and Responses Instant Messaging and Live Chat International Correspondence Letters Memos Reference Letters Refusal Letters Sales Letters Text Messaging

Job Search and Application Acceptances / Refusals (for Employment) Application Cover Letters Interviewing for a Job Job Search Resignation Letters Résumés

Design and Visuals Layout and Design

Forms Headers and Footers Headings Lists

Visuals Drawings Flowcharts Global Graphics

Graphs Infographics Maps Organizational Charts Photographs Tables

Presentations and Meetings Listening Meetings Minutes of Meetings Presentations

Research and Documentation Adapting to New Technologies Bibliographies Brainstorming Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks Documenting Sources Interviewing for Information Note-Taking Paraphrasing Plagiarism Questionnaires Quotations Research

Organization, Writing, and Revision

Blogs and Forums Collaborative Writing Description Document Management Ethics in Writing Exposition Global Communication Logic Errors Methods of Development

Cause-and-Effect Chronological Comparison Definition Division-and-Classification General and Specific Order-of-Importance Sequential Spatial

Narration Organization Outlining Persuasion Preparation

Audience Brainstorming Context Purpose Readers Scope Selecting the Medium

Proofreading Repurposing Revision Social Media Writing a Draft

Style and Language Style

Affectation Allusions Ambiguity Awkwardness Biased Language Business Writing Style Buzzwords Clarity Clichés Comparison Conciseness Contractions Defining Terms Direct Address Double Negatives Emphasis English, Varieties of Euphemisms Expletives Figures of Speech Gobbledygook

Idioms Intensifiers Jargon Nominalizations Pace Parallel Structure Plain Language Point of View Positive Writing Repetition Rhetorical Questions Sentence Variety Subordination Telegraphic Style Tone “You” Viewpoint

Word Choice Abstract / Concrete Words Antonyms Buzzwords Connotation / Denotation Foreign Words in English Functional Shift Malapropisms Synonyms Thesaurus Usage Vague Words

Sentences and Paragraphs Sentence Construction

Appositives Clauses Complements Expletives Modifiers Objects Phrases Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements Syntax

Sentence Faults Comma Splice Dangling Modifiers Garbled Sentences Mixed Constructions Run-on Sentences Sentence Fragments

Paragraphs Coherence Transition Unity

Parts of Speech and Grammar Grammar

Agreement Case English as a Second Language

Gender Mood Number (Grammar) Person Possessive Case Pronoun Reference Tense Voice

Parts of Speech Adjectives Adverbs Articles Conjunctions Functional Shift Interjections Nouns Prepositions Pronouns Verbals Verbs

Punctuation and Mechanics Mechanics

Abbreviations Acronyms and Initialisms Ampersands Capitalization Compound Words Contractions

Dates Italics Numbers Prefixes Proofreading Spelling Suffixes

Punctuation Apostrophes Brackets Colons Commas Dashes Ellipses Exclamation Marks Hyphens Parentheses Periods Question Marks Quotation Marks Semicolons Slashes

The Business Writer’s Handbook

About the Authors Gerald J. Alred is Professor Emeritus of English at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he is a teaching-

award recipient and an adviser to the Professional Writing

Program. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and

several standard bibliographies on business and technical

communication, and he served as Associate Editor of the

Journal of Business Communication. He is a recipient of the

prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for “profound scholarly and

textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical

writing.” He developed and manages the Web site

InlandChorus.com .

Charles T. Brusaw served as a faculty member at NCR

Corporation’s Management College, where he developed and

taught courses in professional writing, editing, and

presentation skills for the corporation worldwide. Previously,

he worked in advertising, technical writing, public relations,

and curriculum development. He was also a communications

consultant, an invited speaker at academic conferences, and a

teacher of business writing at Sinclair Community College. He

passed away in 2015.

Walter E. Oliu served as Chief of the Publishing Services Branch

at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he managed

the agency’s printing, graphics, editing, and publishing

programs, as well as the daily operations of the agency’s public

Web site. He is the recipient of the agency’s Meritorious Service

Award. He has also taught at Miami University of Ohio, Slippery

Rock State University, Montgomery College, and George Mason

University.

The Business Writer’s Handbook Twelfth Edition

Gerald J. Alred

Charles T. Brusaw

Walter E. Oliu

For Bedford/St. Martin’s

Vice President, Editorial, Macmillan Learning Humanities:

Edwin Hill

Executive Program Director for English: Leasa Burton

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Datamatics, Inc.

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Cover Image: Malorny / Getty Images

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For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington

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ISBN: 978-1-319-23418-8(mobi)

Acknowledgments

Copyrights appear on the same page as the art selections they

cover; these copyrights constitute an extension of the copyright

page.

Page 511, Kitty O. Locker. “ ‘As Per Your Request’: A History of

Business Jargon,” Journal of Business and Technical

Communication 1, no. 1 (1987): 27–47. Reprinted by permission

of SAGE Publications.

Contents Contents by Topic

Preface

Five Steps to Successful Writing

Checklist of the Writing Process

The Business Writer’s Handbook: Alphabetical Entries

Index

Commonly Misused Words and Phrases

Model Documents and Figures by Topic

Preface The Business Writer’s Handbook is the text students and

professionals need to land, navigate, and stand out on the job.

Like previous editions, the twelfth edition is a comprehensive,

easy-access guide that places business writing in a real-world

context, with quick reference to hundreds of topics and scores

of model documents and visuals.

Anticipating the needs of today’s professionals and job

seekers, this edition has been judiciously trimmed, while areas

related to finding a job and using social media as a professional

tool have been updated and expanded, based on expert advice.

Further, LaunchPad Solo for Professional Writing provides

online tutorials on today’s most relevant digital writing topics,

from content management to personal branding. This resource

can be packaged with the text at no additional cost.

Helpful Features The Business Writer’s Handbook offers alphabetically arranged

entries on an array of topics crucial to effective business

writing, from “Abbreviations” and “Abstracts” through “Writing

for the Web” and the “‘You’ Viewpoint.” In its focus on the job

search and résumé preparation, it provides up-to-date advice on

how to network using professional and social media and offers

tips on developing application materials that will spark the

interest of prospective employers. Its concise yet

comprehensive coverage of the writing process and in-depth

treatment of grammar and usage provide detailed help for every

stage of writing, from preparation, audience analysis, and

research, to drafting, revising, and proofreading.

Real-world samples provide students with authentic models

of business correspondence for a variety of workplace

situations. Up-to-date instruction gives students the latest

advice on writing and designing for the Web, using social media

in business, conducting Internet research, and approaching

new software. An emphasis on the latest workplace

technologies stresses the importance of tailoring every message

— from a formal business e-mail to a quick text — to its purpose,

audience, and medium.

Quick reference features — including Contents by Topic (on

the inside front cover), a comprehensive index, and a list of

model documents and figures — make it easy to navigate.

Checklists help writers tackle complex tasks such as

proofreading and revising, communicating with international

audiences, and evaluating sources. Throughout the text, “Ethics

Notes” and “Professionalism Notes” highlight central concerns

in today’s business world and offer advice for dealing with those

concerns. A thorough discussion of copyright and plagiarism

clarifies what plagiarism is in the digital age and highlights the

ethical aspects of using and documenting sources

appropriately. Guidelines for online and interpersonal

communication and tips on preparing important projects and

presentations offer valuable advice on which students and

professionals can rely.

New to This Edition Our focus in revising the handbook for this edition has been on

refining and updating existing entries to provide information

that is especially relevant for securing a job in today’s economy

and for navigating the technologies needed to succeed on the

job. We have made the following additions and improvements:

A new entry on creating an online professional profile helps business writers select the appropriate forum and represent themselves and their accomplishments effectively on sites such as LinkedIn, AngelList, and Academia.edu. A new entry on spreadsheets explains how and why to use them and provides resources for up-to-date help. A thorough updating of the job-search entry includes new coverage of co-ops, service internships, and “gap year” opportunities — crucial information for students and professionals seeking a new career. Updated coverage of interviewing for a job offers more tips on what to do after the interview and includes a new model of a follow-up letter. Updated coverage of documenting sources provides current guidelines for citing sources in CMS style. A new professionalism note on the etiquette of mobile devices helps students move seamlessly between their personal and professional worlds. New instructor support materials, including advice on structuring the class and sample course plans, are available on the instructor’s tab on the book’s catalog page at

macmillanlearning.com.

How to Use This Book The Business Writer’s Handbook is made up of alphabetically

organized entries, with colored tabs delineating each letter

section. Within each entry, underlined, boldfaced cross-

references — for example, proposals — link readers to entries

that contain further information. Many entries present advice

and guidelines in the form of convenient “Writer’s Checklists”

and annotated model documents and figures.

The Handbook’s alphabetical organization enables readers to

find specific topics quickly and easily; however, readers with

general questions have several different ways to locate

information in the book.

Contents by Topic. The complete “Contents by Topic” on the inside front cover groups the alphabetical entries into topic categories. This topical key allows a writer focusing on a specific task or problem to browse all related entries; it also helps instructors correlate the Handbook to standard textbooks or to their own course materials. Commonly Misused Words and Phrases. The list of “Commonly Misused Words and Phrases” on pages 601–02 extends the “Contents by Topic” by listing all the usage entries, which appear in italics throughout the book — for example, and/or. Model Documents and Figures by Topic. The topically organized list of “Model Documents and Figures by Topic”

on the inside back cover makes it easier to browse the book’s most commonly referenced sample documents and visuals to find specific examples of business writing genres. Checklist of the Writing Process. The checklist on pages xxv–xxvi helps readers reference key entries in a sequence useful for planning and carrying out a writing project. Comprehensive Index. The user-friendly index lists all the topics covered in the book — including subtopics and model documents — in an alphabetical arrangement.

Acknowledgments For their invaluable comments and suggestions for this edition

of The Business Writer’s Handbook, we thank the following

reviewers who responded to our questionnaires: William

Allegrezza, Indiana University Northwest; Jeanne Allison,

University of Missouri–St. Louis; Stevens Amidon, Indiana

University–Purdue University Fort Wayne; Greg Brecht,

University of South Florida, St. Petersburg; Carol Davis,

California State University, Monterey Bay; Sonia

Khatchadourian, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Nancy

Nygaard, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; and Teeanna

Rizkallah, California State University, Fullerton. Additional

thanks go out to Sonia Khatchadourian, who kindly let us share

her syllabus on our book’s catalog page, so that other

instructors could benefit from her experience with the book.

For this edition, we’d especially like to thank Richard C. Hay,

founder and CEO of Twenty Six Design, LLC, for his advice on

updating the figures and model documents throughout the

book, and especially for his update of the brochure entry,

including the new model brochure. We also owe special thanks

to Traci Gardner, Virginia Tech, for her update of the entries on

social media and for creating an online profile. Finally, we want

to thank Saundra Williams, Human Resources Business Partner

at Macmillan Learning, for her advice on updating the job

search entries. We are indebted to Kenneth J. Cook, president

of Ken Cook Co., for his ongoing support of this and earlier

editions of the Handbook and for his continued permission to

reprint the exemplary company newsletter.

We wish to thank Bedford/St. Martin’s for supporting this

book, especially Edwin Hill, Vice President, Humanities

Editorial; Leasa Burton, Senior Program Director, English;

Laura Arcari, Senior Program Manager, Rhetorics and Business

and Technical Writing; and Lauren Arrant, Marketing Manager.

We are grateful to Andrea Cava, Publishing Services Manager;

Louis Bruno, Content Project Manager; and Robin Besofsky,

Production Supervisor, for their patient management of the

book’s production. We thank Hilary Newman, Director of

Rights and Permissions; Kalina Ingham, Permissions Manager;

Angie Boehler, Permissions Editor; and Claire Paschal,

Permissions Associate, for their help in managing the

permissions process. We thank Billy Boardman, Senior Design

Manager; Diana Blume, Design Director; and Diana’s design

team, as well as Rachel Comerford, Director of Content

Standards, for helping make this book accessible to all readers.

Our gratitude also goes out to William Hwang for his

conscientious work on this project. Finally, we wish to thank

Executive Development Editor Jane Carter for her editorial

direction on this always-challenging project.

At Lumina Datamatics, we thank Jana Lewis, Bharathi

Sriram, Sudheer Purushothaman, Kerri Wilson, Jamie Thaman,

and Rebecca Roby for their help in the copyediting,

proofreading, permissions, and production processes.

We offer our heartfelt gratitude to Barbara Brusaw for her

patience and time spent preparing the manuscript for the first

five editions. We also gratefully acknowledge the ongoing

contributions of many students and instructors at the University

of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Finally, special thanks go to Janice

Alred for her many hours of help in coordinating this project

and for continuing to hold everything together.

With sorrow, we mark the 2015 passing of our esteemed

coauthor, Charles “Ted” Brusaw, and dedicate this edition of

The Business Writer’s Handbook to his memory. Ted began his

professional career as a freelance writer and moved on to a

variety of positions in business and industry as a technical

writer and corporate trainer. For many years, he was manager

of technical publications at the NCR Corporation. Ted

coauthored Practical Writing, The Business Writer’s Handbook,

Handbook of Technical Writing, The Professional Writer, The

Business Writer’s Companion, and Writing That Works. He also

independently authored a well-reviewed book of World War II

military history (a Book of the Month Club selection), a Civil

War novel, a biography of Benedict Arnold, and a historical

novel on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Ted was an

accomplished writer, teacher, and mentor (most especially to

both of us), whose standards were simply the highest. We are

grateful to have had the good fortune to work with this

consummate professional, who was also our friend.

Gerald J. Alred and Walter E. Oliu

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Choose curriculum solutions that offer flexible custom

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Rely on outstanding service from your Bedford/St. Martin’s

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LaunchPad Solo for Professional Writing: Where Students Learn Launch-Pad provides engaging content and new ways to get the

most out of your book. Get an interactive e-book combined with

assessment tools in a fully customizable course space, then

assign and mix our resources with yours.

Sample documents provide a wide range of effective professional writing models for students to emulate, including e-mails, résumés, cover letters, reports, proposals, brochures, and questionnaires. Tutorials show students how to maximize free online tools to access projects across platforms, design dynamic presentations, develop podcasts, manage their personal brand, and build common citations in APA and MLA styles. Diagnostics provide opportunities to assess areas for improvement and assign additional exercises based on students’ needs. Visual reports show performance by topic, class, and student as well as improvement over time. Prebuilt units — including readings, videos, and quizzes —

are easy to adapt by mixing your materials with our high- quality multimedia content and ready-made assessment options, such as LearningCurve adaptive quizzing and Exercise Central. Use LaunchPad on its own or integrate it with your school’s learning management system so that your students are always on the same page.

LaunchPad Solo for Professional Writing can be purchased on

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works best for you and your students:

Spiral-bound edition To order the spiral-bound edition, use ISBN 978-1-319-05849-4. Popular e-book formats For details of our e-book partners, visit macmillanlearning.com/ebooks.

Select Value Packages Add value to your text by packaging Writer’s Help 2.0 with The

Business Writer’s Handbook at a significant discount. Contact

your sales representative for more information. Writer’s Help

2.0 is a powerful online writing resource that helps students

find answers, whether they are searching for writing advice on

their own or as part of an assignment.

Smart search. Built on research with more than 1,600 student writers, the smart search in Writer’s Help provides reliable results even when students use novice terms, such as flow and unstuck. Trusted content from our best-selling handbooks. Choose Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version, or Writer’s Help 2.0, Lunsford Version, and ensure that students have clear advice and examples for all of their writing questions. Diagnostics that help establish a baseline for instruction. Assign diagnostics to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement and to help students plan a course of study. Use visual reports to track performance by topic, class, and student as well as improvement over time. Adaptive exercises that engage students. Writer’s Help 2.0 includes LearningCurve, game-like online quizzing that adapts to what students already know and helps them focus on what they need to learn.

Student access is packaged with The Business Writer’s

Handbook at a significant discount. Order ISBN 978-1-319-23941-

1 for Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version, or ISBN 978-1-319-

23945-9 for Writer’s Help 2.0, Lunsford Version, to ensure that

your students have easy access to online writing support.

Students who rent or buy a used book can purchase access;

instructors may request free access at

macmillanlearning.com/writershelp2.

Instructor Resources You have a lot to do in your course. We want to make it easy for

you to find the support you need — and to find it quickly.

Suggestions for structuring your course, including sample

course plans, can be downloaded from macmillanlearning.com.

Visit the instructor’s tab for The Business Writer’s Handbook.

Five Steps to Successful Writing Successful writing on the job is not the product of inspiration,

nor is it merely the spoken word converted to print; it is the

result of knowing how to structure information using both text

and design to achieve an intended purpose for a clearly defined

audience. The best way to ensure that your writing will succeed — whether it is a proposal, a résumé, a Web page, or any other

document — is to approach writing using the following steps:

1. Preparation 2. Research 3. Organization 4. Writing 5. Revision

You will no doubt need to follow those steps consciously at first.

The same is true the first time you use new software, interview

a job candidate, or chair a committee meeting. With practice,

the steps become nearly automatic. This is not to suggest that

writing becomes easy — it does not. However, the easiest and

most efficient way to write effectively is to do it systematically.

As you master the five steps, keep in mind that they are

interrelated and often overlap. For example, your readers’

needs and your purpose, which you determine in step 1, will

affect decisions you make in subsequent steps. You may also

need to retrace steps. When you conduct research, for example,

you may realize that you need to revise your initial impression

of the document’s purpose and audience. Similarly, when you

begin to organize in step 3, you may discover the need to return

to research (step 2) to gather more information.

The time required for each step varies with different writing

tasks. When writing an informal memo, for example, you might

accomplish the first three steps (preparation, research, and

organization) by simply listing the points in the order you want

to cover them. In such situations, you gather and organize

information mentally as you consider your purpose and

audience. For a formal report, the first three steps require well-

organized research, careful note-taking, and detailed outlining.

For a routine e-mail message to a coworker, the first four steps

merge as you type the information onto the screen. In short, the

five steps expand, contract, and at times must be repeated to fit

the complexity or context of the writing task.

Dividing the writing process into steps is especially useful

when you are writing as a part of a team. In that case, you

typically divide work among team members, keep track of a

project, and save time by not duplicating efforts. When you

collaborate, you can use e-mail to share text and other files,

suggest improvements to one an other’s work, and generally

keep everyone informed of your progress as you follow the

steps in the writing process.

Preparation Writing, like most professional tasks, requires solid

preparation. In fact, adequate preparation is as important as

writing a draft. In preparation for writing, your goal is to

accomplish the following four major tasks:

Establish your primary purpose. Assess your audience (or readers) and the context. Determine the scope of your coverage. Select the appropriate medium. See selecting the medium.

Establishing Your Purpose To establish your primary purpose, simply ask yourself what

you want your readers to know, to believe, or to be able to do

after they have finished reading what you have written. Be

precise. Often a writer states a purpose so broadly that it is

almost useless. A purpose such as “to report on possible

locations for a new research facility” is too general. However,

“to compare the relative advantages of Paris, Singapore, and

San Francisco as possible locations for a new research facility

so that top management can choose the best one” is a purpose

statement that can guide you throughout the writing process. In

addition to your primary purpose, consider possible secondary

purposes for your document. For example, a secondary purpose

of the research-facility report might be to make corporate

executive readers aware of the staffing needs of the new facility

so that they can ensure its smooth operation in whichever

location is selected.

Assessing Your Audience and Context The next task is to assess your audience. Again, be precise and

ask key questions. Who exactly is your reader? Do you have

multiple readers? Who needs to see or to use the document?

What are your readers’ needs in relation to your subject? What

are your readers’ attitudes about the subject? (Are they

skeptical? Supportive? Anxious? Bored?) What do your readers

already know about the subject? Should you define basic

terminology, or will such definitions merely bore, or even

impede, your readers? Are you communicating with

international readers and therefore dealing with issues inherent

in global communication? To be a successful writer in any

language, you must understand the cultural values that underlie

the language in which you are writing. In the United States,

conciseness, coherence, and clarity characterize good writing.

Make sure readers can follow your writing, and say only what is

necessary to communicate your message.

For the research-facility report, the readers are described as

“top management.” Who is included in that category? Will one

of the people evaluating the report be the human resources

manager? That person would likely be interested in the

availability of qualified professionals as well as in the presence

of training, housing, and even recreational facilities available to

potential employees in each city. The purchasing manager

would be concerned with available sources for needed

materials. The marketing manager would give priority to a

facility’s proximity to the primary markets and transportation to

important clients. The chief financial officer would want to

know about land and building costs and about each city’s tax

structure. The chief executive officer would be interested in all

this information and perhaps more. As in this example, many

workplace documents have audiences composed of multiple

readers. You can accommodate their needs through one of a

number of approaches described in the entry audience.

Part of knowing the needs and interests of your readers is

learning as much as you can about the context. Simply put,

context is the environment or circumstances in which writers

produce documents and within which readers interpret their

meanings. Everything is written within a context, as is

illustrated in many of the entries and examples throughout this

book. To determine the effect of context on the research-facility

report, you might ask both specific and general questions about

the situation and about your readers’ backgrounds: Is this the

company’s first new facility, or has the company chosen

locations for new facilities before? Have the readers visited all

three cities? Have they already seen other reports on the three

cities? What is the corporate culture in which your readers

work, and what are its key values? What specific factors, such as

competition, finance, and regulation, are recognized as

important within the organization?

Determining the Scope Determining your purpose and assessing your readers and

context will help you decide what to include and what not to

include in your writing. Those decisions establish the scope of

your writing project. If you do not clearly define the scope, you

will spend needless hours on research because you will not be

sure what kind of information you need or even how much.

Given the purpose and audience established for the report on

facility locations, the scope would include such information as

land and building costs, available labor force, cultural issues,

transportation options, and proximity to suppliers. However, it

would probably not include the early history of the cities being

considered or their climate and geological features, unless

those aspects were directly related to your particular business.

Selecting the Medium Finally, you need to determine the most appropriate medium

for communicating your message. Professionals on the job face

a wide array of options — from e-mail, text messaging, and

videoconferencing to more traditional means, like letters,

memos, reports, and face-to-face meetings.

The most important considerations in selecting the

appropriate medium are the audience and the purpose of the

communication. For example, if you need to collaborate with

someone to solve a problem or if you need to establish rapport

with someone, written exchanges would be far less efficient

than a phone call or a face-to-face meeting. However, if you

need to use precise wording or you need to provide a record of a

complex message, communicating in writing would be best. If

you need to make information that is frequently revised

accessible to employees at a large company, the best choice

might be to place the information on the company’s intranet

site. If reviewers need to make handwritten comments on a

proposal, you may need to provide paper copies that can be

faxed, or you can use collaborative software so that reviewers

can insert comments electronically. The comparative

advantages and primary characteristics of the most typical

means of communication are discussed in selecting the

medium.

Research The only way to be sure that you can write about a complex

subject is to thoroughly understand it. To do that, you must

conduct adequate research, whether that means conducting an

extensive investigation for a major proposal — through

interviewing, library and Internet research, careful note-

taking, and documenting sources — or simply checking a

reputable Web site and jotting down points before you send an

e-mail message to a colleague.

Methods of Research Researchers frequently distinguish between primary and

secondary research, depending on the types of sources

consulted and the method of gathering information. Primary

research refers to the gathering of raw data compiled from

interviews, direct observation, surveys, experiments,

questionnaires, audio and video recordings, and the like. In

fact, direct observation and hands-on experience are the only

ways to obtain certain kinds of information, such as the

behavior of people and animals, certain natural phenomena,

mechanical processes, and the operation of systems and

equipment. Secondary research refers to gathering information

that has been analyzed, assessed, evaluated, compiled, or

otherwise organized into accessible form. Such forms or

sources include books, articles, reports, Web documents, e-mail

discussions, and brochures. Use the methods most appropriate

to your needs, recognizing that some projects may require

several types of research and that collaborative projects may

require those research tasks to be distributed among team

members.

Sources of Information As you conduct research, keep in mind all the sources of

information that are available to you:

Your own knowledge and that of your colleagues The knowledge of people outside your workplace, gathered through interviewing for information Internet sources, including Web sites, directories, archives, and discussion groups Library resources, including databases and indexes of articles as well as books and reference works Printed and electronic sources in the workplace, such as brochures, memos, e-mail, and Web documents

The amount of research you will need to do depends on the

scope of your project.

Organization

Without organization, the material gathered during your

research will be incoherent to your readers. To organize

information effectively, you need to determine the best way to

structure your ideas; that is, you must choose a primary method

of development.

Methods of Development To choose the development method best suited to your

document, consider your subject, your readers’ needs, and your

purpose. An appropriate method will help focus your

information and make it easy for readers to follow your

presentation.

For example, if you were writing instructions for assembling

office equipment, you might naturally present the steps of the

process in the order readers should perform them: the

sequential method of development. If you were writing about

the history of an organization, your account might naturally go

from the beginning to the present: the chronological method of

development. If your subject naturally lends itself to a certain

method of development, use it — do not attempt to impose

another method on it.

Often you will need to combine methods of development. For

example, a persuasive brochure for a charitable organization

might combine a specific-to-general method of development

with a cause-and-effect method of development. That is, you

could begin with persuasive case histories of individual people

in need and then move to general information about the

positive effects of donations on recipients.

Outlining Once you have chosen a method of development, you are ready

to prepare an outline. Outlining breaks large or complex

subjects into manageable parts. It also enables you to

emphasize key points by placing them in the positions of

greatest importance. By structuring your thinking at an early

stage, a well-developed outline ensures that your document will

be complete and logically organized, allowing you to focus

exclusively on writing when you begin the rough draft. An

outline can be especially helpful for maintaining a collaborative

writing team’s focus throughout a large project. However, even

a short letter or memo needs the logic and structure that an

outline provides, whether the outline exists in your mind, on-

screen, or on paper.

At this point, consider layout and design elements that will

be helpful to your readers and appropriate to your subject and

purpose. For example, if visuals such as photographs or tables

will be useful, this is a good time to think about where they may

be deployed and what kinds of visual elements will be effective,

especially if they need to be prepared by someone else while

you write and revise the draft. The outline can also suggest

where headings, lists, and other special design features may be

useful.

Writing When you have established your purpose, your readers’ needs,

and your scope, and you have completed your research and

your outline, you will be well prepared to write a first draft.

Expand your outline into paragraphs without worrying about

grammar, usage, or punctuation. Writing and revising are

different activities; refinements come with revision.

Write the rough draft, concentrating entirely on converting

your outline into sentences and paragraphs. You might try

writing as though you were explaining your subject to a reader

sitting across from you. Do not worry about a good opening.

Just start. Do not be concerned in the rough draft about exact

word choice unless it comes quickly and easily — concentrate

instead on ideas.

Even with good preparation, writing the draft remains a

chore for many writers. The most effective way to get started

and keep going is to use your outline as a map for your first

draft. Do not wait for inspiration — you need to treat writing a

draft as you would any on-the-job task. The entry writing a

draft describes tactics used by experienced writers; discover

which ones are best suited to you and your task.

Consider writing the introduction last because then you will

know more precisely what is in the body of the draft. Your

opening should announce the subject and give readers essential

background information, such as the document’s primary

purpose. For longer documents, an introduction should serve as

a frame into which readers can fit the detailed information that

follows.

Finally, you will need to write a conclusion that ties the main

ideas together and emphatically makes a final, significant point.

The final point may be to recommend a course of action, make

a prediction or a judgment, or merely summarize your main

points; the way you conclude depends on the purpose of your

writing and your readers’ needs.

Revision The clearer a finished piece of writing seems to the reader, the

more effort the writer has likely put into its revision. If you

have followed the steps of the writing process to this point, you

will have a rough draft that needs to be revised. Revising,

however, requires a different frame of mind than does writing

the draft. During revision, be eager to find and correct faults,

and be honest. Be hard on yourself for the benefit of your

readers. Read and evaluate the draft as if you were a reader

seeing it for the first time.

Check your draft for accuracy, completeness, and

effectiveness in achieving your purpose and meeting your

readers’ needs and expectations. Trim extraneous information:

Your writing should give readers exactly what they need, but it

should not burden them with unnecessary information or

sidetrack them into loosely related subjects.

Do not try to revise for everything at once. Read your rough

draft several times, each time looking for and correcting a

different set of problems or errors. Concentrate first on larger

issues, such as unity and coherence; save mechanical

corrections, like spelling and punctuation, for later

proofreading.

Finally, for important documents, consider having others

review your writing and make suggestions for improvement.

For collaborative writing, of course, team members must

review one another’s work on the various segments of the

document as well as the final master draft. Use the “Checklist of

the Writing Process” on pages xxv–xxvi to guide you not only as

you revise but also throughout the writing process. See also

ethics in writing.

PROFESSIONALISM NOTE

Style Guides and Standards organizations and professional associations often follow such guides as The Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, and United States

Government Publishing Office Style Manual to ensure consistency in their publications on issues of usage, format, and documentation. Because this type of advice often varies from one guide to another, some organizations set their own standards for documents. Where such standards or specific style guides are recommended or required by regulation or policy, be sure to follow those style guidelines.

Throughout this book, words and phrases shown as links — underlined and set in1

boldface type — refer to specific entries in the book.

Checklist of the Writing Process This checklist arranges key entries of The Business Writer’s

Handbook according to the sequence presented in “Five Steps to

Successful Writing.” This checklist is useful both for following

the steps and for diagnosing writing problems.

Preparation ✓ Establish your purpose ✓ Identify your audience or readers ✓ Consider the context ✓ Determine your scope of coverage ✓ Select the medium

Research ✓ Brainstorm to determine what you already know ✓ Conduct research ✓ Take notes (note-taking) ✓ Interview for information ✓ Create and use questionnaires ✓ Avoid plagiarism ✓ Document sources

Organization ✓ Choose the best methods of development ✓ Outline your notes and ideas ✓ Develop and integrate visuals ✓ Consider layout and design

logic errors positive writing voice

✓ Check for ethics in writing biased language copyrights, patents, and trademarks plagiarism

✓ Check for appropriate word choice abstract / concrete words affectation, buzzwords, jargon, and plain language clichés connotation / denotation defining terms

✓ Eliminate problems with grammar

Writing a Draft ✓ Select an appropriate point of view ✓ Adopt an appropriate style and tone ✓ Use effective sentence construction ✓ Construct effective paragraphs ✓ Use quotations and paraphrasing ✓ Write an introduction ✓ Write a conclusion ✓ Choose a title

Revision ✓ Check for unity and coherence

conciseness

pace transition

✓ Check for sentence variety emphasis parallel structure subordination

✓ Check for clarity agreement ambiguity awkwardness case modifiers pronoun reference sentence faults

✓ Review mechanics and punctuation abbreviations capitalization contractions dates italics numbers proofreading spelling

The Business Writer’s Handbook

a / an A and an are indefinite articles because the noun designated by

the article is not a specific person, place, or thing but one of a

group.

► The insurance agent sold a policy. [This is not a specific policy but an unnamed policy.]

Use a before words or abbreviations beginning with a

consonant or a vowel with a consonant sound. See also

adjectives.

► We were awarded a DMV contract. ► It was a historic event for the organization. [Historic begins

with the consonant h.] ► The year’s activities are summarized in a one-page report.

[One begins with the consonant sound “wuh.”]

Use an before words or abbreviations beginning with a vowel or

a consonant with a vowel sound.

► He seems an unlikely candidate for the job. ► The applicant arrived an hour early. [Hour begins with a

silent h.] ► She received an SBA loan. [SBA begins with the vowel

sound “ess.”]

a lot A lot is often incorrectly written as one word (alot). The phrase

a lot is informal and often too vague for business writing. Use

many or numerous for estimates, or give a specific number or

amount.

abbreviations DIRECTORY

Using Abbreviations Writer’s Checklist: Using Abbreviations Forming Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened versions of words or combinations

of the first letters of words (Corp./Corporation, URL/ Uniform

Resource Locator). If used appropriately, abbreviations can be

convenient for both the reader and the writer. Like symbols,

they can be important space savers in business writing.

Abbreviations that are formed by combining the initial letter

of each word in a multiword term are called initialisms.

Initialisms are pronounced as separate letters (SEC/Securities

and Exchange Commission). Abbreviations that combine the

first letter or letters of several words — and can be pronounced

— are called acronyms (PIN/personal identification number,

LAN/local area network).

Using Abbreviations The most important consideration in the use of abbreviations is

whether they will be understood by your audience. The same

abbreviation, for example, can have two different meanings

(NEA stands for both National Education Association and the

National Endowment for the Arts). Like jargon, shortened forms are easily understood within a group of specialists;

outside the group, however, shortened forms might be

incomprehensible. In fact, abbreviations can be easily

overused, either as an affectation or in a misguided attempt to

make writing concise, even with instant messaging and live

chat, where abbreviations are often appropriate. Remember

that memos, e-mail, or reports addressed to specific people

may be read by others, so consider those secondary audiences

as well. A good rule to follow: “When in doubt, spell it out.”

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

Using Abbreviations

✓ Except for commonly used abbreviations (U.S., a.m.), spell out a term to be abbreviated the first time it is used, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used alone.

✓ In long documents, repeat the full term in parentheses after the abbreviation at regular intervals to remind readers of the abbreviation’s meaning. For digital texts, consider linking abbreviations to a glossary or providing a pop-up definition that appears when the cursor hovers over an abbreviation.

✓ Do not add an additional period at the end of a sentence that ends with an abbreviation. (“The official name of the company is DataBase, Inc.”)

✓ For abbreviations specific to your profession or discipline, use a style guide recommended by your professional organization or company.

✓ Write acronyms in capital letters without periods. The only

exceptions are acronyms that have become accepted as common nouns, such as scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).

✓ Generally, use periods for lowercase initialisms (a.k.a., p.m.) but not for uppercase ones (GDP, IRA). Exceptions include geographic names (U.S., E.U.) and the traditional expression of academic degrees (B.A., M.B.A.).

✓ Form the plural of an acronym or initialism by adding a lowercase s. Do not use an apostrophe (CARs, DVDs).

✓ Do not follow an abbreviation with a word that repeats the final term in the abbreviation (ATM location, not ATM machine location).

✓ Avoid creating your own abbreviations; they will confuse readers.

Forming Abbreviations Names of Organizations A company may include in its name a term such as Brothers,

Incorporated, Corporation, Company, or Limited Liability

Company. If the term is abbreviated in the official company

name that appears on letterhead stationery or on its Web site,

use the abbreviated form: Bros., Inc., Corp., Co., or LLC. If the

term is not abbreviated in the official name, spell it out in

writing, except in addresses, footnotes, bibliographies, and

lists where abbreviations may be used. Likewise, use an

ampersand (&) only if it appears in the official company name.

For names of divisions within organizations, terms such as

Department and Division should be abbreviated only when

space is limited (Dept. and Div.).

Measurements Except for abbreviations that may be confused with words (in.

for inch and gal. for gallon), abbreviations of measurement

terms do not require periods (yd for yard and qt for quart).

Abbreviations of units of measure are identical in the singular

and plural: 1 cm and 15 cm (not 15 cms). Some abbreviations

can be used in combination with symbols (°F for degrees

Fahrenheit and ft for square feet).

For a listing of abbreviations for the basic units used in the

International System of Units (SI), see

http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/units.html. For additional

definitions and background, search the National Institute of

Standards and Technology Web site at www.nist.gov and

generally online for units of information. For information on

abbreviating dates and time, see numbers.

Personal Names and Titles Personal names should generally not be abbreviated: Thomas

(not Thos.) and William (not Wm.). An academic, civil,

religious, or military title should be spelled out and lowercase

when it does not precede a name. (“The captain checked the

orders.”) When preceding names, some titles are customarily

abbreviated (Dr. Smith, Mr. Mills, Ms. Katz). See also Ms. / Miss

/ Mrs.

An abbreviation of a title may follow the name; however, be

certain that it does not duplicate a title before the name

(Angeline Martinez, Ph.D., or Dr. Angeline Martinez). When

addressing correspondence and including names in other

documents, you should normally spell out titles (The Honorable

Mary J. Holt; Professor Charles Matlin).

Common Scholarly Abbreviations and Terms The following is a partial list of abbreviations commonly used in

reference books and for documenting sources in research

papers and reports. Other than in such documents, generally

avoid these abbreviations.

anon. anonymous

bibliog. bibliography, bibliographer, bibliographic

ca., c. circa, “about” (used with approximate dates: ca. 1756)

cf. confer, “compare”

chap. chapter

diss. dissertation

ed., eds. edited by, editor(s), edition(s)

e.g. exempli gratia, “for example” (see e.g. / i.e.)

esp. especially

et al. et alii, “and others”

etc. et cetera, “and so forth” (see etc.)

f., ff. and the following page(s) or line(s)

GPO Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

i.e. id est, “that is”

MS, MSS manuscript, manuscripts

n., nn. note, notes (used immediately after page number: 56n., 56n.3, 56nn.3–5)

N.B., n.b.

nota bene, “take notice, mark well”

n.d. no date (of publication)

n.p. no place (of publication); no publisher; no page

p., pp. page, pages

proc. proceedings

pub. published by, publisher, publication

rev. revised by, revised, revision; review, reviewed by (spell out “review” where “rev.” might be ambiguous)

rpt. reprinted by, reprint

sec., secs.

section, sections

sic so, thus; inserted after a misspelled or misused word in quotations ([sic]) (see brackets)

supp., suppl.

supplement

trans. translated by, translator, translation

UP University Press (used in MLA style, as in Oxford UP)

viz. videlicet, “namely”

vol., vols.

volume, volumes

vs., v. versus, “against” (v. preferred in titles of legal cases)

above Avoid using above to refer to a preceding passage or visual,

because its reference is vague and often an affectation. The

same is true of afore-said and aforementioned. (See also former

/ latter.) To refer to something previously mentioned, repeat

the noun or pronoun, or construct your paragraph so that your

reference is obvious.

absolutely Absolutely means “definitely,” “entirely,” “completely,” or

“unquestionably.” Avoid it as a redundant intensifier to mean

“very” or “much.”

abstract / concrete words Abstract words refer to general ideas, qualities, conditions, acts,

or relationships — intangible things that cannot be detected by

the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell), such as

learning, leadership, and technology. Concrete words identify

things that can be perceived by the five senses, such as diploma,

manager, and keyboard.

Abstract words must often be further defined or described.

Abstract words are best used with concrete words to help make

intangible concepts specific and vivid.

► Public transportation [abstract] in Chicago includes buses [concrete] and commuter trains [concrete].

See also context, purpose, and word choice.

abstracts An abstract summarizes and highlights the major points of a

formal report, journal article, dissertation, or other long work.

Its primary purpose is to enable readers to decide whether to

read the work in full. For a discussion of how summaries differ

from abstracts, see executive summaries.

Although abstracts, typically 200 to 250 words long, are

published with the longer works they condense, they can also

be published separately in periodical indexes, by abstracting

services, and in introductory sections of online journals (see

research). For this reason, an abstract should be readable apart

from the original document and contain appropriate key search

terms for researchers using online databases.

Types of Abstracts Depending on the kind of information they contain, abstracts

are often classified as descriptive or informative (see Figure A–

1). A descriptive abstract summarizes the purpose, scope, and

methods used to arrive at the reported findings. It is a slightly

expanded table of contents in sentence and paragraph form. A

descriptive abstract need not be longer than several sentences.

An informative abstract is an expanded version of the

descriptive abstract, including a summary of any results,

conclusions, and recommendations. The informative abstract

retains the tone and essential scope of the original work while

omitting its details. The first two paragraphs of the abstract

shown in Figure A–1 alone would be descriptive; with the

addition of the paragraphs that detail the findings and

conclusions of the report, the abstract becomes informative.

FIGURE A–1. Informative Abstract (from a Report)

The type of abstract you should write depends on your

audience and the organization or publication for which you are

writing. Informative abstracts work best for wide audiences that

need to know conclusions and recommendations; descriptive

abstracts work best for compilations, such as proceedings and

progress reports that do not contain conclusions or

recommendations.

Writing Strategies Write the abstract after finishing the report or document.

Otherwise, the abstract may not accurately reflect the longer

work. Begin with a topic sentence that announces the subject

and scope of your original document. Then, using the major

and minor headings of your outline or table of contents to

distinguish primary ideas from secondary ones, decide what

material is relevant to your abstract. (See outlining.) Write with

clarity and conciseness, eliminating unnecessary words and

ideas. Do not, however, become so terse that you omit articles

(a, an, or the) and important transitional words and phrases

(however, therefore, but, next). Write complete sentences, but

avoid stringing together a group of short sentences end to end;

instead, combine ideas by using subordination and parallel

structure. Spell out all but the most common abbreviations. In

a report, an abstract follows the title page and is numbered page

iii.

accept / except Accept is a verb meaning “consent to,” “agree to take,” or

“admit willingly.” (“I accept the responsibility.”) Except is

normally used as a preposition meaning “other than” or

“excluding.” (“We agreed on everything except the schedule.”)

acceptances / refusals (for employment) When you decide to accept a job offer, you can notify your new

employer by telephone or in a meeting — but to make your

decision official, you should send an acceptance in writing.

What you include in your message and whether you send a

letter or an e-mail depends on your previous conversations

with your new employer. See also correspondence. Figure A–2

shows an example of a job acceptance written by a graduating

student. (See his résumé in Figure R–8 on Page 470.)

FIGURE A–2. Acceptance (for Employment)

When you decide to reject a job offer (Figure A–3), send a

written job refusal to make that decision official, even if you

have already notified the employer during a meeting or on the

phone. Writing to an employer is an important goodwill

gesture. For general advice on handling refusals and negative

messages, see refusal letters.

FIGURE A–3. Refusal (for Employment)

PROFESSIONALISM NOTE

Be especially tactful and courteous — the employer you are refusing has spent time and effort interviewing you and may have counted on your accepting the job. Remember, you may want to apply for another job at that company in the future.

acknowledgments When a colleague or client sends you something or makes a

request, you should acknowledge what was sent, respond to the

request, or explain that you cannot immediately respond to the

request in a short, polite note. Send a message, like the one

shown in Figure A–4, in the medium used or preferred by your

reader, whether a letter, an e-mail, or a text message. See also

correspondence.

FIGURE A–4. Acknowledgment

acronyms and initialisms (see abbreviations)

active voice (see voice)

ad hoc Ad hoc is Latin for “for this” or “for this particular occasion.” An

ad hoc committee is one set up temporarily to consider a

particular issue. The term is not italicized. See foreign words in

English.

adapt / adept / adopt Adapt is a verb meaning “adjust to a new situation.” Adept is an

adjective meaning “highly skilled.” Adopt is a verb meaning

“take or use as one’s own.”

► The company will adopt a policy of finding executives who are adept managers and who can adapt to new situations.

adapting to new technologies When faced with a new technology, ask “How much do I need

to know about the specific technology to do my work?” What

you need to learn will depend on your workplace context.

Sometimes you may need only basic knowledge to accomplish

specific and limited tasks. Other times, you may need much

more in-depth knowledge — even expert knowledge — to serve

as an adviser or as a resource for your colleagues. See also

selecting the medium.

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

Strategies for Learning a New Technology

✓ Experiment. Acquaint yourself with a new technology simply by using it until it becomes familiar.

✓ Conduct careful Internet searches. Make terminology precise by including the name of the tool and keywords that describe your specific problem.

✓ Consult IT staff and trusted colleagues. Seek help from your organization’s technology specialists and trainers as well as your tech-savvy colleagues.

✓ Use built-in help and official help manuals. Use tutorials, digital or printed instructional materials, and links to searchable online help sites.

✓ Take product workshops and online tutorials. Workshops teach everything from the basics to advanced functions of devices and software, and you benefit from the experiences of other

attendees. Check for product vendor workshops and tutorials before looking for free and paid tutorials from such sites as Lynda.com, PCWorld, and YouTube.

✓ Refer to third-party help manuals. These documents often simplify information with full-color printing, photos, and a casual, friendly tone.

adjectives DIRECTORY

Limiting Adjectives Comparison of Adjectives Placement of Adjectives Use of Adjectives

An adjective is any word that modifies a noun or pronoun.

Descriptive adjectives identify a quality of a noun or pronoun

(hot surface). Limiting adjectives impose boundaries on the

noun or pronoun (three phone lines).

Limiting Adjectives Limiting adjectives include the following categories:

Articles (a, an, the) Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) Numeral adjectives (two, first) Indefinite adjectives (all, none, some, any)

Articles Articles (a, an, the) are traditionally classified as adjectives

because they modify nouns by either limiting them or making

them more specific. See also a / an, articles, and English as a

second language.

Demonstrative Adjectives A demonstrative adjective points to the thing it modifies,

specifying the object’s position in space or time. This and these

specify a closer position; that and those specify a more remote

position.

► This version is more current than that version, which was produced last month.

► These test reports are more recent than those reported last week.

Demonstrative adjectives often cause problems when they

modify the nouns kind, type, and sort. Demonstrative adjectives

used with those nouns should agree with them in number.

► this kind, these kinds; that type, those types

Confusion often develops when the preposition of is added (this

kind of, these kinds of ) and the object of the preposition does

not conform in number to the demonstrative adjective and its

noun. See also agreement and prepositions.

Avoid demonstrative adjectives like kind, type, and sort that can

easily lead to vagueness. Be more specific. See also kind of /

sort of.

Possessive Adjectives Because possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their)

directly modify nouns, they function as adjectives, even though

they are pronoun forms (my idea, her plans, their projects). See

also functional shift.

Numeral Adjectives Numeral adjectives identify quantity, degree, or place in a

sequence. They always modify count nouns. Numeral adjectives

are divided into two subclasses: cardinal and ordinal. A cardinal

adjective expresses an exact quantity (one pencil, two

computers); an ordinal adjective expresses degree or sequence

(first quarter, second edition).

In most writing, an ordinal adjective should be spelled out if

it is a single word (tenth) and written in figures if it is more than

one word (312th). Ordinal numbers can also function as

adverbs. (“John arrived first.”) See also first / firstly and

numbers.

Indefinite Adjectives Indefinite adjectives do not designate anything specific about

the nouns they modify (some monitors, all designers). The

articles a and an are included among the indefinite adjectives (a

chair, an application).

Comparison of Adjectives Most adjectives in the positive form (for example, long) show

the comparative form with the suffix -er (longer) for two items

and the superlative form with the suffix -est (longest) for three

or more items. Many two-syllable adjectives and most three-

syllable adjectives are preceded by the word more or most to

form the comparative or the superlative.

► The new media center is more impressive than the old one. It is the most impressive in the county.

A few adjectives have irregular forms of comparison (much,

more, most; little, less, least). Some adjectives (round, unique,

exact, accurate) — often called absolute words — are not

logically subject to comparison. See also equal / unique /

perfect.

Placement of Adjectives When limiting and descriptive adjectives appear together, the

limiting adjectives precede the descriptive adjectives, with the

articles usually in the first position.

► The ten yellow taxis were sold at auction. [article (The), limiting adjective (ten), descriptive adjective (yellow)]

Within a sentence, adjectives may appear before the nouns they

modify (the attributive position) or after the nouns they modify

(the predicative position).

► The small jobs are given priority. [attributive position] ► The exposure is brief. [predicative position]

Use of Adjectives Nouns often function as adjectives to clarify the meaning of

other nouns.

► The accident report prompted a product redesign.

When adjectives modifying the same noun can be reversed and

still make sense or when they can be separated by and or or,

they should be separated by commas.

► The company seeks bright, energetic, creative managers.

Notice that there is no comma after creative. Never use a

comma between a final adjective and the noun it modifies.

When an adjective modifies a phrase, no comma is required.

► We need an updated Web-page design. [Updated modifies the phrase Web-page design.]

Writers sometimes string together a series of nouns used as

adjectives to form a unit modifier, thereby creating stacked

(jammed) modifiers, which can confuse readers.

► Your staffing-level authorization reassessment plan should result in a major improvement.