Page 1

Title:
WRITE
LOOK GOOD IN PRINT

Page 2

22 Fundamentals of good writing

● Grammar Rules - reflecting the rules that govern how sentences are constructed in the
English language.

● Style Guidelines - Other fundamentals relate to style: preferred constructions that,

while not based on grammar rules, represent recommended practice.

Page 3
Title: SYNTAX AND WORD CHOICE

Page 4

1. Write Complete Sentences

A sentence contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.
● Subject - a person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt
with.
● Verb - a word that indicates a physical action, a mental action, or a state
of being.

Sentence Fragment - is a group of words that looks like a sentence, but actually isn't a
complete sentence. Sentence fragments are usually missing a subject or verb, or they do not
express a complete thought.

Page 5 (Dito sa examples, paisa-isa lang yung labas sa ppt kasi tatanungin ko mga kaklase
natin kung complete sentence ba yon at kung hindi, anong missing?)

Examples:

1. -Shows no improvement in your efficiency. (Ito muna yung lalabas)

The evaluation shows no improvement in your efficiency. (Tas after ko mag

tanong, lalabas to)
Page 6

2. Use Strong Subjects

In sentences, subjects are doing the work; they are doing or being something.
Every sentence you write should have a strong subject. In other words, state clearly who
or what is doing the action.

“There” and “it” are not always off limits as subjects. Your writing will be stronger,
however, if you try to rewrite a sentence to give it a stronger subject. Consider the
following examples:

WEAK: There are many ways a business can go bankrupt.

STRONG: A business can go bankrupt in many ways.
EVEN STRONGER: For a business, many roads can lead to bankruptcy.

Page 7

3. Mind Your Modifiers

A modifier may be a single word, such as an adjective (which modifies a noun)
or an adverb (which modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb). A modifier may also
be a group of words—a phrase.

Example:

● Tony fixed the clog in his bathroom drain skillfully.

● Tony skillfully fixed the clog in his bathroom drain.

Page 8

4. Choose the Right Pronoun

Pronouns are stand-ins for nouns. We use them so that we don’t need to insert
the same noun over and over again in our sentences.

Example:
LIFE WITHOUT PRONOUNS: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Inc., says that Elon
Musk will drive
electric cars for the rest of Elon Musk’s life.

LIFE WITH PRONOUNS: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, Inc., says that he will drive
electric cars for the rest of his life.
Page 9

5. Use Who and Whom Correctly

● “who” stand in for subjects.

● “whom” for objects.
Example:
● Kim is an athlete who enjoys distance running.
● Asher wrote a letter to a pen pal whom he had never met.

6. Agree with Antecedents

When pronouns are substituting for nouns, they must agree with their
antecedent (the noun they are substituting for).

Example:

SENTENCE 1: Adrienne’s teammate, Rex, wants his lunch break early today.
SENTENCE 2: Adrienne’s teammates, Rex and Rachel, want their lunch break
early today.

Page 10

7. Avoid Ambiguous Pronoun References

Make sure each pronoun refers clearly to only one antecedent.
Ambiguous pronoun references are prone to be misinterpreted, which can have
serious business consequences

Example:

● John’s manager said he wasn’t allowed to go.

● John’s manager said John wasn’t allowed to go.

8. Create Parallel Expressions

Parallelism means using the same word patterns—the same syntax —for
similar parts of a sentence. When these similar elements aren’t parallel, they
sound awkward and out of place. Writers most often violate the parallelism
principle in two situations: (1) when stating items in a list or series, and (2) when
 connecting items with what are called parallel connectives. We’ll look at each of
these errors separately.

Page 11

Here’s an example of the lack of parallelism in a series, and an example showing

parallelism:

NOT PARALLEL: Our exhibition booth will feature product giveaways, instructional
videos, and we’ll be especially pleased to raffle off a Hawaiian vacation.
PARALLEL: Our exhibition booth will feature product giveaways, instructional videos,
and an exciting raffle for a Hawaiian vacation.

9. Choose the Right Word

Many words are commonly confused. Take, for example, the words
“allow” and “enable.”

● The new 3D printer allows us to produce prototypes quickly.

● The new 3D printer enables us to produce prototypes quickly.

Page 12
Title: PUNCTUATION PLUS

10. Be Careful with your Commas

 Use commas around nonessential words or phrases.
 Use commas after introductory words, phrases, and clauses.
 Use commas to separate clauses.
 Use the “Oxford comma” to separate all the items in a series
Example:
SENTENCE 1: My son, Wayne, majored in economics.
SENTENCE 2: My son Wayne majored in economics.
 11. If You Must Use a Semicolon, Use it Well.

 Use a semicolon to join independent clauses without a

coordinating conjunction.
● Use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a
conjunctive adverb.
● Use a semicolon after an independent clause that comes
before “i.e.,” (which means “that is” or “in other words”) and
“e.g.” (which means “for example”) if another independent
clause follows.
● Use a semicolon to separate items in a series that contains
internal commas.
Example:
● Sam received exceptional client evaluations; sadly, Lynn did not.

12. Use Colons only after Complete Sentences

A colon is used to introduce a list or a series, but it should not be used to
interrupt a perfectly good sentence.
Example: I want to do the following three activities: make a sandwich, go for a
run, and call my grandma.

13. Insert Dashes and Hyphens in the Right Places

● The dash is longer—it indicates an interruption or adds stylistic emphasis
to your point.
❖ Our accounting department—which always hosts the
company picnic—boasts two members who used to work
as chefs.
● The smaller hyphen is often used to join two or more words into a
compound adjective.
❖ We bought first-class tickets.

14. Know When to Use Apostrophes

The apostrophe is the small mark we use to indicate possession, or
contractions.
Example:
Stockholders were disappointed with the auditor’s report.

The employees are trained to manage the customers’ complaints.

 15. Capitalize only when needed.
● Remember to capitalize specific proper nouns, but not nouns
that refer to general categories.
● Be sure to capitalize proper adjectives.
● When creating a list, capitalize the first word of each item in a
vertical list.
● When referring to a title—including book titles, job titles, and
degrees—use correct capitalization.
● With direct quotations, capitalize the first word of the
quotation when the first word of the quotation begins the
sentence.
● Capitalize compass points when they refer to a specific place
or region.
● Example
I am enrolled in MCom 320.
I am taking a business writing class.

16. Know Your Numbers

Business relies on correctly expressing numbers.

● Generally, spell out single-digit numbers one through nine.

Use numerals for double-digit numbers 10 - infinity.
● Percentages.
● Dates
● Monetary amounts.
● Time.
● Fractions.
● Page numbers.
● Format numbers consistently within sentences.
Example:
Lila found 58 markers, 12 notebooks, and 7 file folders in the storage room.