Common mistakes in Business Writing

and ways to improve?

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5 Business English
Writing Mistakes
Using Texting Language

Forming Very Long Sentences

Combining Many Ideas into One

Paragraph

Repeating Words Unnecessarily

Using Incomplete Sentences

Using Texting Language
Pls B there B4 6 pm. TY.

Please be there before 6 pm. Thank you.

 Using Texting Language
- Texting language does not use standard English spelling
and vocabulary, uses abbreviations (short forms) of
words and phrases.
ÞNot everyone will understand this message.
ÞThis message seems like you were being lazy or did not
care about being mature and professional.
 Forming Very Long Sentences
We wish to inform you that the weather is bad so our shipment will be late and
now we are trying to get in touch with the shipping company to see what they
can do to make sure the delivery comes on time therefore we hope it will not
cause any problems for you.

We are writing to inform you that our shipment has been delayed due to bad
weather. We are now working with the shipping company to speed up
delivery. We apologize for any inconvenience.
 Forming Very Long Sentences
 A common mistake is writing very complex
sentences which are long and difficult to understand,
with little or no punctuation.
 Long and complex sentences will contain many,
many ideas.
=> Reader might not be able to understand each
individual idea if they are all written together.
 Combining Many Ideas into One
Paragraph
You are invited to our project meeting at 3 pm to discuss our
weekly progress. The samples will not arrive in time for our
sales launch next month. John is still waiting for your customer
survey forms to write his report.

You are invited to our project meeting at 3 pm to discuss our weekly progress. (This
paragraph will contain more information about the meeting.)
The samples will not arrive in time for our sales launch next month. (This paragraph
will contain more information about the samples.)
John is still waiting for your customer survey forms to write his report. (This
paragraph will contain more information about the report.)
Combining Many Ideas into One Paragraph

 Another common mistake is including too many

ideas or topics into one paragraph.
 You should start a new paragraph for each new idea
or topic.
Repeating Words Unnecessarily
The shipment has been delayed due to bad weather,
but we are not sure when the shipment will arrive.

The shipment has been delayed due to bad weather, but we are
not sure when it will arrive.
 Repeating Words Unnecessarily

Repeating words unnecessarily (when there is no need

to repeat anything) is another common mistake in
business writing.
=> It make sentences no fluency and coherence
 Using Incomplete
Sentences
Since we are planning to hire new staff for our
Customer Service Department.

Since we are planning to hire new staff for our Customer

Service Department, we will be able to handle more customers.
 Using Incomplete
Sentences
Incomplete sentences don’t make sense and can confuse your
reader. They will wonder what you really mean to say.
 MISSPELING WORDS

 Spelling  Easily avoid  Spell-checkers

mistakes can this problem will usually
make your by using the underline the
writing look spellchecker misspelled
unprofessional  Spell- words in red.
checkers will
usually
underline the
misspell
Eg:
“We didn’t expect to RECIEVE so many orders this year”
The correct word should be: RECEIVE
 CONFUSING SINGULAR WITH PLURAL

 In English, uncountable nouns ( information, water, coffee)

and collective groups ( staff, work, information) are considered
as single units.
 Unlike countable nouns, they cannot be made plural by
adding -s to the end of the word.
 “We have more customer visiting
our store this month”
- The correct sentence should
be:
Example “We have more customers
visiting our store this month”
 LEAVING OUT ARTICLES “A”, “AN” AND “THE”

 In English, these 3 little words are very

important.
 They are used to show if you are referring to a
specific noun (“the”) or an indefinite noun (“a”
and “an”).

Example:
“This is consultant who will work with us for week”
The correct sentence should be:
“This is consultant who will work with us for a week”
 CHANGING TENSES MID-SENTENCE
• Tenses are very important in English
because they show the time when an event
happened

Example:
 The manager is (present) not in today because he
was (past) feeling unwell.
 The correct sentence should be:
 The manager is (present) not in today because he is
(present) feeling unwell.
 Translating Directly from Your Own
Language
It is a very common practice for English learners to do direct
translations from their own language when speaking or
writing in English.
 Here is a simple English sentence you might say as you
are leaving work:
I’m going home now.
In Korean, the direct translation for this sentence would be:
I now home go.
In Japanese, it would be:
Now house return.
 Solutions
01 Put your main points first

Keep your font choices simple

02

03 Use active rather than passive verbs

State exactly why you're
writing the Reminding the recipient
correspondence upfront. of a past meeting or a
common connection you
One exception to this rule
share is an acceptable
is for sales letters. way to open as it may
influence the recipient to
be more amenable to
your intended aims.
Stick to a nice, clean type style
such as Helvetica or Times New
Roman and limit the number of
fonts you use in correspondence.
Keep your font choices
Your goal is something that legible simple
and easy to read.
Active verbs allow the reader to
comprehend quickly and to
understand more completely.

Use active rather than

passive verbs
Eg: "The decision has implemented to
suspend production," leaves the interpretation
of who made the decision to call it quits open.
On the other hand, the meaning of, "We've
decided to suspend production," is clear.
 Put your main points first
Example:

IN WRITING EMAIL

ÞINCREASE THE EFFICIENCY IN WORK

ÞSAVING TIME AND MONEY FROM
MISTAKES
 Example: Keep your font choices simple:

YOUR GOAL IS SOMETHING THAT

LEGIBLE AND EASY TO READ.
ÞSIMPLE FONT LIKE “ Times New
Romans “
ÞEXCESSIVE STYLE WILL
REDUCE THE ABILITY TO
CONVEY THE NECESSARY
INFORMATION.
 Translating Directly
n s from Your Own
lu tio 05
S o Language

.
CONFUSING
SINGULAR WITH CHANGING
PLURAL 02 TENSES
04
03 MID-
LEAVING OUT ARTICLES SENTENCE
01 “A”, “AN” AND “THE”
MISSPELING WORDS
 MISSPELING WORDS
• If you learn by hearing, spell words out loud, or have someone else do it for you. Sing
the letters. Listen to the rhythm, and you may sense the rules behind them. Teach
someone else.

• If you learn by seeing, the more you read, the more your spelling will improve. Using a
keyboard will help. Seeing what you just typed appearing neatly on the screen may
trigger your “right/wrong” sensors more reliably than trying to read your handwriting.

• If you learn logically, organize your word lists by rule or family. Not all logic is verbal,
and you can sharpen your unconscious spelling sense simply by putting all the words
together that end with ‘ed’ or start with ‘eu’.
 CONFUSING SINGULAR WITH PLURAL

• Learn by heart
• Write the paragraph with the words you have learned
• Do exercises to remember the words longer
• Correct the exercises
 LEAVING OUT ARTICLES “A”, “AN” AND “THE”

Use a before nouns (or adjectives) that

start with a consonant sound

Use an before nouns (or adjectives) that

start with a vowel sound.

The is used in front of singular or plural nouns and

adjectives to refer to something with which both the
speaker/writer and listener/reader are familiar.
 CHANGING TENSES MID-SENTENCE
• Keep tenses consistent within sentences.
• Do not change tenses when there is no time change for the action.
 CHANGING TENSES MID-SENTENCE

Remember

 Change tense ONLY when something in the content of your essay demands that you
do so for clarity.

 Note how the following example incorporates tense change as needed to clarify
several time periods
Translating Directly from Your Own Language
1. Don't Be Afraid to Translate

2. Start with Simple Sentences, then Expand

3. Use Massive Input to Think Like Native

Speakers Do
Example: MISSPELING WORDS
 According to the Oxford Dictionary (and anyone who has
ever studied English as a second language), spelling is
hard. And misspellings are not only common, but also
awkward in professional contexts.
 When you receive an email or document with spelling
errors, it's difficult to trust the person sending it. Spelling
speaks to attention to detail as well as level of education,
and you want to make sure yours is on point.
 Accomodate
• This is one that often shows up in
business communications, so you
want to make sure you get it right. It
actually takes two c's and two m's.
• Correct spelling: accommodate
Recieve
• Despite the fact that this is drilled
in elementary school and beyond, it's
apparently still challenging to
remember that the rule is ... (all
together now) "i before e, except
after c." This is one of the c's in
question.
• Correct spelling: receive
 • Again, you want to get this right in
business settings, such as when telling
Seperate your team to "send separate emails" to
different clients.

• Correct spelling: separate

• You've got to govern in order to have a

government. Don't forget about
Goverment​ that n in there.

• Correct spelling: government

 • This is definitely one you want to get
Definately right. If you just remember, "I want to
get it right," then you can remember
that there's an i in the middle there,
not an a.
• Correct spelling: definitely

• Whether you use it privately or

publicly, this is one you want to make
Publically sure is correct.

• Correct spelling: publicly

 CONFUSING SINGULAR WITH
•
PLURAL
Correct subject-verb agreement is the foundation of good grammar. It is
easy enough to know that the singular noun "magazine" requires the
singular verb "is." But what if the subject is tricky and is not in
a recognizably plural form? The best way to perfect subject-verb agreement
is to know the exceptions. It's fun to think of them as stubborn people who
do not conform to easy rules. You just have to be two steps ahead of them:
First, know if the dictionary considers them one, many, or a collection.
Second, use the right quantifiers.
 • Think of furniture as a set of tables,
chairs, couches, and cabinets. When
one says “a house filled with
expensive furniture,” it is
understood that there are several
items, not just one. To make the
word plural is redundant. But
because it is a single collection of
things, it requires a singular verb
after.
• This furniture is hard to clean.
• But if you want to emphasize the
quantity or enumerate the kinds of
furniture in a space, attach a
countable noun such as “pieces”
and “items” after. This gives you the
license to use the plural verb “are.”
• The furniture pieces are to die for.
SINGULAR​OR​PLURAL? • The same rule applies to "stuff" and
"equipment." Do away with the "s"
because the words refer to a lot of
things, but are always in singular
form
 • Bread can be broken
apart and sandwiched
together. Like the
other words in this
list, it is a whole that
refuses a plural form.
Are you talking about
several pieces? Use
“slices” or “loaves.”
You may also use the
container to suggest
an assortment: a
SINGULAR​OR​PLURAL? platter of bread.
 • Information is knowledge,
which in the academe is
referred to as a “body” with
“branches.” Most of the
time, it is a lot of things
rolled in one—stories,
quotes, investigative details.
If you want to say that
information runs far and
wide, use nouns with plural
forms the way you would
use collective nouns—with
“of.” To single out something
in that body of information,
SINGULAR​OR​ you may say:
This important piece of

PLURAL? information is just what I

need.