GRAMMAR

AND
SPELLING
 MISTAKES

• Business
• Your name: Should be capitalized and cannot have a spelling
error
• The name of your college and university should be accurate
 INCOMPLETE COMPARISONS

• Can you see what's wrong with this sentence?

Our car model is faster, better, stronger.
Faster, better, stronger ... than what? What are you comparing
your car to? A horse? A competitor's car? An older model?
When you're asserting that something should be compared to
something else, make sure you always clarify what that
something else is. Otherwise, it's impossible for your readers to
discern what the comparison actually means.
 DANGLING MODIFIERS

• This mistake happens when a descriptive phrase doesn't apply to the

noun that immediately follows it. It's easier to see in an example
taken from my colleague over on the HubSpot Sales Blog:
• After declining for months, Jean tried a new tactic to increase ROI.
• What exactly is declining for months? Jean? In reality, the sentence
was trying to say that the ROI was declining -- not Jean. To fix this
problem, try flipping around the sentence structure (though beware
of passive voice):
• Jean tried a new tactic to increase ROI after it had been declining
for months.
• Better, right?
 BRAND AS THEY

• So, what's the problem with this sentence?

• To keep up with their changing audience, Southwest Airlines
rebranded in 2014.
• The confusion is understandable. In English, we don't identify a
brand or an entity as "he" or "she" -- so "they" seems to make more
sense. But as the professor pointed out, it's just not accurate. A brand
or an entity is "it."
• To keep up with its changing audience, Southwest Airlines
rebranded in 2014.
• It might seem a little strange at first, but once you start correctly
referring to a brand or entity as "it," the phrasing will sound much
more natural than "they."
• Most people understand the difference between the two of these, until it
comes time for them to use one in a sentence.

• When you get done with that lab report, can you send it to Bill and I?

• The sentence above is actually wrong, as proper as it sounds. Try taking Bill
out of that sentence -- it sounds weird, right? You would never ask someone
to send something to "I" when he or she is done. The reason it sounds weird
is because "I" is the object of that sentence -- and "I" should not be used in
objects. In that situation, you'd use "me."

• When you get done with that lab report, can you send it to Bill and me?
 LESS VS. FEWER

• You know the checkout aisle in the grocery store that says "10
Items or Less"? That's actually incorrect. It should be "10
Items or Fewer."
• Why? Because "items" are quantifiable -- you can count out
10 items. Use "fewer" for things that are quantifiable, like
"fewer M&Ms" or "fewer road trips." Use "less" for things
that aren't quantifiable, like "less candy" and "less traveling."
 SEMICOLONS ;

• Semicolons are used to connect two independent clauses that, though they could
stand on their own, are closely related. For example, you could use a semicolon
in the sentence: "Call me tomorrow; I'll have an answer for you by then."

• Notice that each clause could be its own sentence -- but stylistically, it makes
more sense for them to be joined. (If there's a coordinating conjunction between
the two clauses -- like "and," "but", or "or" -- use a comma instead.)

• You can also use semicolons to separate items in a list when those items contain
commas themselves:

• There are two options for breakfast: eggs and bacon, which is high in protein
and low in carbs; or oatmeal and fruit, which is high in carbs but has more fiber.
 FARTHER AND FURTHER

• People often use "farther" and "further" interchangeably to mean

"at a greater distance."
• However, in most countries, there are actually subtle differences in
meaning between the two. "Farther" is used more to refer to
physical distances, while "further" is used more to refer to
figurative and nonphysical distances. So while Paris is "farther"
away than Madrid, a marketing team falls "further" away from its
leads goal. (Note: The word "further" is preferred for all senses of
the word in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and elsewhere in the 
Commonwealth of Nations.)
• The word "further" can also be used as an adjective or as an adverb
to mean "additionally." For example, "I have no further questions."
 EN AND EM DASH

• Both "–" and "—" are versions of the dash: "–" is the en dash,

and "—" or "--" are both versions of the em dash. You can use
either the en dash or the em dash to signify a break in a
sentence or set off parenthetical statements.
• The en dash can also be used to represent time spans or
differentiation, such as, "That will take 5–10 minutes."
• The em dash, on the other hand, can be used to set off
quotation sources, such as, "'To be, or not to be, that is the
question.' —Shakespeare."
 CAPITALIZATION

• Capitalize the first word.

• Capitalize the letter I throughout your paper
• Capitalize proper nouns
• A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is
used to refer to that entity, such as London, Jupiter, Sarah, or
Microsoft, as distinguished from a common noun, which is a
noun that refers to a class of entities and may be used when
referring to instances of a specific class.
NOUNS
 SENTENCE FRAGMENTING

• Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences that don’t have one independent
clause. A fragment may lack a subject, a complete verb, or both. Sometimes
fragments depend on the proceeding sentence to give it meaning.
• Related: 12 Effective Tips On How To Write Faster
• Example 1:
• Incorrect: He gave his mother an extravagant gift after the argument. In spite of
everything.
• Correct: In spite of everything, he gave his mother an extravagant gift after the
argument.
• Example 2:
• Incorrect: The boys snuck home late that night. Then waited for the
consequences.
• Correct: The boys snuck home late that night, then waited for the consequences.
 A OR AN

• The basic rule for using a in a sentence is

• Use a before words, abbreviations, acronyms, or letters that begin with a consonant
sound, regardless of their spelling.
• For example,

• A dog.
• A fish.
• A university.
• A utopia.
• The important part is the sound of the word that follows, not necessarily the letter
with which it starts. The above examples have words that begin with vowels and
consonants, but we use a for all of them because they begin with the sound of a
consonant.
 A OR AN
• An is used before words, abbreviations, acronyms, or letters that begin with a vowel sound,
regardless of their spelling.

• An idiot.
• An element.
• An honor.
• An heirloom.
• The rule only becomes tricky when you have a vowel with a consonant sound or a consonant with
a vowel sound like in our above examples,

• A university (yoo-ne-ver-se-tee).
• A utopia (yoo-toe-pe-a).
• An honor (ah-ner).
• When you come across these, ignore what the first letter is and just listen to the sound that it
makes. Say the word out loud. If it sounds as if it is beginning with a consonant sound, use a. If it
sounds as if it is beginning with a vowel sound, use an.
 ABBREVIATIONS

• CAO - Chief Accounting Officer

• CEO - Chief Executive Officer
• CFO - Chief Financial Officer
• CIO - Chief Information Officer
• CMO - Chief Marketing Officer
• COO - Chief Operating Officer
• CPA - Certified Public Accountant
• CTO - Chief Technology Officer
• BKPR - Bookkeeper
 SALES

• AD - Advertisement
• B2B - Business to Business
• B2C - Business to Consumer
• BD - Business Development
• BDC - Business Development Company/Council
• COD - Cash on Delivery
• Comp. - Item given for free
• PO - Purchase Order
• Sls - Sales
• SP - Strategic Plan
• USP - Unique Selling Point
• Val. - Value
 LEGAL

• HQ - Headquarters
• Inc. - Incorporated
• IPO - Initial Public Offering
• LBO - Limited Buyout
• Ltd. - Limited Company
• LLC - Limited Liability Corp.