The Grammar Logs -- Number Five

The
Grammar
Logs
# 5

Question What makes business English style different from other language styles?
Source & Date
of Question Murcia, Spain
22 April 1997
Grammar's
Response Your question is a big one and a truly useful answer would have to be too extensive to include here. In many American colleges, there is an entire course devoted to English for Business Applications (or Business English or something like that). We can say here that Business English is characterized by its simplicity, forthrightness, precision, objectivity, and courtesy. Now those words can be used to describe all good English, I suppose, so it becomes a matter of degree. There is no reason for a business memorandum, for instance, to become stuffy, but it must always come to the point quickly and efficiently. Business English is characterized by a directness of tone (without being overly abrupt or rude). There is seldom room in Business English to demonstrate your sense of humor. Ease of communication is primary; thus, devices such as numbering the points you make (which you might not do in a non-business setting) become useful.
Most college libraries will include more than one text devoted to Business English, although I'm not sure this is the case in Murcia, Spain.

Question In the very old days (pre-desktop publishing) typewriters used a fixed width font and the punctuation rule was that the writer should leave two blank spaces at the end of a sentence. However, the advent of variable-width typefaces as the default printing choice has led many word-processing manuals to recommend using just a single space, as typesetters have always done. (The exception would be the rare occasion when the document uses a fixed-width font.) However, I have been unable to find any style or grammar guides that include this distinction. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Source & Date
of Question Arlington, Virginia
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response The short answer is No. All the texts and handbooks I have seem to treat the spacing after end punctuation as a typographical matter (or leave it out entirely). The APA Manual now says to use one space, but doesn't say why; The Little, Brown Handbook says to use two spaces after periods. I agree with you that the move to one space is because of modern variable-spaced fonts and also because, if one's text is digitally copied and then re-done in justified margins (as it would be, say, if it were published in a journal), really weird things can happen if one has used more than one space after end marks.

Question I was wondering which was the correct usage --

Mary and I ......
OR
Mary and myself.....

Source & Date
of Question Bangalore, India
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response The correct usage is "Mary and I." You will sometimes hear people use the reflexive or intensive pronouns (the -self pronouns) in place of the personal pronouns, but that use should be avoided in formal speech and writing.
Authority: The Little, Brown Handbook by H. Ramsay Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, & Kay Limburg. 6th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1995. By permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

Question What is the proper comma usage when using a date in a sentence?
Example: In addition, we noted that the last deposit was made December 13, 1996 for $95.05.
Is a comma needed after 1996 also?
Another Example: We again visited the Library on March 14, 1997 and noted a deposit was made on March 11, 1997 for $24.15.
Is a comma needed after both 1997s?
Source & Date
of Question Pensacola, Florida
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response When you include the date of the month, treat the year as a parenthetical element within your sentence and put commas before and after the year. "We celebrated his last birthday on July 14, 1956, and everyone was there." If you leave out the date of the month and have only the month and the year, no commas are necessary. "In July 1956 we held our first family reunion." In your first example, put a comma after 1996; in the second example, put a comma after each 1997.
Authority: Student's Book of College English by David Skwire and Harvey S. Wiener. 6th ed. MacMillan: New York. 1992.
Many writers nowadays are writing dates in a more logical (and internationally acceptable) day/month/year pattern and avoiding the comma altogether: "On 14 July 1995 we celebrated his fortieth birthday."
Suresh, of Bangalore, India, notes that although the commas are not needed before the years in the above examples, they should probably be used after the year to set off the introductory modifier. This is especially true of "On 14 July 1995, we celebrated his fortieth birthday." The NYPL Writer's Guide notes that "commas are not necessary after short introductory phrases, especially of time and place." But with all those numbers, it's a good idea to set off an introductory date, even in international style.
Authority: New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994. Cited with permission. p. 249.

Question When using acronyms, how do you show plurals?

For example: BLT--- Should it be 2 BLTs or 2 BLT's?

Source & Date
of Question Littleport, England, UK
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response You're probably more aware than I am that some rules don't travel very well over the Atlantic. Nonetheless, I can tell you that the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association says that we should not add an apostrophe to abbreviations and acronyms when forming their plurals. Thus, you can eat two BLTs, and you and your sister have comparable IQs.
Authority: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Assocation American Psychological Association. 4th ed. American Psychological Association: New York. 1994.

Question Is the following correct: Thirty-five sculpture?
Or is this correct: Thirty-five sculptures?
thanks!
Source & Date
of Question Washington, D.C.
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response It's pretty easy to say that 35 sculpture is definitely not correct. You could certainly say 35 pieces of sculpture, and most people probably would say it that way. I don't see the plural "sculptures" listed anywhere, but I don't see anything against its being formed that way, either.

Question What is the proper pluralization of a unit of a fractional number? For example, which of the following is proper?

0.135 inch
0.135 inches
While the latter appears correct, I doubt that it is so. We say one quarter inch, one inch, and three inches. The units should be plural when the value exceeds unity. Does this rule continue to hold when the value is expressed as a decimal?
Source & Date
of Question Brunswick, Ohio
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response Your instinct is right here. When the number is less than one, whether it's expressed as a fraction or a decimal, you shouldn't use the plural form for that number. I think it's sort of a short-hand for 0.135 of an inch. So your plural is really in the 135 thousandths of an inch, not in the inch.

Question How do I keep from using run-on sentences?
Source & Date
of Question Unknown
23 April 1997
Grammar's
Response RTFM, my friend. Read the Fine Manual. (The Guide, I mean, and take the quiz on recognizing fragments and run-ons, and if you're still having trouble, get back in touch.)

Question I am an auditor for a CPA firm and one of my duties is to review the internal control systems of our clients. In the event that the correct procedures are indeed being followed, I find myself struggling to compose the following sentence:
"No exceptions were found during the test and established procedures appear to be being followed."
"...appear to be being followed" has been driving me crazy. This is how I would expect it to be written but it looks quite incorrect to the "naked eye"! Is this the proper treatment of the verb, to be? If it were know for certain that the procedures were being followed, the tense would be different and "were" being followed would seem to make sense, so why not "be being followed"
Dismayed...
Source & Date
of Question Portland, Maine
25 April 1997
Grammar's
Response I would suggest changing "appear to be being followed" to "seem to be followed." That would be a huge improvement, but the sentence is still awash in the passive voice. How about writing this instead: "We found no exceptions during the test and determined that ___________ follows established procedures." Or "During our tests, we found that, without exception, ____________ closely follows established procedures." (Or "seem to follow," if we can't be too positive?)
Trust your ear when it aches upon hearing
"appear to be being. . . ."

Question What are the English verb tenses and definitions?
What are the English noun cases and definitions?
Thanks!
Source & Date
of Question Boise, Idaho
15 April 1997
Grammar's
Response I've just added some charts that might help. Click HERE for a chart on the active verb tenses; click HERE for a chart of cases for nouns and pronouns.

Previous Grammar Log
Next Grammar Log
Index of Grammar Logs
Guide to Grammar and Writing

Question	What makes business English style different from other language styles?
Source & Date of Question	Murcia, Spain 22 April 1997
Grammar's Response	Your question is a big one and a truly useful answer would have to be too extensive to include here. In many American colleges, there is an entire course devoted to English for Business Applications (or Business English or something like that). We can say here that Business English is characterized by its simplicity, forthrightness, precision, objectivity, and courtesy. Now those words can be used to describe all good English, I suppose, so it becomes a matter of degree. There is no reason for a business memorandum, for instance, to become stuffy, but it must always come to the point quickly and efficiently. Business English is characterized by a directness of tone (without being overly abrupt or rude). There is seldom room in Business English to demonstrate your sense of humor. Ease of communication is primary; thus, devices such as numbering the points you make (which you might not do in a non-business setting) become useful. Most college libraries will include more than one text devoted to Business English, although I'm not sure this is the case in Murcia, Spain.

Question	What is the proper pluralization of a unit of a fractional number? For example, which of the following is proper? 0.135 inch 0.135 inches While the latter appears correct, I doubt that it is so. We say one quarter inch, one inch, and three inches. The units should be plural when the value exceeds unity. Does this rule continue to hold when the value is expressed as a decimal?
Source & Date of Question	Brunswick, Ohio 23 April 1997
Grammar's Response	Your instinct is right here. When the number is less than one, whether it's expressed as a fraction or a decimal, you shouldn't use the plural form for that number. I think it's sort of a short-hand for 0.135 of an inch. So your plural is really in the 135 thousandths of an inch, not in the inch.

Question	In the very old days (pre-desktop publishing) typewriters used a fixed width font and the punctuation rule was that the writer should leave two blank spaces at the end of a sentence. However, the advent of variable-width typefaces as the default printing choice has led many word-processing manuals to recommend using just a single space, as typesetters have always done. (The exception would be the rare occasion when the document uses a fixed-width font.) However, I have been unable to find any style or grammar guides that include this distinction. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Source & Date of Question	Arlington, Virginia 23 April 1997
Grammar's Response	The short answer is No. All the texts and handbooks I have seem to treat the spacing after end punctuation as a typographical matter (or leave it out entirely). The APA Manual now says to use one space, but doesn't say why; The Little, Brown Handbook says to use two spaces after periods. I agree with you that the move to one space is because of modern variable-spaced fonts and also because, if one's text is digitally copied and then re-done in justified margins (as it would be, say, if it were published in a journal), really weird things can happen if one has used more than one space after end marks.

Question	How do I keep from using run-on sentences?
Source & Date of Question	Unknown 23 April 1997
Grammar's Response	RTFM, my friend. Read the Fine Manual. (The Guide, I mean, and take the quiz on recognizing fragments and run-ons, and if you're still having trouble, get back in touch.)