Most technical documents are formatted so that they are either left-justified (with the left margin aligned and the right margin ‘ragged’) or full-justified (when both margins are aligned). Although full-justified margins may appear to look more professional, they also require unequal spacing between the words so that the margins can match up. This sometimes gives…
Disaster Management and Business Continuity– They are only as good as your last exercise and revisions The world is a crazy place these days. From the United States to Australia and all the places in between, there are gas leaks, major oil spills, severe weather, train derailments, cyber breaches, and other disasters. When was the…
Take a break There may be a very good reason that you don’t seem to be able to focus on writing: are you tired? Hungry? Is there another task you need to resolve first? Make sure that you’re allowing yourself the time and circumstances you need to facilitate your own writing process. Sometimes all you…
We see it often in letters, emails, texts, tweets, memos, and notes. This mark is appealing because it helps save character space and looks casual, but how does it fit in formal writing? The Associated Press Stylebook advises using the ampersand when it is part of a company’s formal name or composition title: Barnes &…
What is the difference between preventive and preventative? Is one preferred over the other? According to Paul Brians’ Common Errors in English Usage, the two words are interchangeable, although some people prefer ‘preventive’ because it is shorter. Bill Bryson, author of Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer’s Guide to Getting it Right, agrees. “Preventative…
Which word is correct: toward or towards? Here’s the scoop: toward and towards can be used interchangeably. Technically, they mean the same thing, and it is correct to use either of them. The reason that we may prefer one over the other is simple: it depends on whether you are from the US, Great Britain,…
If you are a native speaker of English, you probably take a lot of things for granted—such as the order in which you write adjectives that describe nouns. English as a Second Language (ESL) writers, however, may have trouble with it. Native English speakers/writers have lots of experience hearing the flow and rhythm of the…
When you are talking about discussing something in great detail, do you want ‘indepth’ or ‘in depth’? The word you want is ‘in depth.’ Just like the term ‘a lot,’ in depth is often mistaken to be one word—but don’t make that mistake! If you want to use the term ‘in depth’ as an adjective describing…
Just in case you were wondering, ‘compare to’ and ‘compare with’ are not always interchangeable. The basic differences between the two are: Use ‘to’ when you are stressing the similarities between two items that are being compared. These statements are normally subjective, in that your reader may or may not agree with the comparison you are making.…
