F
FACTITIVE VERBS
Verbs like make, choose, judge, elect, select, and name are factitive verbs. These verbs can take two objects.
Example: The people elected Barack Obama [object] president of the United States [second complement].
FAINT
FAIR, FARE
Fare, as a verb, means to go, to carry, or to pass through.
Example: How did you fare on your trip to Scotland?
Fare, as a noun, can also mean an assortment of food or any material provided for consumption, the price charged for transportation, or a paying passenger on a taxi or bus.
Fair has a variety of meanings:
Adjective—fresh, smooth, pure, clean
Adjective—not dark
Adjective—not stormy
Adjective—impartial and honest
Adjective—done according to the rules
Example: That’s fair.
Noun—a gathering of buyers and sellers for trade or for a competitive exhibition.
Example: The State Fair of Texas is held every year in October.
FANBOYS
Coordinating conjunctions can be remembered using the acronym FANBOYS: for-and-nor-but-or-yet-so. A comma is often used when a coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses.
Example: Eric wanted to play in the band, but he also wanted to pursue a career in engineering.
FARTHER, FURTHER
Farther shows a specific, quantifiable distance.
Example: I walked farther than he did.
Further shows degree or extent.
Example: He will go further with your help than without it.
FAZE, PHASE
Faze is a verb that means to disturb. Faze is often used in sentences where something did not affect someone or something.
Example: The shouts from the audience did not faze the speaker.
Phase can be a noun or verb.
As a noun, it refers to a particular cycle or appearance.
Example: The astronomer eagerly awaited a new phase of the moon.
As a verb, it means to carry out a plan or introduce something in stages.
Example: The plan was to phase in the new software over a period of several months.
FEINT, FAINT
Feint can be either a noun or a verb.
When used as a noun, feint means to distract attention from the real center of attention. A feint often refers to a battlefield strategy that involves a diversionary attack to distract the enemy from the real intended point of attack.
When used as a verb, feint means to make a fake move during a battle or confrontation.
Faint can be used as an adjective, verb, or noun.
When used an adjective, faint means weakness or lacking vigor or distinctness.
Example: There was a faint red glow in the sky.
When used as verb, faint means to lose consciousness temporarily.
Example: Candace fainted in the middle of her wedding.
When used as a noun, faint refers to the medical condition of fainting.
Example: The patient went into a faint.
FEMALE, WOMAN
When referring to human beings, use the word woman rather than female.
Incorrect: A female walked down the hall and entered her office.
Correct: A woman walked down the hall and entered her office.
When used as an adjective, it is often best to use female rather than woman.
Example: female firefighter, female astronaut
FEWER, LESS
FEW, A FEW
There can be a big difference between few and a few. The following example implies that Linda has some biographies in her collection.
Example: Linda has a few biographies among the books in her library.
This example implies that Linda does not have many biographies in her collection.
Example: Linda has few biographies among the books in her library.
FIGURATIVELY
FIGURE OF SPEECH
A figure of speech is a form of expression where a word or words are used to convey something different from their literal meaning.
Example: As we entered the restaurant, Evelyn said she was starving [not dying from hunger, just very hungry].
Other figures of speech are break a leg, butterflies in your stomach, raining cats and dogs, got your back.
There are a variety of classifications for figures of speech. Here are some examples:
Alliteration
Anaphora
Antithesis
Apostrophe
Assonance
Chiasmus
Euphemism
Hyperbole
Irony
Litotes
Metaphor
Metonymy
Onomatopoeia
Oxymoron
Paradox
Personification
Pun
Simile
Synechdoche
Understatement
FIGURES
Figures are drawings, pictures, or charts that appear as illustrations in a manuscript. Figures should complement the subject matter in the text.
Provide a brief introductory sentence to introduce a figure.
Example: The following pie chart shows the various classifications of users for the new software.
Include a short caption below the figure. Even if a figure repeats later in the same document, repeat the caption. Do not use end punctuation for the caption, unless it is a complete sentence. Figures should be numbered sequentially throughout the document, with the figure number included in the caption. Figure numbering can be 1, 2, 3 or include a chapter or section number, such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and so on.
Example: Figure 1. Software user pie chart
FINITE VERBS
Finite verbs are verbs that have a subject and can stand on their own as complete sentences. Finite verbs show tense and number.
Example: I [subject] drive [finite verb] a car.
Finite verbs can be contrasted with nonfinite verbs, which have no subject, tense, or number. Nonfinite verbs use the following forms:
Infinitive: to go
Gerund: going
Participle: gone
FIRST CONDITIONAL
A first conditional sentence consists of an if clause and a main clause. The first conditional is used to describe things that may happen.
When the if clause occurs first, a comma is required.
When the if clause is after the main clause, no comma is required.
Example: You will be sleepy the next day if you stay up all night.
FIX, SITUATION
Fix means to repair. Don’t use it to mean a bad situation.
Incorrect: She is in a desperate fix.
Correct: She is desperate because of her present situation.
FLAIR, FLARE
Flair is a noun that means a skill, talent, or natural ability. Flair can also mean a unique attractive quality or style.
Example: He has a flair for doing hair.
Flare can be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, flare is a fire, a bright light, or a burning safety warning device.
As a verb, flare means to become excited or angry or to shine with a sudden light.
FLESCH-KINCAID INDEX
The Flesch-Kincaid Index is a measurement used to determine how easy or difficult a document is to read. The Index gives the years of education required to understand a document.
The following formula is used to calculate the Flesch-Kincaid Index:
FLIER, FLYER
A flier is a noun that means a person who flies. A flyer is a one- or two-sided advertising notice.
FOCUS ADVERB
A focus adverb is used to limit the context of a sentence or to add additional context.
Example: He got a ticket just [focus adverb] for going five miles over the speed limit.
Example: He got a ticket in addition to [focus adverb] a long lecture from the police officer.
FOG INDEX
The Fog Index is a test to determine how easy or difficult a document is to read. The official name is the “Gunning Fog Index.” The Fog Index uses the following formula:
The result of the formula is the Gunning Fog Index, which represents the number of years of education that a reader needs to have in order to understand the document.
Short sentences with small words score better than long sentences with complicated words. Business documents should have a Gunning Fog Index between 10 and 15. If the Index exceeds 18, the document should be rewritten.
FONT, TYPEFACE
A typeface refers to the design of printed letters on paper or in a computer display.
Example: Helvetica, Times New Roman, Arial
A typeface is composed of different fonts.
Example: The Times New Roman typeface has a family of fonts: Times New Roman, Times New Roman Italic, Times New Roman Bold.
FOOT, FEET
Foot is singular; feet is plural.
Incorrect: The room is twelve foot long.
Correct: The room is twelve feet long.
FOOTNOTES, ENDNOTES
Footnotes are comments placed at the bottom of a page of text to explain a concept, define a term, or provide a reference.
A superscript number (for example,1)is added after the text in the document that the footnote references. The footnote is numbered with the same superscript number at the bottom of the page.
Example: This is an example of a footnote reference1.
Example:1This is a sample footnote.
Endnotes are similar to footnotes, but they appear at the end of a chapter, a section, or the document.
FOREGO, FORGO
Forego means to go before. Forgo means to do without something.
Example: After finishing dinner and feeling a bit too full, he decided to forgo dessert.
FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES
Non-English words and phrases, such as etc., et al., de facto, or ad hoc, should be avoided in most business writing.
Avoid the use of Latin abbreviations when a normal English phrase can be used instead. See Table 2.16.
Table 2.16 Latin Abbreviations and Their English Counterparts
FOREVER, FOR EVER
Forever is normally written as one word in the United States.
For ever is normally written as two words in the United Kingdom.
FOR, FORE, FOUR
To correctly use these words in your writing, consider their definitions:
For is a preposition that is used to indicate the purpose, goal, or recipient of an activity.
Fore can be an adverb or adjective that means something in front of something else.
Four is the number.
FORMATTING
Formatting a business document varies depending on the type of document. The most common formatting items are:
Captions
Callouts
Cross-references
Headings
Subheadings
Line spacing and breaks
Lists
Margins and margin notes
Page breaks
Tables
Notes and tips
Footnotes or endnotes
All these formatting items are covered elsewhere in this book.
FORMULAS
Formulas are used in mathematics and science to express information symbolically.
Example: E = mc 2
Writing formulas in business documents with a word processor may involve inserting special symbols and changing to superscript or subscript fonts.
Some of the latest word processors include the ability to insert and format complex formulas by using the Equation function.
Example:
FORWARD, FORWARDS, FOREWORD
Forward and forwards can both be used; however, forward is more formal. This usage also applies to toward and towards and backward and backwards.
A foreword is an introductory section of a book.
FRACTIONS
Fractions can be written in words or decimals depending on the context. Avoid using numbers separated by a slash mark, unless you are writing an equation.
Hyphenate fractions written as words.
Example: one-half, two-thirds, five-sixteenths
When writing fractions as decimal points, insert a zero before the decimal point for fractions that are less than one.
Example: 0.25 inch
The unit of measure should be singular for amounts less than one, except zero, which is plural.
Example: 0.75 inch, 0 inches, 10 inches
FRAGMENTS
FULL TIME, FULL-TIME
When used as a measure of time that denotes a complete work week, full time is a noun and is written as two words without a hyphen.
Example: My job requires that I work full time Monday through Friday.
When used as an adjective to mean being employed full time, a hyphen is used.
Example: She is looking for a full-time job.
FURTHER
FUSED SENTENCES
Fused sentences are often referred to as “run-on sentences.” Fused sentences have two parts that both can stand on their own as two independent clauses.
When two independent clauses are connected only by a comma, this is known as a comma-splice and the result is a run-on or fused sentence.
Example: The weather is hot, let’s go swimming.
To avoid a comma-splice and run-on sentence:
Connect the two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, such as and, or, but, for, so, yet, or nor.
Example: The weather is hot, so let’s go swimming.
Add a period to each of the independent clauses.
Example: The weather is hot. Let’s go swimming.
Link the clauses using a semicolon.
Example: The weather is hot; let’s go swimming.
Rewrite the sentences into one independent clause.
Example: The weather is hot enough for swimming.
Rewrite the sentences so that one of the independent clauses becomes a dependent clause.
Example: Since the weather is hot, let’s go swimming.
Use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb (thus, otherwise, moreover, also, anyway, besides, furthermore, incidentally) to separate the two independent clauses. Add a comma after the conjunctive adverb.
Example: The weather is hot; furthermore, let’s go swimming.
FUTURE PERFECT
To describe an event that has not happened but is expected to happen before another event, the future perfect tense is used.
The future perfect is composed of a subject + shall or will have + the past participle of the verb.
Example: I [subject] will have already delivered [will have + past participle] the presentation by the time your plane lands.
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
The future perfective progressive structure is used when an unfinished action will reach a certain stage. The form of the future perfect progressive is will have been.
Example: By this time next year, I will have been married half my life.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
To indicate action that will be taking place in the future as a part of normal events, the future progressive tense is used. The future progressive tense is composed of will be + the -ing form of the verb.
Example: I will be leaving for Detroit in the morning.