CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SECTION 1 The Writing Process
Audience Analysis
Brainstorming
Research
Interviewing
Outlining
Writing a Draft
Business Writing Style
Using Visuals
Page Design
Publication Design
Editing
Proofreading
Document Review
Revisions
Documenting Sources
Footnotes and Endnotes
Bibliographies
Global Communications
Collaborative Writing
Promotional Writing
SECTION 2 The Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference
A, An
Abbreviations
Titles Before and After Names
Names
Mathematical Units and Measurements
Long Phrases
Words Used with Numbers
Common Latin Terms
States and Territories
Things You Should Not Abbreviate
Spacing and Periods for Abbreviations
Guidelines for Using Abbreviations in Your Writing
Abbreviations for Measurements
Abbreviations for Numbers
Above, Below
Absolute Form of an Adjective
Absolute Phrase
Absolutely
Abstract Nouns
Accent Marks
Accept, Except
Access, Excess
Acronyms
Action Verbs
Active Voice
A.D.
Adjectival Noun
Adjectival Opposites
Adjective Phrase
Adjectives
Placement of Adjectives in a Sentence
Use of Multiple Adjectives
Degrees of Adjectives
Irregular Form Adjectives
A-Adjectives
Adjuncts, Disjuncts, and Conjuncts
Adverbial Clause
Adverbial Phrase
Adverbs
Prepositional Phrases Acting as Adverbs
Infinitive Phrases Acting as Adverbs
Adverbs in a Numbered List
Adverbs to Avoid
Positioning Adverbs in a Sentence
Order of Adverbs
Inappropriate Adverb Order
Viewpoint Adverbs
Focus Adverbs
Negative Adverbs
Advice, Advise
Affect, Effect
Affixes
African-American
Age
Agents
Agreement
Aid, Aide
Alike
A Little
Allegories
Alliteration
All Right, Alright
Allusion, Illusion
Alone, Lonely
A Lot, Alot, Allot
Already, All Ready
Altogether, All Together
Ambitransitive Verbs
American English, British English
Among, Between
Ampersand
A.M., P.M.
An
Anadiplosis
Anaphora
And Also
And/Or
Angry, Mad
Animate Nouns
Antagonyms
Antecedent
Anti-
Antimetabole
Antonyms
Any, Either
Any, Some
Apart, A Part
Apodosis
Apostrophe
Appears, Displays
Appendix
Apposition
Appositives
Articles
As, Like
Assure, Insure, Ensure
Asterisks
As to Whether
As Well As
Autoantonyms
Auxiliary Verbs
Average, Mean, Median
A While, Awhile
Awful, Awfully
Bad, Badly
Back-Channeling
Backslash, Slash
Back up, Backup
Base Form of a Verb
Basically, Essentially, Totally
B.C.
Because, Since, As
Been, Gone
Being That, Being As
Below
Beside, Besides
Between, Among
Bias, Biased
Biased or Sexist Language
Bibliography
Billion
Biweekly, Bimonthly, Semiweekly, Semimonthly
Blind
Blog, Weblog
Bold Fonts
Bored, Boring
Both, Alike
Both, Each
Brackets
Changes to Quoted Material
Digressions within Parentheses
Brake, Break
Brand Names
Breath, Breathe
Bring, Take
British English
Bulleted List
Bushel
Business, Right
Buzzwords
By, Bye, Buy
By, Until
Call Back, Callback
Call Out, Callout
Callouts
Came By
Can, May
Cannot
Can’t Seem
Canvas, Canvass
Capital Letters
Capital, Capitol
Capitalization
Acts of Congress
Associations
Book Titles and Their Subdivisions
Railroad Cars and Automobile Models
Churches and Church Dignitaries
Cities
Clubs
Legal Codes
Compass Points Designating a Specific Region
Constitutions
Corporations
Courts
Decorations
Degrees (Academic)
Districts
Educational Courses
Epithets
Fleets
Foundations
Geographic Divisions
Government Divisions
Historical Terms
Holidays
Libraries
Localities
Military Services
Nobility and Royalty
Oceans and Continents
Parks, Peoples, and Tribes
Personification
Planets and Other Heavenly Bodies
Rivers
Sports Stadiums, Teams, and Terms
Captions
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
Case
Cataphora
Causative Verbs
Caution Notice
CD, DVD
Censor, Censure, Sensor, Censer
Champaign, Champagne
Check, Control
Chiasmus
Chicano, Latino, Hispanic
Choose, Chose
Cite, Site, Sight
Citing Publications
Clauses
Cleanup, Clean Up
Cleft Sentences
Clichés
Click
Click and Drag
Click On
Closed Compounds
Coleman-Liau Index
Collective Adjectives
Collective Nouns
Collocations
Colloquial
Colon
Emphasis or Anticipation
Time
Titles
Combination
Comma
Compound and Complex Sentences
Introductory Expressions
Other Transitional Words
Prepositional Phrases
Contrasting Phrases
Nonrestrictive Modifiers
Infinitive Phrases
Designating Dialogue
Repeated Words
Word Omission
Transposed Adjective Order
Numbers
Addresses
Titles
Company Names
Common Adjectives
Common Nouns
Company and Product Names
Comparatives
Compared to, Compared with
Complement, Compliment
Complements
Complex Prepositions
Compound Nouns
Compound Predicates
Compound Sentences
Compounding Sentence Elements
Compound Words
Open Compounds
Closed Compounds
Hyphenated Compounds
Comptroller, Controller
Concord
Concrete Nouns
Conditional Perfect
Conditionals
Conjunctions
And
But
Or
Punctuation for Coordinating Conjunctions
Other Conjunctions
Subordinating Conjunctions
Correlative Conjunctions
Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjuncts
Connote, Denote
Considered to Be
Consonants
Continuous Verbs
Contractions
Contranyms
Control
Convince, Persuade
Cooperate
Coordinated Adjectives
Coordinating Conjunctions
Copula Verbs
Copyright
Correlative Conjunction
Could of, Might of
Council, Counsel, Consul
Count Nouns
Credible, Credulous
Cross-Reference
Cut-and-Paste
Danger Notice
Dangling Modifiers
Characteristics of Dangling Modifiers
Revising Dangling Modifiers
Dangling Participles
Dash
Data
Dates
Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Deal
Decimals
Declarative Mood
Declarative Sentence
Defining Relative Clause
Definite Article
Defuse, Diffuse
Degree Adverbs
Degree Titles
Deixis
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative Pronouns
Denominal Adjectives
Denote, Connote
Dependent Clauses
Descriptive Writing
Desert, Dessert
Determiners
Device, Devise
Diacritic
Different from, Different than
Diffuse, Defuse
Dimensions
Direct Objects
Disability
Disc, Disk
Discreet, Discrete
Disease Names
Disjuncts
Display, Monitor, Screen
Disyllabic
Ditransitive Verbs
Ditto Marks
Do, Does, Did
Dollars and Cents
Dollar and Cent Signs
Decimal Points
Don’t, Doesn’t
Do’s and Don’ts
Dot-Com
Double Negatives
Double Possessives
Double-Click
Download, Upload
Downtoners
Drag-and-Drop
Due to the Fact That
DVD
Dynamic Adjectives
Dynamic Verbs
Each Other, One Another
Each, Their
Effect, Affect
Eggcorn
e.g., i.e.
Either, Neither
Elicit, Illicit
Ellipses
Elliptical Clauses
Email
Embedded Questions
Em Dash
Emigrate, Immigrate
Eminent, Imminent, Immanent
Emoticons
Empathic Forms
Empathy, Sympathy
En Dash
Endnotes
End Result
Endophora
Engine, Motor
Enough, Not Enough
Enquire, Inquire
Ensure, Assure, Insure
Enthuse, Enthusiastic
Entitled
Envelop, Envelope
Epanadiplosis
Epanalepsis
Epistemic Modality
Epistrophe
Epizeuxis
Equally as Important
Equations
Ergative Verbs
Essentially
et al.
etc.
Euphemisms
Everyday
Everyone, Every One
Every Time
Except, Unless
Excess, Access
Exclamation Point
Exclamatory Sentence
Exclusive Adverbs
Existential There,
Exit
Exophoric
Expect
Expletive Constructions
Expository Writing
Extranet
Extraposition
Factitive Verbs
Faint
Fair, Fare
FANBOYS
Farther, Further
Faze, Phase
Feint, Faint
Female, Woman
Fewer, Less
Few, A Few
Figuratively
Figure of Speech
Figures
Finite Verbs
First Conditional
Fix, Situation
Flair, Flare
Flesch-Kincaid Index
Flier, Flyer
Focus Adverb
Fog Index
Font, Typeface
Foot, Feet
Footnotes, Endnotes
Forego, Forgo
Foreign Words and Phrases
Forever, For Ever
For, Fore, Four
Formatting
Formulas
Forward, Forwards, Foreword
Fractions
Fragments
Full Time, Full-time
Further
Fused Sentences
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Progressive
Future Progressive
Gage, Gauge
Gender
Genitive Marker
Gerund
Gigabyte
Gigahertz
Glossary
Gone, Went
Good, Well
Got, Gotten
Grammatical Hierarchy
Gray, Grey
Guess
Handicap, Disability
Hard Disk, Hard Drive
Headings and Subheadings
Helping Verbs
Hendiatris
Heteronyms
Highlighting
Hispanic, Latino, Chicano
Hit
Homographs
Homonyms
Homophones
Hypallage
Hyperbaton
Hyperbole
Hyperlinks
Hyphens
Line Breaks
Substitute Words
Pronunciation
Compound Adjectives
Hyphenated Compound Words
Hyphenated Numbers
Hyponyms
Hypophora
Hypothetical Questions
Hysteron Proteron
Idiolect
Idioms, 230i.e., e.g.
If, When, Whether
Illicit, Elicit
Illusion, Allusion
Illustrations
I, Me, Myself
Immanent, Eminent
Immigrate, Emigrate
Imperative Mood
Imply, Infer
Inanimate Nouns
Inaugurate
Inchoative Verbs
Indefinite Articles
Indefinite Pronouns
Independent Clauses
Index
Indicative Mood
Indirect Objects
Indirect Speech
Inductive Antonomasia
Infinitives
Infinitive Phrase
Inflection
Inherent and Noninherent Adjectives
Initialisms, Acronyms
Innuendo
In Order to
Inquire, Enquire
In-Sentence Lists
Inside of, Within
Insure, Ensure, Assure
Intensive Pronouns
Interjections
Internet, Intranet, Extranet
Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative Sentences
Intranet
Intransitive Verbs
Introductory Modifier
Invite
Irony
Irregular Plurals
Irregular Spelling
Irregular Verbs
Isocolon
Italics
Its, It’s
Jargon
Job Titles
Joint Possessives
Jr., Sr.
Kenning
Keyboard Terminology
Kilobyte
Kilohertz
Kind, Kinds
Kind of, Sort of
Latino, Hispanic, Chicano
Latin Terms
Latitude, Longitude
Lay, Lie
Lay Out, Layout
Lead, Led
Learn, Teach
Leave, Let
Led, Lead
Lend, Loan
Lessen, Lesson
Less, Fewer
Let, Leave
Lets, Let’s
Lexical Density
Liable, Likely
Lie, Lay
Lighted, Lit
Like, As
Line
Linking Verbs
Lists
In-Sentence Lists
Vertical Lists
Numbered Lists
Bulleted Lists
Multicolumn Lists
Literally, Figuratively
Lit, Lighted
Litotes
Little, A Little
Loan, Lend
Log On, Log Off, Logon, Logoff
Lonely, Alone
Longitude, Latitude
Loose, Lose
Lost, Lost Out
Lots
Mad, Angry
Margin Notes
Mass Nouns
Mathematical Equations
Maybe, May Be
May, Can
May, Might
Mean, Median, Average
Megabyte
Megahertz
Meiosis
Me, Myself, I
Metaphor
Metonymy
Mfr., Mfg.
Might Could
Might, May
Might of, Should of, Would of, Could of
Minimal Pairs
Misplaced Modifiers
Mixed Conditionals
Mixed Metaphor
Mnemonics
Modifiers
Initial Modifiers
Midsentence Modifiers
Terminal Modifiers
Combining Modifiers
Misplaced Modifiers
Monitor
Monosyllabic
Mood
More Than, Over
Morpheme
Most of All, Almost
Motor, Engine
Mouse Terminology
Multicolumn Lists
Myself, Me
Names
Negative Adverbs
Negative Formations
Negative Pronouns
Neither, Either
Neologism
Never
Nominal Adjectives
Nominative Absolutes
Nominative Case
Nominative Possessives
Noncount Nouns
Nondefining Relative Clause
Nonfinite Verbs
Noninherent Adjectives
Nonrestrictive Clauses
Notices
Noun Case
Noun Clause
Noun Phrase
Noun Plurals
Nouns
Nouns of Address
Number Abbreviations
Numbered List
Numbers or Words
Printed Text and Prose Text
At the Beginning of a Sentence
Legal Documents
Round Numbers
Sets of Numbers
Large Numbers
Separating Digits
Object
Object Complement
Objective Case
Off
Offline
On Account of
One
One Another, Each Other
Online, Offline
Only
Onomatopoeia
Open
Open Compounds
Ordinal Numbers
Over, More Than
Oxford Comma
Oxymoron
Page Breaks
Page Numbering
Page Number Formats
Palindromes
Paragraphs
Elements of a Paragraph
Paragraph Development
When to Start a New Paragraph
Paragraph Transitions
Parallel Construction
Paraphrasing
Parentheses
Parenthetical Elements
Participle
Participial Phrase
Parts of Speech
Party
Passed, Past
Passive Voice
Past Perfect Progressive Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Progressive Tense
Past Simple Tense
People
Per
Percent
Percentage
Perfect Aspect
Perfect Infinitive
Perfect Tense
Period
Person
Personal Pronouns
Personification
Persuade, Convince
Phase, Faze
Phatic Speech
Phrasal Verbs
Phrases
Phrases and Words to Omit
Pidgin
Plagiarism
Pleonasm
Pluperfect
Plurals
Plurals of Numbers
Plus
P.M.
Point in Time
Polyptoton
Polyseme
Polysyllabic
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive Case
Possessive Pronouns
Possessives
Posted, Informed
Postmodifier
Precede, Proceed
Predeterminers
Predicates
Preface
Prefixes
Premodifier
Prepositional Phrase
Prepositions
Time: At, On, In, For, and Since,
Place: At, On, In,
Location: At, On, In,
Movement: To, Toward,
Combinations
Present Infinitive
Present Participle
Present Perfect Tense
Present Progressive Tense
Present Simple Tense
Press, Type, Click, Strike, Hit, Select
Previous
Principal, Principle
Problem Pronouns
I: Nominative Case, Never an Object,
She, He: Nominative Case, Never an Object,
They: Nominative Case, Never an Object
We: Nominative Case, Never an Object,
Me, Us, Her, Him, Them: Objective Case, Never a Subject,
Proceed, Precede
Progressive Verbs
Pronouns
Pronouns and Antecedent Agreement
Proper Adjectives
Proper Nouns
Protatis
Quantifiers
Question Mark
Question Types
Quitclaim
Quit, Exit
Quotation Marks
Quotations within Quotations
Quotations for Titles
Quotation Marks and Punctuation
Raise, Rise
Rational, Rationale
Real
Reciprocal Pronouns
Recur, Reoccur
Redundancy
Reflexive Pronouns
Regard, Regards
Regular Verbs
Relative Adverbs
Relative Clauses
Relative Pronouns
Reoccur
Reported Speech
Restrictive Clauses
Resultative Adjective
Resumptive Modifier
Rhetorical Question
Rhyme
Right, Business
Right-click
Rise, Raise
Roman Numerals
Root, Rout, Route
Run
Run-On Sentences
Same
Sarcasm
Satire
Screen
Screen Terminology
Second Conditional
Select
Semicolon
Semiweekly, Semimonthly
Sensor, Censor
Sentence
Sentence Fragments
Sentence Subject
Sentence Types
Sentence Variety
Setup, Set Up
Sexist Language
Shall, Will
Shape
Should, Must
Should of
Should, Would
Shut Down, Shutdown
Sic,
Sign In, Sign Out, Sign On, Sign Up
Simile
Since, Because
Singular
Sit, Set
Site, Sight, Cite
Slang
Slash
And/Or Combinations
Indicating Other Relationships
Small Caps
So
Software Menus and Commands
Solidus
Some, Any
Sometime, Some Time
Sort of, Kind of
Spaces After Periods
Split Infinitive
Sr., Jr.
Stative Adjective
Stative Verb
Subheadings
Subject
Subject Complement
Subjective Case
Subjective Pronouns
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Inversion
Subjunctive
Submittal, Submission
Subordinate Clause
Subordinating Conjunctions
Suffix
Summative Modifier
Superlative
Syllable
Symbols and Special Characters
Sympathy, Empathy
Synecdoche
Synonyms
Table of Contents
Tables
Tag Question
Take, Bring
Tautology
Teach, Learn
Telephone Numbers
Temperature
Tense
Terabyte
Than I, Than Me
Than, Then
That, Which
There, Their, They’re
Third Conditional
Time
Dates
Time Zones
Titled, Entitled
Titles
Formatting the Title of a Manuscript
Tmesis
To, At
Tone
Topic Sentence
Totally
Toward, Towards
Transitions
Transitional Expressions
Repeating Key Words
Pronoun Reference
Parallelism
Transitive Verb
Try and, Come and, Be Sure and
Type, Enter
Typeface, Font
Unbiased Language
Sexist Language
Uncountable Noun
Underlining
Understatement
Until, By
Upload, Download
Uppercase
URL
U.S.
Used to
Utterance
Vain, Vane, Vein
Verbal Phrase
Verb Complement
Verb Forms
Verb Group
Verbiage
Verb Mood
Verbose Expressions
Verbs
Verb Tense
Versus, vs.
Vertical Lists
Visually Impaired, Blind
Voice
Voice Mail
Vowels
Wait On
Wander, Wonder
Web
Weblog
Web Pages, Web Site
Weights and Measures
Well, Good
Went, Gone
When, Whether
Where
Whether or Not
Which
Who’s, Whose
Who, Which
Who, Whom
Will, Shall
Within, Inside of
Woman, Female
Wonder, Wander
Word Classes
Words or Figures
Wordy Expressions
Would of
Would, Should
Xmas, Christmas
Yes/No Questions
Zero Article
Zero Conditional
Zeugma
Zip Code
SECTION 3 Sample Business Documents
Abstracts
Acceptance Letter
Acknowledgment Letter
Adjustment Letter
Announcement Letter
Annual Report
Application Letter
Brochures
Business Letter
Business Letter Writing Style
Business Letter Format
Business Plan
Collection Letter
Commendation Letter
Complaint Letter
Cover Letters
Directives
Email
Endorsement Letter
Forms
Fund-Raising Letter
Grant Proposals
Instructions
Introductions
Inquiry Letter
Job Descriptions
Job Offer Letter
Meeting Agenda
Meeting Minutes
Corporate Minutes
Corporate Resolutions
Memorandum
Mission Statements
Newsletters
Newsletter Articles
Notices
Permission Letter
Policies, Rules, or Guidelines
PowerPoint Presentations
Planning a Presentation
Press Releases
Procedures
Progress Reports
Proposals
Questionnaires and Surveys
Reference Letters
Refusal Letter
Reports
Memorandum Report
Letter Report
Short Report
Formal Report
Request Letters
Research Report
Resignation Letter
Résumés
Sales Letters
Seasonal Correspondence
Specifications
Speeches and Oral Presentations
Summaries
Termination of Employment Letter
Training Manual
Trip Report
User Guide
Warning Letter
Web Sites
White Papers
