BETTER BUSINESS

GRAMMAR

3rd
semester
 Write Well, Speak Well.
 Write to be understood, not to
impress.
 Know the common mistakes and
avoid them.
 Remember that excellent
communication skills enhance your
possibilities for success.
Powerful Verbs
 Strong verbs get your point across
and make your meaning clear.
 When you write, refer to a dictionary
or thesaurus to find the precise verb.
Voice in Verbs
Verbs have either active or passive voice. The
active voice is more powerful.

 Active: Pat Smith wrote the report.

 Passive: The report was written by Pat
Smith.

A passive verb always consists of a form of to

be followed by a past participle.
(was seen, had been taught, is guaranteed)
Practice A

1. Gilmore Carpentry was contracted by

Hobbs & Hobbs to build the cabinets.
2. An error was made on invoice 7625.
3. Two statements regarding your
balance have been sent to you.
4. A new copier was ordered by Albright
Enterprises on Thursday.
5. The balance on your account has not
been paid.
Subject-Verb Agreement
The subject must agree in number and person
with the verb.

 The settlement of Indian and Inuit land

claims is likely to take several years.
 Either the creditor or the bank is likely to
act.
 Each of the employees is contributing to
the fund.
 Dominion Castings has a good pension
plan.
Practice B
1. Profit sharing and incentives (augment,
augments) my income.
2. Either a sound education or solid work
experiences (are, is) essential.
3. Neither good connections nor a wealthy
father (are, is) enough to get ahead.
4. Each (are, is) well trained.
5. The use of styrofoam by fast food chains
(have, has) come under vocal attack.
6. The repetition of exercises (help, helps) us
gain confidence.
Pronoun usage---Practice C
1. I had my first meeting with (she, her) and
Tom yesterday morning.
2. She told Tom and (I, me) she had little
experience with computers.
3. Between Tom and (I, me), I knew we
could train her quickly.
4. Now it is (she, her) and Tom who do all
the input.
5. But she still always works with either Tom
or (I, me) nearby.
Pronoun Usage II
The subordinators than and as are often
used incompletely.
 No one in the office is friendlier than
(she, her).
(…….friendlier than she is.)
 I have been on the job as long as
(he, him.)
(……….as long as he has.)
Practice D
1. Juanita is much more productive than (I,
me).
2. I can’t seem to get as much done as (she,
her).
3. The company even gave me more training
than (she, her).
4. I always need more time to complete tasks
than (she, her).
5. On the other hand, I am more accurate
and careful than (she, her).
Adjectives
 Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
They tell which one, what kind, or how
many.
the entertainment industry, high salaries,
several employees
 Real and good are adjectives.
We had real value for our money.
She is a good tennis player.
 Well can be an adjective referring to
health.
Andrea looks well today.
Adverbs

 Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other

adverbs. They tell how, when or where.
An organized resume is extremely important.
She never asks questions.

 Really and well are adverbs.

It was really valuable.
She plays tennis well.
Practice E
1. He feels (good, well) again after a bout
with the flu.
2. I feel (good, well) about the project.
3. My team played (good, well) in the
tournament.
4. Greg’s memo was (real, really) clear.
5. His death caused everyone to be (real,
very) sad.
6. The pizza tastes (real, really) (good, well).
Contractions and
Possessive Pronouns
 Contractions are shortened forms of
words. The apostrophe goes where the
omitted letters would be.
It’s time for lunch.
Who’s able to help with the mailing?
 Possessive pronouns show ownership.
They never use apostrophes.
We can see its advantage.
I will find out whose fault this is.
Practice F

1. (It’s, its) time to leave.

2. The restaurant is known for (it’s, its)
fine food.
3. (Who’s, whose) book is this?
4. I will find out (who’s, whose)
responsible for your account.
Lay/Lie
 To lay means to “put down”.
place=lay
 To lie means to “assume a horizontal
position”.
recline=lie

PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE

lay laid laid
lie lay lain
Affect/Effect
 Affect, as a verb, means “influence”.
 Effect, as a verb, means to “bring
about”.
 Effect, as a noun means “results”.

In most cases, you will be safe if you

remember to use affect for the verb
and effect for the noun.
All Together/Altogether

 All together means “in a group”.

 Altogether is an adverb meaning

“entirely”.
Bring/Take

 One brings something to a place

where one is or will be.

 One takes it when one is leaving for

somewhere else.
Accept/Except

 Accept is a verb meaning “agree” to

something.

 Except, when used as a verb, means

“exclude”. As a preposition, except
means “with the exclusion of”.
Less/Fewer
 Use less for money and things that
are not countable, often singular
nouns.

 Use fewer for things that are

countable, often plural nouns.

less time, fewer clocks

Review of
The Notorious Confusables
1. The bad economy (affected, effected)
everybody.
2. My goal is to (affect, effect) a change in
this company.
3. We know that many obstacles (lay, lie)
in our path.
4. You can (lay, lie) the report on my desk.
5. We were (all together, altogether) in the
conference room.
Review
6. His argument was (all together,
altogether) wrong.
7. Be sure to (bring, take) your laptop
to the meeting in Chicago.
8. Please (bring, take) me that memo.
9. I (accept, except) your offer.
10. John’s boss (accepted, excepted)
him from the general criticism.
Review

11. (Less, fewer) than 100 people work

for our company.
12. Now that he’s earning (less, fewer)
money, he’s making (less, fewer)
large expenditures.
Spell-check won’t catch these!
 cite/site
 complement/compliment
 council/counsel
 farther/further
 liable/libel
 principal/principle
 stationary/stationery