English grammar is not renowned for being logical. No sooner do we think we understand a grammatical rule and we find an exception. If we write ‘quick, quicker, quickest’ to show the comparative speeds between competitors, why don’t we write ‘worse, worser, worst’, or ‘bad, badder, baddest’ for that matter?
Around 1,000 words are added to the English language every year. Each December, the Australian public votes on their favourite word. Find out Macquarie Dictionary's winning People's Choice words for the last decade.
In times of crisis, or when trying to convey a sensitive message, it can be difficult to find the right words. Dictionaries help us by providing definitions, but these definitions don’t always convey the emotions or deeper meaning behind a word. Can we be sure our readers will infer the meaning we intended?
It’s tempting to fill a page with a lot of words. We want our work to look impressive and prove that we have indeed laboured hard. We may even hope all these words will make us look smarter, more knowledgeable. Yet it’s the few powerful phrases that become etched in our memories, not the long-winded diatribes. So when renowned actor Cate Blanchett said recently ‘When one country faces a climate disaster, we all face a climate disaster’ she encapsulated in a few words a thousand truths.
Despite the global trend towards plain English workplace communications, there is a common misconception that plain English is a process of ‘dumbing down’ that is violating the English language. Word choice is a critical component of plain English. But it’s not simply a case of replacing of long word with a short one – it’s so much more than that.
Plain English is not a new concept in the workplace. The NRMA recognised its value over 30 years ago when they produced plain English policies to help their customers make informed choices. Yet, the uptake of clear, concise writing has been slow in some industries putting organisations at risk. Why is the quest for clear written communication so challenging and how can a plain English writer help?
Depending on which part of the world you are in, you’ll be greeted by one of the many forms of well-wishing at the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. In English-speaking countries, you’ll hear ‘merry Christmas’, in France ‘joyeux Noël’ and Sweden and Norway, ‘god Jul’ (pronounced ‘yule’). Which came first and what do they each mean?
The grammar trolls are ever ready to pounce, especially on unsuspecting victims who mismatch singulars and plurals. When trolls spot this error, they experience a great sense of superiority. Don’t give them the satisfaction! Instead, find out how to get it right.
The Digital Age has not only revolutionised the way we work, it is also transforming the way we read. We are evolving from being deep readers invested in comprehending complex information to skim readers who ‘browse’ text. What impact does this have on the way we write at work?
Poor sentence structure is one of the most common ways workplace written communications, such as emails, become derailed. Although there are many ways to increase readability, sentences are the basic unit of writing. If your sentences are long, verbose or poorly structured, you'll very quickly lose your reader. Avoid these three common sentence traps at all cost.
When do we need to use apostrophes and why does the apostrophe sometimes come after the ‘s’ and sometimes before it? Using apostrophes to show possession or ownership is essential in written English to clarify meaning. All possessives, except for the word ‘its’, need an apostrophe and an ‘s’ at the end. Sometimes the concept of ownership is easy to work out; at other times it’s not so straightforward.
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