competent language usage essentials
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COMPETENT LANGUAGE USAGE ESSENTIALS
C.L.U.E
Muhammed shuhaib cv S1 mcom
GUIDELINES SENTENCE STRUCTURE Express ideas in complete sentences .a subject, a verb, make sense Avoid run-on sentences
eg: Robin visited resorts of the rich and famous, and he also dropped in on luxury spas
Avoid comma splice sentence use comma and words like consequently,
further more, however, therefore, then
…..
VERB TENSE Use present tense, past tense and past
participle verb forms correctly Use the subjective mood to express
hypothetical ideas VERB VOICE .active voice: subject performs the action .passive voice: subject recieves the action
VERB AGREEMENT Make subjects agree with verbs despite
intervening phrases and clauses eg: our study of annual budget, five
year plans and sales proposels is progressing on schedule.
Subjects joined by ‘and ‘ require plural verb
eg: the CEO and his assistance have ordered a limo
Subjects joined by or, nor may require singular or plural verbs
Use singular verbs for most indefinite pronoun
eg: every one in both offices was given a bonus
Use singular or plural verbs for collective nouns, depending on whether the members of the group are operating as a unit or individually
eg: the planning committee are having difficulty agreeing
PRONOUN CASE Learn the three cases of pronouns and
how each is used - I, me, my/mine . We, us, our/ours Use nominative case pronouns as subjects
of verb and as complement eg: we think that she and he will win
the race Use objective case pronouns as objects of
proposition and verbs eg: The HOD appointed him to the
position Use possessive case pronouns to show
ownership eg: all reports except yours have to
be re written
Use self ending pronouns only when they refer to previously mentioned nouns or pronouns
eg: send the package to me Use who or whoever for nominative case
constructions and whom or whomever for objective case construction
eg: for whom was the software ordered
PRONOUN REFERENCE Make pronoun agree in number and
gender with the words to which they refer eg: each of the female nurses was
escorted to her car Be sure that pronouns such as it, which,
this and that refer to clear antecedents eg: our office recycles as much
paper as possible because such efforts helps the environment
ADJECTIVE AND ADVERBS
Use adverb, not adjectives, to describe or limit the action of verbs
eg: after its tune up the engine is running smoothly
Hyphenate two or more adjectives that are joined to create a compound modifier before a noun
eg: a well designed keyboard is part of their state-of-the -art equipment
PUNCTUATIONUse commas to separate three or more items
(word , phrase or short clauses) in a series eg: downward communication delivers
job instruction, procedures, and appraisals use commas to separate introductory clauses
and certain phrases form from independent clauses
eg: if you recognize introductory clauses, you will have no trouble placing the comma
Use comma before the cordinating conjunction in a compound sentence
eg: southern california is the financial fraud capital of the world, but some in visitors refuse to heed warning signs
Use commas appropriate in dates , address , geographical name , degrees and long numbers
eg: September 30,1963Use commas to set off internal sentence
interrupters
eg: Harvard researchers, working
steadily for 18 months, developed a new cancer therapy
Avoid unnecessary commas eg: all students with high grades,
are eligible for the honor society
SEMICOLONS,COLONS
Use a semicolon to join closely related independent clauses
eg: learning history is easy; learning lessons is almost impossible
Use a semicolon to separate items in a series contains internal commas
eg: representatives from as far away as Blue Bell, Pennsylvania; New York, Arizona, attended the conference
Use a colon after a complete thought that introduces a list of items
eg: the following places are on the tour: Wayanad, Kannur, and thiruvananthapuram
Use a colon after business letter salutations and to introduce long quotations
eg: Dear mr.Duran
APOSTROPHE Add an apostrophe plus s to an ownership word
that does not end in an s sound eg: the company’s assets rose in value Add only an apostrophe to an ownership word that
ends in an s sound-unless an extra syllable can be pronounced easily
eg: some workers’ benefits will cost more Use s to make a noun possessive when it precedes
a gerund, a verb form used as a noun eg: we all protested Laura’s smoking Use a period to end a statement, command,
indirect questions, or polite request eg: send the completed report to me by June
Use a question mark after a direct question and after statements with questions appended
eg: most of their training is in house, isn’t it?
Use a dash to (a)set off parenthetical elements containing internal commas, (b)emphasize a sentence interruption, or(c) separate an introductory list from a summarizing statement
eg: three top students-gene English, Donna Hersh, and Mika Sato-won awards
Use parentheses to set off non essential sentence elements, such as explanations, directions, questions, or references
eg: February 15 and march 1 Use quotation marks to(a) enclose the exact words
of a speaker or writer;(b) distinguish words used in a special sense, such as slang; or(c) enclose titles of articles, chapters, or other short works
eg: if you make your job improvement, said the consultant, “it’s quite likely to return the favor”
CAPITALIZATION Capitalize proper nouns and proper
adjectives Capitalize only specific academic courses and
degrees eg: professor Mangrum, PhD, will
teach accounting 121 next spring Capitalize courtesy, professional, religious,
government, family, and business titles when they precede names
eg: Mr. James Capitalize the principal words in the titles of
books, magazines, newspaper, articles, movies, plays, songs, poems, and reports
eg: I enjoyed the book a customer is more than the value
Capitalize south, north, east, west, and their derivatives only when they represent specific geographical regions
eg: living in the East Capitalize the names of departments, or
committees with in your own organization Capitalize product names only when they refer
to trade marked items. Don’t capitalize the common names following manufacturers names
eg: Coca-Cola Capitalize most nouns followed by numbers or
letters (except in page, paragraph, line, and verse references)
eg: Room 14
NUMBER USAGEUse word form to express (a)number ten and
under and(b)number beginning sentencesUse words to express general references to
ages, small fractions, and periods of time eg: when she reached twenty-one, she
received one half of the estateUse figures to express most references to
number 11 and over eg: over 150 people from 53 companies
attended the two day workshopUse figures to express money, dates, clock
time, decimals, and percents. Use a combination of words and figures to express sums of 1million and over
REFERENCE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION -MARY ELLEN GUFFEYENGLISH AT YOUR FINGER TIPS -FR.THOMAS KUTTIKATUKUNNELWWW.WIKIPEDIA .COM
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