Grammar Matters

Businesspeople often ignore grammatical errors that can destroy their credibility just as surely as a misstatement of fact or an illogical finding. Here are the most common mistakes detected in hundreds of samples from managers and professionals: agreement of subject and verb, its/it's, myself/yourself, dangling modifiers, and parallel construction.

Agreement of Subject and Verb

The most common problems are found when dealing with compound subjects, names of companies, a prepositional phrase separating a subject and verb, and indefinite pronouns.

Compound subjects joined with and always take a plural verb as in "The auditors and the treasurer are expected to attend the meeting."

For subjects joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. For example, "Either the auditors or the treasurer is expected to attend the meeting." Sound awkward? Just put the plural closer to the verb. For example, "Either the treasurer or the auditors are expected to attend the meeting."

Names of companies may be either singular or plural, depending on how they are used. If the company is being used as a concept, it is singular, as in "Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe is a popular law firm in Chicago. It is known for its political cases."

On the other hand, if you want to refer to the company as a plural subject, use plural verb, as in "Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe have defended many of the city's officials in recent scandals. They have an impeccable record in these cases."

When a prepositional phrase separates the subject from the verb, writers may incorrectly match the verb to the closest noun, as in, "One of his problems are he is often late for meetings." The correct form is for the verb to agree with the subject of the sentence, such as "One of his problems is that he is often late for meetings."

Indefinite pronouns can be tricky. Words such as each, every, either, neither, one, another, and much are always singular. When they are used as subjects or as adjectives modifying subjects, a singular verb is always required.

Examples:

"Each is accountable for punctuality."

"Every vendor has been contacted."

"Either one of the proposals is acceptable."

"Neither is expected to win the award."

"One concern is the accounts are in a jumble; another is that people seem confused by their jobs."

"Much remains to be covered in the meeting."

While these examples seem straightforward, the variations can be less so. When each or every connects two or more subjects joined by and, the verb is still singular: Each candidate and judge has been interviewed.

Now for the tricky part: some indefinite pronouns (all, none, any, some, more, and most) can be either singular or plural. The one that seems to give headaches to many people is none. The trick is to decide whether none is referring to not one (singular) or not any (plural).

The current trend is to use none when the plural is needed and not one or no one when the meaning is clearly singular.

None have heard about their efforts to win the contract.

Not one of the employees was on time today.

Its/It’s

Many business writers seem to take a random approach when punctuating the pronoun it.

Its is possessive: The company reviewed its operations."

It’s is a contraction and stands for it is: It’s a great achievement to win a gold medal."

Myself/Yourself

Compound personal pronouns end in self or selves. Many businesspeople use them in place of the more modest sounding you or me. The incorrect result is "The customers brought their concerns to Joe and myself."

These pronouns should be used only to direct action back to the subject of the sentence or to emphasize a noun or pronoun already expressed.

Examples:

He found himself alone in dissenting from the team’s decision.

I will write the report myself.

Dangling Modifiers

When using phrases or clauses as modifiers, make sure they agree logically with the subject or other noun they modify. Otherwise the results can be misleading, if not embarrassing.

Examples of danglers:

"Stashed away in the attic for years, she found her wedding dress." (Who was stashed in that attic?)

"Having reviewed your report, a few questions come to mind." (Whose mind?)

The examples are endless and the solution is simple: rewrite the sentence to put the modifier near the idea it is modifying.

Examples:

"She found her wedding dress, which had been stashed away in the attic for years."

"Having reviewed your report, I have a few questions."

Parallel Construction

Business writers may tinker with sentence structure in a way that invites confusion. The rule is quite simple: express parallel ideas in parallel form. Otherwise, the reader is left wondering if the ideas are related or not.

The most common mistakes are found in bulleted lists. For instance, the following list is not parallel:

"The workshop offers many opportunities:

The reader is left puzzling over what these ideas might have in common. Parallel construction solves that dilemma:

"The workshop offers many opportunities to:

Now the reader can understand what the list is about.

The problem can occur in sentences as well, as in "A good writer researches the issue, analysis of results, and reaches logical conclusions." The conclusions may be logical, but the sentence is not. The correct form is much better: "A good writer researches the issues, analyzes results, and reaches logical conclusions."

Conclusion

The purpose of grammar is to help people understand each other. Rules laid down a hundred years ago cease to apply and so we discard them (such as splitting infinitives and ending sentences with prepositions). New rules evolve as the language changes. And even professional writers can make mistakes, such as a writer for the Chicago Tribune who, when reporting on flooding that occurred along the Mississippi River, wrote:

"It was wonderful seeing young men on the levee filling sandbags with old ladies." (Chicago Tribune, August 1993)

One or two grammatical mistakes do not necessarily destroy a writer’s credibility. However, they can begin to unravel a well-constructed argument, so business writers should check their grammar along with their facts.

This article written by Jane Ranshaw originally appeared in the April 1999 issue of Performance Improvement, a publication of the International Society for Performance Improvement (www.ispi.org) and is copyrighted by them. Reprinted by permission.