How to Make Your Academic and Business Documents Professional

Weve all been thereyour teacher or boss assigns you a writing project and tells you to
make sure that the grammar and punctuation are correct. If youre like most people, you have a
mini panic attack as you wonder exactly how to achieve that injunction. Coming up with a
brilliant idea for the paper or project is hard enough; now you have to somehow remember all
that English stuff you learned in school, too?
Most people learned about punctuation and grammar in elementary, junior high, and high
school, but the rules didnt stick, so now they try to punctuate intuitivelyfor example, throwing
in an apostrophe here, a couple of commas thereand often do it wrong. And hey, I dont
blame them! Not everyone has the time or inclination to pay attention to these seemingly
nitpicky rules. Lucky for you, I just so happen to be one of those crazy people known as editors
who actually make it their business to know exactly how to use a semicolon, and whether its
correct to use lay or lie in a particular sentence, and where to add a subheading in a document.
So dont worrycome up with your great idea and Ill help you create a polished final project
that you can hand in with confidence.

Grammar
English has a lot of grammar rules, and it can be really hard to keep track of them all. However,
there are some common mistakes writers make that can be easily remedied. Fixing these
problems in your document will make your work much clearer, and your audience wont be
distracted by any incorrect wording.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Here are some quick and easy rules to remember:

1. A prepositional phrase or other words between the subject and verb do not affect subjectverb agreement.
In the examples below, I have put the prepositional phrases or the words between the
subject and verb in brackets. The subjects and verbs are in boldface.
Correct: The cookies [on the kitchen table] were tempting me when I got home.
Incorrect: The cookies [on the kitchen table] was tempting me when I got home.
Correct: Craig, [who has a lot of friends], is really handsome.
Incorrect: Craig, [who has a lot of friends], are really handsome.
You want to pay close attention to the subjects and verbs of your sentences, temporarily
ignoring the words around them. Lets say the subject of your sentence is a singular noun,
and there is a prepositional phrase separating that subject from its verb. If the
prepositional phrase ends in a noun that takes a plural verb, it can be hard to know which
type of verb to choose. Thats why its useful to cut out, in your mind, the prepositional
phrase or other words separating the noun from the verb. Then, its easy to tell whether
the verb should be plural or singular.
2. Indefinite pronouns almost all take singular verbs.
Pronouns rename or refer back to nouns. Most indefinite pronouns are singular, some are
plural, and a few can be either, depending on the context. Refer to this list and youll
know which pronouns are which!
singular pronouns: any, anybody, anything, each, either, everyone, everything,
neither, no one, nothing, one, some, someone, somebody, something
plural pronouns: both, many, few, several
can be both: none, all, more, most

Correct: Neither of the movies is worth seeing.

Incorrect: Neither of the movies are worth seeing.

3. When using either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, not/but, the verb agrees with the part
of the subject closest to the verb.
Correct: Neither the girls nor Brad was there.
Incorrect: Not only the truck but also the cars was washed.
4. Search for the subject when using the words there is and there are or when you write an
inverted sentence.
Correct: There are, in my point of view, no good restaurants in this state.
Correct: In the box was tasty candy. [Invert to Candy was in the box.]
5. When you use linking verbs (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been), the verb agrees with
the subject rather than any other nouns in the sentence.
Correct: My favorite source of entertainment is reading books and watching
plays.
Correct: Latin, country swing, and folk are my favorite types of dance.
He, She, and They
In the past, the pronoun he was used to apply to everyone. For example, Each student should
make sure that he pays the fee on time. Nowadays, most people prefer that writers use inclusive
languagehe or she rather than just he. The problem comes in when you use the plural pronoun
they with a singular subject and write something like, Every person told me that they were
going to come. This type of construction is considered ungrammatical, so make sure to write,
Every person told me that he or she is going to come.

Who and Whom

The more complicated way to figure out whether who or whom is right in a given context is to
remember that you use who when youre referring to the person doing the action and whom when
youre referring to the person being acted on. But heres an easier way to know whether its right
to use who or whom: Take the sentence, such as Whoever is coming to the party should bring a
side dish and ask yourself, Who is going to bring the side dish? Then answer, He is going to
bring the side dish. If you can say that he is the one doing the action, the correct pronoun to use
is who. But if you have a sentence like Give this money whoever comes to the door, ask the
question againWho am I giving the money to? and answer I am giving it to him. If the
answer is him, you should use the pronoun whom, thereby making the sentence, Give this
money to whomever comes to the door. Note: This shortcut uses the words he and him rather
than she and her because both him and whom end with m. Simple, right?
I or Me
Im guessing that, at sometime in your life, youve innocently said something like, Me and Sam
are going to get lunch only to be told, Its Sam and I! This type of correction often leads
people to overcorrect themselves and use I when me is actually correct. To figure out the right
way to use the words, all you have to do is remove the other person youre talking about in the
sentence. For example, taking the previous sentence once again (Me and Sam are going to get
lunch) and delete Sam from the equation. Me is going to get lunch sounds really strange,
right? From this you know that, in this situation, you need to use I. But in the sentence, My
mom gave presents to my sister and I, if you remove your sister, you get My mom gave
presents to I. Therefore, in this context it is right to say My mom gave presents to my sister
and me.

Pronoun Reference and Agreement

To keep people from getting confused when they read your writing, make sure that your
pronouns agree with their antecedents, or the nouns they are referring to.
Correct: Fred and George went to Freds friends house.
Incorrect: Fred and George went to his friends house.
This sounds awkward, but its always better to be clear. You can also rephrase the sentence in
other ways, like Fred and George went to a friends house or Fred and George went to Rons
house.
Also, again make sure that your pronouns agree with their antecedents in number and gender.
Correct: Each employee should wash his or her hands.
Incorrect: Each employee should wash their hands.

Punctuation
Commas
Commas might seem simple, but there are actually a lot of rules for themthe Chicago Manual
of Style lists thirty-seven! Dont worry; we wont go through all of them here, but Ill give you
the most important basics to remember.
1. Run-on Sentences
A comma should not be used between two complete sentences. For example, this
sentence is punctuated incorrectly: The kids went to school yesterday, I went to the
store. However, it would be correct to put either a period or a semicolon between the
two sentences.

2. In a Series
Use a comma between each item in a list. It is also a good idea to put a comma before the
word and when you end the list. Doing so will leave no doubt in your readers minds
which items are separate from each other. Examples: I bought shoes, a suit, and a tie
and Chris was eating, Maris was doing homework, and Bob was dancing and singing.
3. Restrictive Clauses
Use commas to set off information in a sentence that is nonrestrictive; or, in other
words, information that is not necessary to have in order for the sentence to be
understood. On the other hand, dont use commas to set off restrictive, or necessary,
information. For example, this sentence has restrictive information: Ask the man in the
green shirt to help us, and this sentence has nonrestrictive information set off by a
comma: My wife gave me this shirt, which is green.
4. Parenthetical Elements
Use paired commas to set off descriptive or explanatory information in a sentence if you
only want there to be a slight pause when the information is read (you can use em dashes
to set it off if you want to emphasize it more). For example, It was in the 1930s when
Margaret Mitchell, a Southern woman, had Gone With the Wind published.
5. Independent Clauses
When two independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (and, or, for, nor, but, yet, or
so), put a comma before the conjunction unless the clauses are short and closely
connected. Examples: I ran to catch up to her, but she was already long gone, and It
hurt but I managed.

6. Dependent Clauses
A dependent clause that comes before the main clause in a sentence should be followed
by a comma: Whether or not you come, the show must go on. But if the dependent
clause follows the main clause, and if the dependent clause is restrictive, it shouldnt have
a comma after it: I will do as you ask if you pay me well. However, if the dependent
clause is parenthetical (refer to number four above), it should be followed by a comma:
Shell be there, though shell be sulking. Its up to you to decide whether the
information in the dependent clause is necessary/restrictive or parenthetical.
Apostrophes
1. Plurals
Before we discuss how to use apostrophes, we need to talk about how nouns are
pluralized. For many nouns, all you have to do is add an s (dogs, cats, cars); for others,
you will add an es (foxes, boxes, Joneses); and some nouns are just irregular
(goose/geese, tooth, teeth). A lot of times, people automatically want to insert an
apostrophe + s when they pluralize a noun, but that is not correctbe careful not to slip
one in when it isnt needed!
2. Possessives
For most nouns, all you need to do is add an apostrophe + s when you want to make them
possessive (Jills, schools, Africas). But when the noun you are trying to make
possessive is already a plural noun, or when you want to make someones name
possessive but it already ends in an s, it can be a bit tricky to know what to do. In the first
instance, there can be two kinds of plural nouns. One type is irregular and does not end in
s. For these nouns, only add an apostrophe to the end (peoples, womens, childrens).

The second type of plural noun already ends in s. For these nouns, only add an
apostrophe to them (two committees decisions, three presidents campaigns, many girls
attitudes). If a name ends in an s, add another s + an apostrophe to make it possessive
(Stanislass, Descartess, Kansass).
Hyphens and Dashes
1. When to use Hyphens
Hyphens are used in word breaks at the end of lines, in compound words (twenty-first
century), and as separators in groups of numbers, such as telephone numbers. (The
Chicago Manual of Style has a great section that tells all about when to hyphenate
compound words {7.77 to 7.85}; you can also find this section on their website under
the same numbers).
2. Em Dashes
An em dash is the most common dash, and it is called that because its supposed
to be as long as the capital M of the typeface you are using (although that is not
always the case). An em dash is used to set off elaborating or explanatory parts of
a sentence (I ran away from hometo get away from you.). Em dashes can also
be used in the place of commas, parentheses, or colons, but remember that it is
best to use an em dash when you are trying to convey a sudden change in thought
(The other day I was walking home, andoh my goodness, look over there!).
There are several ways to make an em dash: either type two hyphens and
immediately type your next word, then press the space bar (the em dash
will automatically form), or type alt + 0151 on a PC and option + shift +
hyphen on a MAC.

3. En Dashes
An en dash is supposed to be the length of a capital N in a given typeface (again, that
is not always true), and is used between dates and number ranges. I always used to
put a hyphen where en dashes should go, but using en dashes correctly is impressive,
so I suggest you do it! Just make sure that, if you use the words from or between
before a date or number range, you use the words to or and instead of an en dash for
consistency:
Correct: From 1989 to 2014, I worked for that company.
Correct: Between 1989 and 2014, I worked for that company.
Correct: I worked for that company 19892014.
Incorrect: From 19892014, I worked for that company.
Some computers automatically change a hyphen to an en dash when it is
used between numbers or dates. If not, use alt + 0150 on a PC and option
+ hyphen on a MAC.
Semicolons
1. Between two independent clauses without a conjunction
If you have two complete sentences that are not connected by and, but, or, etc.,
then you can link them with a semicolon if you would like them to be more
closely associated than they would be if separated by a period: It is not important
for us to leave at five; the show doesnt start until six.
2. In a complex series
If you are writing a series of items that have internal punctuation in them, use a
semicolon to separate each list item because this helps your reader to avoid

confusion: Some of the people who came were Becca, who was dressed as a
witch; Tom, who was dressed as a fireman; and Talmage, who was dressed as
Sherlock Holmes.
Colons
1. To introduce an element or series of elements; to introduce speech or quotations
Use a colon to introduce an element or series of elements; for example, It is
important to bring these three things: a toothbrush, clean socks, and a change of
underwear. Also use a colon to introduce a quotation or dialog (like this): I
dont know how were going to make it through this week, said Maggie.
2. Between independent clauses
Between independent clauses, a colon can be used like a semicolon: It is not
important for us to leave at five: the show doesnt start until six. But it is best to
use the colon in limited amounts, and only when the second clause illustrates or
exemplifies the first clause.
3. With introductory phrases
A colon can be used after introductory phrases like as follows and the following,
as in Remember to do the following: buy milk, get gas, and pick up Ken from
soccer, but make sure that you do not use a colon in any other instance unless a
complete sentence comes before it: A lot of people arent aware of our safety
procedures: if the alarm sounds, leave the building and meet in the parking lot.
Conclusion
I hope this guide helps you in your quest to become a better, more professional writer. If you
refer to these tips, I know your papers will improve, and your teacher or boss will be thrilled!

Author Bio
Hello! Nice to meet you. My name is Maddie Cromar and I am a professional freelance
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