Writeability

Numbers zero to nine are written out

• Eamples: one dollar
•               two o'clock in the afternoon
•               three days

Any number greater than 10 is written in numerals

• Examples: 11 dollars 
•                 in 1980
•                 page 997

Journalistic style requires that numbers below 10 be written out and above 10 be written numerically. The following are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Repeat numbers in legal or commercial writing.
• Numbers in series and statistics should be consistent.
• Write out numbers beginning sentences.
• Use a combination of figures and words for numbers when such a combination will keep your writing clear.
  
  

What is the difference between these two sentences?

- Please remember to bring the blueberries, the flowers, and the plates.

- Please remember to bring the blueberries, the flowers and the plates.

Answer: In the first sentence there is a comma in front of the word and. In the second sentence there is no comma. Using a comma immediately before a grammatical conjunction is called a serial comma (also known as an oxford comma or a harvard comma). Both of the above sentences are grammatically correct, although most American texts recommend the use of the serial comma. As with yesterday's daily tip the key here is consistency. If you include a serial comma continue to do so throughout a text.

Toward is a preposition and thus adding an -s at the end does not make it plural. Therefore, the words toward and towards can be used interchangeably. Toward is used more commonly in American texts and towards is used more commonly by the British. Although the words are identical in meaning it is best to be consistent while writing, choose one style to follow and stick with it throughout.

Single quotation marks are used when there is a quote within a quotation (please note that the punctuation remains inside both sets of quotations marks):

Example:
She said, "Mark said, 'I wish I could go to the game.'"

The apostrophe accompanied by an s is used to indicate possession.

•'s - apostrophe  -s
Add 's to the singular form of the word, even if it ends in -s:

Example:
the butcher's cat
James's apartment
 
Add 's to the plural forms of words that do not end in -s:

Example:
children's toys
the geese's nests

Add 's to the end of compound words:

Example:
my mother-in-law's cooking

Add 's to the last noun to show joint possession:

Example:
Vicky and Christina's vacation

• ' - the apostrophe
Add ' to the end of plural nouns that already end in -s:

Example:
all employees' desks
brothers' names

I looked at my alarm clock this morning at 7:45 and thought to myself, "Right now Barack Obama is sitting down to his first day at the office...the Presidential office. I'm still in bed. He attended 10 inaugural balls last night. I went and saw Marley and Me with my mom. Perhaps I don't deserve to hit the snooze button after all."

As a matter of fact, I think the new President of the United States was responsible for getting a lot of people out of bed this morning and equipping them with a renewed sense of purpose. What I appreciate most about his message - "a new era of responsibility" - is that it can be applied to everything we do on a daily basis. In other words, whatever it is you choose to spend time doing today, from brushing your teeth to minimizing your ecological footprint, do it with integrity.

This is the approach we are taking to the written word. Whenever I put pen to paper, or, truth be told, finger to keyboard, I want whatever flows onto the screen to carry with it a sense of purpose and intention. What better example of this than Obama's inaugural address? Take five minutes to humour me and read the transcript. To see the words on paper allowed me to process his speech in an altogether different way than listening to him speak. It proved that, while his impact as an orator cannot be denied, the foundation of this speech was built from a seamless composition of language, metaphors, and imagery, none of which is possible without the right words.

So although you may not be Obama's speech writer, artful means of communication need not fall by the wayside. In our attempt to lead by example, the wordsmiths at Writeability will use this blog as a forum in which to flex our linguistic muscle, bringing to light different topics of interest in a way that highlights our passion for the written word. And if you are one of many for whom the semi-colon remains a mystery to be unraveled, tune in on Monday when we post our first of many daily tips and tricks to use when tackling your own writing projects.

Until then,

Cecily
Chief Executive Wordsmith
writeability.ca