3. May I split an infinitive?
4. May I ever use their as a neutral pronoun?
5. How has comma usage changed since I left school?
Business Writing Should Be Conversational in Tone
In academic and the most formal writing, traditional standards—the formal
ones we learned in school—still apply. In most kinds of business writing,
however, the standard you should use to gauge excellence isn’t
adherence to academic or traditional rules—it’s conversation: If you
would speak it in a professional interaction, you can feel comfortable
writing it. It’s important to note that this standard, business conversation,
does not imply that sloppy or incorrect grammar is acceptable. Just
as you wouldn’t speak with improper sentence structure or a lack of subject/
verb agreement, for example, neither should you write that way.
Start Sentences with Words That Hook Your Readers’ Interest
The first question is May I start a sentence with a transitional word such
as and or but? Many of us learned in school that we were never to begin
sentences with words such as and, but, because, so, therefore, or any other
transitional expression.
But just as in normal business conversations we begin sentences with
and, but, because, so, therefore, and other similar words and phrases, it
is accepted practice to use these words and phrases to begin sentences in
business writing if doing so sounds natural and serves to emphasize your
point. And as you may have noticed (but most readers do not), this paragraph
and this sentence begin with these words, yet they read comfortably.
Angie, an administrative assistant in an insurance company, said, “It’s
such a relief to know that I can write the same way that I speak. I used
to revise my drafts to a stodgy standard that sounded stilted and uninviting.
Now I know I can maintain a conversational tone. And writing is
quicker because I don’t have to rewrite to add artificial formality.
“For example, instead of ‘The Thanksgiving holiday requires that we
extend the deadline for budget revisions. Please submit your revisions by
December 1, 200x,’ I’m able to write ‘Because of Thanksgiving, the deadline
for budget revisions has been extended to December 1.’ Much better.”