8. The report, with all of its attachments, creates a strong
case for our position.
Eliminate the modifying phrase “with all of its attachments” and you’ll
discover that the subject of the sentence is “report,” a singular noun.
9. I’ll go to the meeting with whoever leaves first.
The verb “leaves” lacks a subject; therefore, you need to use whoever.
That whoever also serves as the object of the preposition “with” is secondary;
its primary job is to serve as the subject of “leaves.” When one
word serves two purposes—an object of a preposition and a subject of a
verb, as in this sentence—the subject is considered more important; thus
it is proper to use whoever.
10. None of us is driving to Texas.
“None” is always singular in formal writing.
USE THE CORRECT WORD
There are many words that are easily confused with one another and frequently
misused. Learning which word to use in which circumstance ensures
you don’t make embarrassing mistakes. Read the explanations of correct
usage below and focus on the tricks to remember which word to use when.
affect/effect
Probably the most misused words in business communications are affect
and effect. The confusion occurs because both words can be used as nouns
or verbs. Most often you will use affect as a verb and effect as a noun.
Note that the a in affect is like the a in action, and that’s what affect the
verb represents—an action word. Here’s an example of affect used as
a verb:
The speed of downloading an attachment is affected by available
bandwidth.