Terry's Writing Smarts

Tricky plurals

I am sure you remember being told that the plural of sheep is sheep and the plural of deer is deer. Both words remain unchanged when they become plural. No s or es is added to the singular. The singular is sheep and the plural sheep. You can have one sheep or you can have more than one, probably twenty, and they are still sheep.

Singular            Plural

sheep                   sheep

deer                     deer

These two examples are well known and now let us consider some other nouns which may seem to be plural but do not have a plural form .

Luggage and baggage

If you are flying to Sao Paola for business and you are taking just one carry-on bag, then that is your luggage. If you like to change into different outfits and you packed several suits and shoes requiring you to take five bags that is still your luggage. Here again you see that there is only the singular form luggage. The same is true for the word baggage which has the same meaning as luggage. It is incorrect to try and make luggage or baggage plural by adding an s. There no such words as luggages or baggages.

Examples:

I like to travel with only essential items so my luggage usually consists of just one bag.

Upon returning from vacation the family had so much luggage that we had to get two carts to accommodate all the bags.

Gear and equipment

When the word gear is used as a noun to mean equipment or clothes used for a particular purpose then its plural takes the same form as the singular. It is often used in this form in sports or with reference to sporting equipment and clothing.

The word equipment is also used with one form for singular and plural. Never add an s to equipment even when the equipment consists of a variety of items. You can say equipment, pieces of equipment or items of equipment but it remains as equipment.

Examples:

In order to carry my bat along with the rest of my cricket gear I needed a special bag.

Dad always inspected his fishing gear before he set off on any fishing trip.

Furniture  

Although furniture is used to refer to several items it cannot be used with an s. Do not attempt to create the word furnitures. You can refer to one table, or four chairs. The individual items can have plural forms but when regarded together as a unit they are called furniture.

Mass Nouns

These nouns luggage, baggage, gear (when used to mean apparatus), equipment and furniture are mass nouns or uncountable nouns. These nouns treat the items as one unit and not as separate and distinct parts. In other words you cannot say one luggage, two luggages and so on. You also cannot use the indefinite article, that is a or an with mass nouns. In other words you cannot say a luggage or an equipment. These nouns have one form only and even when they suggest several items the form does not change.

Here is a definition of a mass noun given by Collins English Dictionary.

“a noun that refers to an extended substance rather than to each of a set of isolable objects, as for example, water as opposed to lake. In English when used indefinitely they are characteristically preceded by some rather than a or an; they do not have normal plural forms”

Isolable means capable of being isolated or separated

Familiar mass nouns include sugar, water and sand.

So no matter how large the pile of bags you travel with it is all baggage.

photo credit: scottnj Emotional Baggage via photopin (license)

 

 

Criteria or criterion

 

There is some confusion about the use of the word criteria. Let’s clear it up by giving some information about the word. The Oxford Dictionary defines criterion as, “ a principle or standard by which something may be judged or decided”. Criteria is the plural form of the word criterion. The word criterion comes from the Greek word kriterion.

The confusion arises because some persons tend to use the plural form of the word criteria as singular. Here is an example of such usage. The main criteria for giving a loan is the ability of the borrower to repay. There is only one standard of judgement that is mentioned so the singular form criterion should be used. You should then take care when writing or speaking to use the correct form of the word whether singular or plural. To avoid confusion then remember to use criterion when you refer to only one “principle or standard” of judgement and use criteria when you refer to several standards.

Examples:

The performance of the divers was judged on four criteria.

Reliability was the major criterion used to select my new intern.  

 

Is data singular or plural?

The usage of data is also an area for clarification. The word data is actually plural and its singular is datum. Sticking strictly to grammar rules we should treat data as plural.

The collected data indicate that the spider population is increasing.

However the usage of data has been changing. Over time the word data is increasingly being used as a singular noun.

The data I gathered from the survey is stored on my computer.

According to the English Oxford Living Dictionaries data is used as a plural in “specialised scientific fields” but is treated as a mass noun in “modern, non-scientific use”. A mass noun takes a singular verb.

According to the Oxford information on its usage data though plural in form is generally used with a singular verb.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary recognises that data can be used as “a plural noun (like earnings) taking a plural verb and also as an abstract mass noun (like information) taking a singular verb. Merriam-Webster’s advice differs slightly from that of the English Oxford Living Dictionaries. While the English Oxford Living Dictionary indicates that data as plural is only used in the scientific field, Merriam- Webster does not confine the plural use to the scientific field.

I summarise and advise that you can use data as either plural or as singular. My further advice is to be consistent with the usage you choose to adopt in any one piece of writing.

 

 

 

 

If you have a long list of work experiences and training experience you will have to trim your resume when applying for a new position. You can be so proud of all your achievements that you want to include them all on your resume. A voluminous list resulting in a seven page resume will not necessarily impress the gatekeeper of the job you are seeking. It is better to take a second look at your long list and begin some pruning.

Keep what is relevant

Focus on the requirements of the job and select those achievements, skills and training that are relevant to the position. Select information that will interest your potential employers. Select information that will say that you are a competent candidate for the job. You do not want to give the message that you can do all jobs.

Some applicants list every single workshop, seminar or even panel discussion that they have attended. Unless the training you received gives you a qualification or knowledge relevant to the desired position you should exclude it. If you are applying for a job as an administrative assistant you do not have to add that you attended three days of lifeguard training or two days of yoga training to your resume. These workshops have no direct relevance to the advertised post.

If however you participated in several short courses on managing office documents, then include that training. Instead of making a long list of these workshops summarise them and write one entry indicating this as training in administrative skills over a particular period.

You can include conferences and workshops at which you were the trainer or facilitator as long as these are relevant to the job as advertised.

What to do about the clubs?

Be selective about including club memberships. You do not have to include that you are a member of the hiking club or of your university choir unless the job wants a singer or an outdoor personality. You can instead list hiking and singing as some of your interests. Just being a member of a club does not mean that you demonstrated any qualities that employers will admire.

If you were a president or vice-president of a club that is nationally or internationally known then that would be worth including. However you should be able to highlight any programmes that you implemented while in a leadership role in order to actually indicate your leadership qualities. A long list of insignificant club memberships unrelated to the job just stuffs the resume and will not impress employers. Leave them out.

photo credit: Bobbi Newman Trying new coffee shops via photopin (license)

You should proofread your writing rather than rely on the spelling and grammar check of your computer. Grammatical errors or even what most

persons would label as typographical errors, or typos as they are more commonly, known can spoil an otherwise appealing website, article or promotion. In the public space when you present yourself to the world a few mistakes can undermine your credibility. Website content or blogs with errors can make your market or audience uncertain about doing business with you. You have to proofread your writing in order to correct any errors you may have inadvertently made. Do this before releasing your writing to the attention of the public or your audience.

You should not rely on Spell Check because it does not distinguish between homonyms or words that sound alike but have different meanings. If you write pear when you intended to write pair it will not be flagged as an error. In the meantime your sentence will have an entirely different meaning to what you intended or it will have no meaning at all.

Spell Check will alert you to misspelt words but it will not recognise when the word you use is incorrect. Here are some examples.

Mothering is at the root of all out biology

New model phone breath new life into company.

If push to came to shove

Of these three examples only the second was flagged as an error and the spelling and grammar tool did not recognise it as an agreement error but thought it was a fragment.

Can I trust you?

If you allow mistakes to appear in your writing in the final versions of your blog post, article or letter you may give the impression of being inept. Some readers say they think of such writers as fraudulent or dishonest.

I always think that the person whose site has a lot of grammar or spelling mistakes will also be careless about other aspects of the site such as security.

One site advertising a mobile wallet says:

Your app in protected via PIN and password.

This mistake on a site that is providing a product that will have access to your financial information does not inspire confidence in the site or its owners to keep your financial information safe.

Spellcheck would not recognise this mistake because “in” is a word. If the writer had taken the time to proofread the content then such a mistake would have been easily identified.

I am reluctant to buy even a T-shirt from a supplier if there are mistakes or what some would dismiss as typos in the description of the product. It leads me to expect that the product would be inferior. below is an example of a mistake in writing the description of the product.

Women’s printed surplus dress

The writer of this description intended to write “surplice dress”. The spelling and grammar check tool did not recognise the error. You have to be careful in writing your product description because that is your chance to talk to your customer. A mistake here could cause you to lose your customer. A “surplus” dress is one that might seem as not belonging to the higher quality inventory. A “surplice” dress on the other hand describes the style of the dress. In cases like this the human element is superior and a good proofreading eye will give you a corrected written description of your product.

Proofreading screens your writing more thoroughly than the computer’s spelling and grammar tool. You can still use your spell check tool but for confidence and accuracy follow up with a thorough proofreading of your writing.

 

 

 

photo credit: Nemo’s great uncle #3558 truck enterence [sic] only via photopin (license)

photo credit: marcoverch Brille, Tastatur und Kaktus-Kerze vor buntem Hintergrund via photopin (license)

We hardly write letters nowadays. We dash off an email or punch in a text or a message in an app. However the letter writing skill is still a requirement of English courses. Should we still learn how to write a letter? I think so. Often an email is just another method of sending a letter. Even in today’s digital world business letters are still required. If you are searching for a job you are still expected to write a cover letter to accompany your resume even if you will send both by email. We still write letters of application, letters of complaint to a business, letters to a bank or even to the political representative of our community. You may also wish to write a thank- you letter to a firm that has granted you an interview. Sometimes we may need to write a resignation letter.

If you are writing to your bank to complain about a service you should still use the business style of writing. Even if you are sending it electronically your letter should have the look and the tone of a business letter. You therefore need to know how to write a business letter.

Business letters

A business letter will have two addresses. First write your address then the date then write the address of the person to whom you will send the letter. Your greeting would also be more formal. You can use Dear Sir or Dear Madam.   If you know the name of the person receiving the letter then write their name in the greeting as for example, Dear Mr Martin or Dear Mrs Whyte.

When you are writing a letter to a business or one of those letters mentioned above you have to write a formal closing such as Yours sincerely or Yours truly. You should only capitalise the first word in the closing. You should also sign or write your full name, that is, write your first name and last name. You would not be on a first name business with the human resource director of the company where you hope to be hired so keep an appropriate tone.

As long as you have a relationship with a business or an institution you may have to write a formal letter at some time in your life.

Informal letters

Writing a friendly or informal letter is not a totally extinct or obsolete practice. Many people still write thank-you letters to acknowledge a gift or a thoughtful action. These letters are usually highly appreciated.

You would send a friendly letter to someone you know personally, usually a friend or relative or colleague. The style of this letter is less formal than that of a business letter. You will write your address and then the date. The greeting can be casual. It can be Hello Jane or Hi Mark. You can also write Dear Mark depending on how close a relationship you have. Notice however that we just write the first name of the person who will get the letter.

The ending or closing of the letter can also be informal such as Love or Sincerely. You would use just your first name to sign the letter as shown below.

Love,

Jan

While sending emails and text messages are now other choices for you to communicate, writing a letter still has its place in both personal and business relationships. It is worth knowing how to write letters.

 

photo credit: Today is a good day In the days before email via photopin (license)

Usually there is some confusion about when to use “whether” and when to use “if”. Although it seems that they are used interchangeably in informal speech, there is a difference in their usage especially when you are writing.

According to the Oxford dictionary “whether” is a conjunction which has the following definitions.

1. Expressing a doubt or choice between alternatives.

‘he seemed undecided whether to go or stay’

‘it is still not clear whether or not he realizes’

1.1 Expressing an enquiry or investigation (often used in indirect questions)

‘I’ll see whether she’s at home’

1.2 Indicating that a statement applies whichever of the alternatives mentioned is the case.

‘I’m going whether you like it or not’

“Whether” is used when the sentence either states an alternative or implies an alternative. “If” is used in a sentence that indicates a condition. Here is an example of the use of “whether”.

Examples:

2. You will have a test tomorrow whether on French or Spanish grammar I will not disclose.
   
3. Whether the weather is dry or rainy my road is usually impassable.

In the sentences above the alternatives are clearly stated so you would use “whether”.

In sentence 1 above it is clearly impossible to use “if” in place of “whether”. The second sentence provides a good example to show that although it seems possible to use “if” that would be incorrect because alternatives are clearly stated and there is no condition stated.

Use of “if”

Examples:

3. The mayor will fix the roads if he collects enough tax revenue.
4. If the high surf continues the boats will be wrecked.

In these sentences above we use “if” because each sentence includes a condition.

Use of “whether or not”

“Whether or not” is used when the action will be taken regardless of the choices.

I am going to university whether or not I get a scholarship.

Remember to use “whether” when there are clear or implied alternatives.

Use “if” when there are conditions.

If you ever find yourself hesitating about whether to use “your” or to use “you’re” just remind yourself of their meanings.

Contractions in conversation

You’re is a contraction of you are. The apostrophe indicates that a letter is left out. You’re is a construction of a subject you and a verb are. It is just a shortened form or contraction of the two words you and are into one word. Other common contractions are I’m for I am and we’re for we are.

Here are examples of how you should use you’re.

You’re such a generous person.

Did you know that you’re the first to complete the hike?

You’re making the cat fat when you feed him so often.

Contractions such as you’re are used in everyday speech in conversations and in informal writing. You can also use contractions when you are writing dialogue in a short story because the dialogue is conversation being written.

Look at this sample dialogue. Notice how you’re is used.

“I’m packing for college”, announced Kay.

“I hope you’re not taking that old teddy bear with you”, warned Alice.

 

This belongs to you.

Now be aware that your is a very different word with a different function and meaning to the word you’re.

Your is a possessive adjective.

Definition according to Cambridge Dictionary is:

1. belonging to or relating to the person or group of persons being spoken or written to

Examples:-

Is your dog friendly?

Your tyre is flat.

2. belonging or relating to people generally.

In this case you would be using your as if you were talking to everybody in general

Examples:

Exercise is good for your health.

Banks are expected to protect your money.

In each case whether you are speaking to one person or a group or you mean the whole world, the word your is always followed by a noun. That is because your is showing ownership or possession so something is owned by you or something or someone is related to you.

Tips to test yourself

It is a very good tip to remember that your is always followed by a noun.

Your aunt makes delicious cakes.

Your picture is on the cover of the magazine.

Can I borrow your pen for a moment?

Your faithful dog chased my cat.

Similarly you can check whether you are using “you’re” correctly by substituting those two words “you” and “are” and see whether your sentence makes sense.

Go on- now you know the difference

Pay attention when you write. Use the words your and you’re appropriately. Remember the difference. One of them you’re is a contraction of a subject and verb while the other your is a possessive adjective always followed by a noun to show that something belongs to you. The you could be an individual or group or everybody generally. The noun can be an animal, place, thing, person and an abstract quality or feeling.

I admire your courage.

You will find it easy to remember the difference and now you can confidently use both expressions your and you’re when you talk and when you write.

 

 

 

I am sure that you have noticed that in the busy storm season many people had been describing the effect of the storm as “damages”. Probably because the effects have been so extensive they use what they think is a plural form of “damage”. However take note of the following tip and be aware of the correct usage of the two words.

Avoid confusing “damage” with “damages”. The words have different meanings and their usage is different.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary indicates that the word “damage” means “loss or harm resulting from injury to person, property, or reputation”.

According to the Oxford dictionary the word “damages” means “a sum of money claimed or awarded in compensation for a loss or injury”. “Damages” is usually used in a legal context.

When you want to refer to the uprooted trees, broken power lines and blown-off roofs caused by a hurricane you must use the word damage.

Example: Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage in several Caribbean islands where it destroyed buildings, uprooted trees and flooded streets and homes.

Damage is a mass noun or an uncountable noun. It is the type of mass noun or uncountable noun which fits this definition given by Oxford dictionary.

“A noun denoting something that cannot be counted (e.g. a substance or quality), in English usually a noun which lacks a plural in ordinary usage and is not used with the indefinite article, e.g. china, happiness.”

The indefinite article is “a” or “an”. You cannot say or write, “I have a damage, two damage” and so on. Think of it in the same way as you would use the word luggage. Luggage refers to all the items or packages, bags and suitcases that persons take along when travelling.

Damage similarly refers to everything that has been lost, injured, impaired and affected negatively, so it cannot have a plural form.

The legal context

The word “damages” has an entirely different meaning to “damage”.

“Damages” is a term that has a legal application. The word “damages” refers to a claim you can make because of injury or loss you suffered that was caused by another person. The claim is for a monetary amount that would compensate you for your loss or injury. A court could award you such compensation. This amount whether you claim it or whether it is awarded is called “damages”.

Example: The employee claimed damages of $200,000 for injuries he sustained because his employers neglected to fix a faulty machine.

You can in fact claim damages for the damage inflicted on your property.

Example: I am claiming $1000 in damages for the damage done to my crop by Farmer Brown’s pigs.

Example: The defective stove caused a fire in my kitchen so I expect to be awarded damages when I sue the manufacturer.

Avoid confusing the words “damage” and “damages”. The confusion may arise because the word damages has a plural structure and is mistakenly considered to be the plural of damage.

However remember that they are two separate words with distinct meanings. Their usage is different. Remember that when you are writing or speaking.