Download When we deliver our products to your door…

BSTEC 110-Business Communications
Online
k. f. lamoreux © 2007-2015
All Rights Reserved
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Since these PowerPoints are not used as part
of a lecture or presentation, the slides include
MANY more words than a PowerPoint
normally would.
PowerPoint slides usually have “bullet point”
phrases, not complete sentences.
But written this way, you can “hear my voice,”
even though you don’t see me. ;)
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It is important to know what a sentence is and
what its parts are.
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It’s also important to know the difference
between a sentence and a phrase or dependent
clause.
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If you do know the difference, then you can
properly punctuate sentences.
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Not identifying dependent clauses is a source of
many punctuation errors.
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Having spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors
in business communication can “send a
message” that the writer is ignorant of business
etiquette, is unprofessional, and/or does not
consider the message or the receiver important!
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We don’t want grammar or spelling errors in
our writing to make us look uneducated and
unprofessional.
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What about Spellcheck?
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Spellcheck won’t catch all spelling errors,
especially those involving homonyms (also
called homophones): words that sound alike but
are spelled and used differently, such as your,
you’re; its, it’s; for, four, fore; there, their,
they’re; to, too, two, and so on.
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Consult the Spelling Section of the Spelling &
Grammar Review Packet in Week 02 Module for
more help.
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“There oughta be a law!” (Actually, there are several!)
Yes, your Honor; the
plaintiff committed the
dreaded…
comma splice!
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COMMA SPLICES
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RUN-ONS
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FRAGMENTS
“The Scream” (or “Cry”)
by Edvard Munch
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1.
Basic sentence components
(“Flag” with sticky note/tag, and read page 148)
2.
How to identify major, point-eating
sentence faults
3.
How to avoid them (pages 160-161)
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You probably already know this from BSTEC 107Business English or an equivalent course, but
here is a quickie review.
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If you’d like the link to the FULL BSTEC 107 etextbook, it’s at the end of this Presentation.
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See the “Grammar Review Packet” in Week 02
Module for more information, practice, and prep
for Quiz 1.
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The Subject (S) is always a noun or pronoun
Note: Gerunds, such as “writing, thinking, talking”—without a verb in
front--can function as nouns, and, therefore, Subjects:
“Writing is my favorite activity.” “His writing looks excellent.”
The Subject (not the same as a “topic”) of a clause
or sentence
 does, did, is doing, will do the action
 or has the action done to it
 or is being described
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What does a Verb (V) do?
Describes the action that the Subject did, is
doing, will do (or have done TO it) or links
descriptive information back to the Subject.

Garrett placed his iPhone on the car roof. (S-V)


The iPhone was placed on the car roof. (S-V)
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
(Subject did the action.)
(Subject had action done TO it.)
The iPhone was tight. Now it is trash.
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(Subject linked to adjective, noun, or pronoun that describes
it. Remember “linking verbs” from BSTEC 107?)
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When a Subject DOES (or did, will do, blah blah)
the action as the ACTOR (or creator of the
action), we say that the Verb is in ACTIVE
VOICE
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Active Voice is called the “voice of business”
because it is vivid and concise.
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Garrett placed his iPhone on the car roof. (S-V)
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When a Subject has action done TO it, we say
that the Verb is in PASSIVE VOICE.
Passive Voice is called the “voice of tact”
because the REAL doer of the action does not
necessarily have to be identified.

The iPhone was placed on the car roof and was
destroyed when it fell as the driver left. (S-V)
This way, we don’t have to say that it was Garrett who stupidly put
his phone on the roof and drove off. This is tact!

You might remember this from BSTEC 107, or you might
have struggled with it then. If so, I hope this helps!
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Another way to think of Active vs. Passive
Voice is this:
ACT = Active Voice (Doer of action identified)
TACT = Passive Voice (We tactfully protect
the actual doer of the action!) ;)
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SUBJECT + VERB + MAKES SENSE & STANDS ON ITS OWN
(It could be a sentence.)
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We deliver our products to your door.
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I have several questions about your product.
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Here is a list of materials for the meeting.
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SUBJECT + VERB + MAKES SENSE AND STANDS ON ITS OWN
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We deliver our products to your door.
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I have several questions about your product.
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Here is a list of materials for the meeting.
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SUBJECT + VERB + MAKES SENSE AND STANDS ON ITS OWN
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We deliver our products to your door.
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I have several questions about your product.
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Here is a list of materials for the meeting.
Green Arrow= direct object
Purple Bracket=prepositional phrase
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Prepositions show the POSITION among
nouns or pronouns.
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Common prepositions are these:

to, by, for, of, from, over, under, between, among,
behind, in, into, outside, and many more.
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To help you remember some prepositions,
think of a box and the many positions related
to the box (on top of the box, under the box,
to the box, from the box, in front of the box,
around the box, behind the box, outside the
box, etc.)
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Prepositional phrases always BEGIN with a
preposition and END with a noun or pronoun.
You won’t find a Subject in a prepositional
phrase, so, grammatically, look elsewhere for
the Subject!
One way to remember common prepositions
is to think of a “2 x 4” board (to, by, for!)
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Here is a list of materials for the meeting.
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To complicate matters, inverted order clauses put the Verb before
the Subject, making the Subject harder to find.
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Inverted order is usually the case when a clause begins with
“Here” or “There” or when a question is asked.
(“There” is a weak filler word anyway, so try to avoid using it. More on
that later!)
Purple Bracket=prepositional phrase
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The trick to finding the real Subject of the sentence is to mentally
put it back into subject-verb order.
 (“The list of materials for the meeting is here.”)
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The Subject of a sentence will not be in a prepositional phrase!
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If you thought that the Subject was “materials,” you might
erroneously choose “are” as the verb, creating Subject-Verb
disagreement. Mentally “bracketing out” the prepositional
phrases helps you to find the real subject, too.
Purple Bracket = prepositional phrase
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So if a clause is not Independent, what is it?
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Well, if a person is not independent, he or she
is…. what?
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RIGHT: Dependent! Needing to “lean” on
something or someone else!
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SUBJECT + VERB BUT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE AND STAND
ON ITS OWN
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Since we deliver our products to your door…
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Because we deliver our products to your door...
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Although we deliver our products to your door…

When we deliver our products to your door…
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For ease and consistency, I am using
“independent” and “dependent.”
However, some of you might have learned to
call these subordinate clauses, so I thought I’d
better mention it. Besides, it gives me a
chance to share this pun:
Warning: I rarely pass up an opportunity to make and/or share a pun.
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A Dependent Clause at the beginning of a sentence
(introductory) should have a comma after it,
followed by an Independent Clause (IC).
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A dependent clause alone, punctuated with a
period, creates a sentence fault called a fragment.

Fragments usually appear AFTER the independent
clause to which they should be connected.
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We do not have a return policy. Because we
deliver our products to your door.
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We deliver products to your door. Which is why
we do not have a return policy.
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FIX: We do not have a return policy because we
deliver our products to your door. (Terminal dependent
clause is necessary to answer “why” so needs no comma)

FIX: Because we deliver our products to your
door, we do not have a return policy. (An introductory
dependent clause-needs comma after it.)

FIX: We deliver products to your door, which is
why we do not have a return policy. (A Relative Clause,
beginning with Relative Pronoun--which, who, whom--needs a comma.)
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If you have “Which” as the first word of a
sentence…
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..it had better be a question!

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(“Which product do you prefer?”)
Otherwise…
Big point loser!
fragment! Eeek!
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TWO OR MORE INDEPENDENT
CLAUSES JAMMED TOGETHER…
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…WITHOUT ANY PUNCTUATION IN
BETWEEN
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I am going to college as an investment in my future
it is not easy.
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*(you) Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products I would be happy to provide one.
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*(you) Send the tablet order to the customer
replace the inventory later.
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*In sentence types called “commands,” the Subject is ALWAYS “you,”
often implied; that’s what makes both Independent Clauses, as
opposed to a compound verb: Joe sent the flooring and replaced the
inventory later.).
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COVER UP!
Cover up half the sentence: can
you find two “sentences”
(independent clauses) here?
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I am going to college as an investment in my future
it is not easy.

*(you) Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products I would be happy to provide one.

*(you) Send the tablet order to the customer
replace the inventory later.

*In sentence types called “commands,” the Subject is ALWAYS “you,”
often implied; that’s what makes both Independent Clauses, as
opposed to a compound verb: Joe sent the flooring and replaced the
inventory later.).
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We’ll get to the “fixes” soon!
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TWO OR MORE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
JAMMED TOGETHER…
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…WITH A COMMA SLIPPED IN
BETWEEN…
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…ATTEMPTING TO “SPLICE” THEM
TOGETHER!
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Comma splices usually happen because we
SENSE that SOMEthing is needed, but we don’t
know what.
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In some cases, we remember an over-simplified
rule from grade school to “put a comma when
you pause.” Unfortunately, this shortcut is often
wrong.
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COMMA SPLICE
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I am going to college as an investment in my
future, it is not easy.

Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products, I would be happy to provide one.

Send the tablet order to the customer, replace
the inventory later.
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COVER UP again!
Cover up half the sentence: can
you find two “sentences”
(independent clauses) here?
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I am going to college as an investment in my
future, it is not easy.

Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products, I would be happy to provide one.

Send the tablet order to the customer, replace
the inventory later.
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FIXES
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1.
I am going to college as an investment in the
future. It is not easy.
2.
I am going to college as an investment in the
future, but it is not easy.
3.
I am going to college as an investment in the
future; however, it is not easy.
4.
I am going to college as an investment in the
future; it is not easy.
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When it makes sense, convert the first
Independent Clause to a dependent clause:

Although I am going to college as an
investment in the future, it is not easy.
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Then it IS okay to have a comma, because it
follows an introductory dependent clause.
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FIXES
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Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products. I would be happy to provide one.

Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products, and I would be happy to provide one.

Please tell me if you’d like a report on our
products; I would be happy to provide one.
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FIXES
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Send the tablet order to the customer. Replace the
inventory later.

Send the tablet order to the customer, and replace
the inventory later.

Send the tablet order to the customer; then replace
the inventory later.

Send the tablet order to the customer; replace the
inventory later.
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Do you have two independent clauses?
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Cover up the conjunction and look on both sides:
could each be a sentence?
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No conjunction but suspect?




Find the first part that could be a sentence.
Cover it up and look at the second part.
Could that also be a sentence?
If yes, you need a comma plus conjunction, or
semicolon, or two sentences.
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Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments
and she selected several to post on the website.

Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments
and selected several to post on the website.

Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments
she selected several to post on the website.
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Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments,
and she selected several to post on the website.

Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments
and selected several to post on the website.

NO! Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer
comments, she selected several to post on the
website. (Comma splice!!)
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
Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments,
and she selected several to post on the website.


Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments
and selected several to post on the website.


Two Independent Clauses joined with a conjunction
One Independent Clause with just compound verbs
YES! Mrs. Diaz reviewed many customer comments; she
selected several to post on the website.

Two Independent Clauses joined with a semicolon
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FIXES
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IC. IC.
IC, cc IC (cc=coordinating conjunction-and, or, but)
IC; IC
IC; ca IC (conjunctive adverb of one syllable -hence, then, thus)
IC; ca 2+, IC (conjunctive adverb of 2 or more syllablessemicolon in front, comma after)

SEE GRAMMAR REVIEW PACKET AND THE PUNCTUATION
REFERENCE SHEET in Week 01 Module.
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I like cooking, my family, and my pets. I like all of these! 
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Two little dots that mean a lot…
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THE COLON!!
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(No, not THAT…)

THIS:
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The colon is used often in business writing, along with lists.
(Lists are easy to skim and save busy professionals valuable
time!)

Use a colon to introduce (announce) a list. (Lists are typically
used when you have 3 or more items.)

The statement before the colon MUST be an INDEPENDENT
CLAUSE (S + V + makes sense).

Do not place a colon after a verb, preposition, or the “to” half
of an infinitive that just continues the sentence.
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Here are the supplies we need*:
NOT- The supplies we need are:
 NOT- We need these supplies to:
 NOT EVEN- The supplies we need include:


My questions are as follows (or the following):


NOT- My questions are:
The issues are these: (or These are the issues:)
NOT- The issues are:
 * Inverted sentence (The supplies we need are here.)

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Here are other rewording options:
The supplies we need are as follows:
 We need these supplies to accomplish
these tasks:
 The supplies we need include the
following:

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Very rarely, an independent clause ends in a verb.
Example:
The following tips will help:
 The above is correct, even though it ends in a verb,
only because it’s an Independent Clause.
(Subject + Verb + Makes Sense)
 However, it’s a bit unclear. You’d probably want to add
how or what it helps for clear writing:
The following tips will help you understand colons:

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In a sentence without a vertical list , the same rules
apply: an *Independent Clause must precede the series.

*S + V + makes sense by itself.

Many sentences have a series of words that are
simply part of the sentence.

Give the new laptops to Nathan, Jim, and Trisha.

NOT: Give the new laptops to: Nathan, Jim, and
Trisha. (Lose that colon!)
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Sure you do! ;)

If you want the link to see and download the
ENTIRE e-textbook used for BSTEC 107Business English, click here 

Remember that the C.L.U.E. Appendix in your
book, after page 620, has a good basic
grammar review.
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Also look for these Helpful PowerPoints:

Starting Successfully (Week 01 Module)

Clear Writing (Week 03 Module)
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