Download Grammar Counts business writing seminar

Grammar Counts business writing seminar
Lesson 40
Yours, mine or ours?
You know to use an apostrophe to show possession.
Example:
John’s dogs barked all night.
It gets more confusing, however, when two people or items are involved, When two people own the
same object or objects, use an apostrophe only after the second name.
Example:
Joan and John’s dogs barked all night. (Implies joint ownership of the dogs.)
If, however, you were talking about two dogs or sets of dogs, one owned by Joan and one owned by
John, you would put an apostrophe after both names.
Example:
Joan’s and John’s dogs barked all night. (Implies separate ownership of the dogs.)
Interjections
Interjections, as we all learned from Schoolhouse Rock, is a word or phrase used to exclaim, protest or
command.
In most instances, interjections are set off by commas.
Examples:
Wow, I didn’t know that.
No, you cannot do that.
But if you want to add emphasis to your statement, an interjection can stand alone.
Examples:
Wow! I didn’t know that.
No. You cannot do that.
If vs. whether
Many people use the word if when they should use the word whether.
Example:
He doesn’t know if he can work tomorrow.
If you can insert the words or not, you should use whether instead of if. In the above example, you
can.
Example:
He doesn’t know if he can work tomorrow or not.
So, the sentence should read:
He doesn’t know whether he can work tomorrow.
OR
He doesn’t know whether or not he can work tomorrow.
The phrase or not is optional. It is implied, whether or not you use it.