Monthly Archive: April 2011

Apr 27

Who’s “Able To?”

Categories:

Academic Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Usage

April 27, 2011

So what’s funny about this grammar tip is the regard to people vs. things. As always let’s start with the definition of ‘able’:

Able (adjective): having sufficient power, skill, or resources to accomplish an object – (www.Webster.com)

INCORRECT: The proposal was able to show our clients why they should expand.
CORRECT: With the proposal we were able to show our clients why they should expand.

The rule of thumb here, things cannot be done only people are ‘able’ to do things.

If you need writing assistance, contact the professionals at Writing It Right For You. We’re here to help because “It Matters How You Say It!”

Permanent link to this article: http://writingitrightforyou.com/home/2011/04/27/who%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cable-to%e2%80%9d/

Apr 25

Try and/Try to

Categories:

Academic Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Student Projects, Usage

April 25, 2011

This is something interesting. The phrase “try and” has been used in modern culture many times. Also, you can hear it used in regular conversation. However, the correct phrase is “try to.”

INCORRECT: I am going to try and fix the sink myself.
CORRECT: I am going to try to fix the sink myself.

The very definition of the word “try” can help to explain the difference in the two example sentences.

Try (transitive verb): To make an attempt at – (Merriam Webster)

Since “try” is the transitive verb, that transitions one verb to the next, with “and” serving as the conjunction, that would normally be used to join two verbs, “and” is not needed.

If you need writing assistance, contact the professionals at Writing It Right For You. We’re here to help because “It Matters How You Say It!”

Permanent link to this article: http://writingitrightforyou.com/home/2011/04/25/try-andtry-to/

Apr 20

What Happened to Your Facebook Friends?

Categories:

Facebook, News and Views, Social Media Marketing

April 20, 2011

If you have noticed that things have changed in your newsfeed since Facebook made that drastic profile change a few weeks ago, you’re not alone. Thanks to my Facebook friend Robert Randall for these tips.

PLEASE READ:
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE WHO USES FACEBOOK FOR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL REASONS AND WISHES TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THEIR CONTACTS!!

Pam’s Facebook is: http://facebook.com/pamelahilliardowens

Writing It Right For You Facebook Fan Page: http://facebook.com/wirfy

Please make sure you are on both of my pages!

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and you are not hearing from anyone else?

…The problem is that a large chunk of your contact list can’t see anything you post and here’s why:

The “New Facebook” has a newsfeed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people you’ve recently interacted with or have interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the “new profile”). So, in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless you or your friends/fans commented on one anothers posts within those couple of weeks – you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE’S THE FIX:

On your homepage click the “Most Recent” title on the right of the Newsfeed, then click on the drop down arrow beside it and select “Edit Options”. Click on “Show Posts From” and change the setting to “All Of Your Friends and Pages” (you can also access the “Edit Options” link at the very bottom of the Facebook homepage on the right)

Note: Business pages do not have a newsfeed. Owners of business pages should adjust the settings on their personal accounts.

The good news is:

You can now view all of your friends and fans again.

The bad news is:

YOU ARE STILL INVISIBLE to a large portion of your list. If you want to re-establish contact, you will need to get the word out to ALL of your contacts by inviting them to this “event” or creating one of your own so they can read the post and adjust their settings.

To invite your friends:

Click on “Attending” at the top and then you will see an option to invite your friends under the smiley face. It’s public so everyone who logs onto Facebook can view it and even the friends who can’t see your posts WILL see the event invitation. You can also tweet about it, create a blog post or send out an email to your subscribers in hopes of reaching them all.

Permanent link to this article: http://writingitrightforyou.com/home/2011/04/20/what-happened-to-your-facebook-friends/

Apr 19

It’s “email” not “e-mail”

Categories:

Academic Writing, Business Writing, English Language Usage, Grammar, News and Views

April 19, 2011

English is an ever-changing language and sometimes it is hard to keep up with the changes for acceptable usage; especially for writers and academics. The Associated Press is one of the standards for correct usage, and through its AP Stylebook, the AP constantly issues updates to English words and phrases for the United States.

One recent change was “email”. Most of us have spelled it with a hyphen (e-mail), but according to the AP Stylebook Online, you should no longer insert that hyphen in “email”. The recent press release from AP explains it:

email Acceptable in all references for electronic mail. Many email or Internet addresses use symbols such as the at symbol (@), or the tilde (~) that cannot be transmitted correctly by some computers. When needed, spell them out and provide an explanatory editor’s note. Use a hyphen with other e- terms: e-book, e-business, e-commerce.

If you do a lot of writing and/or editing, it would be beneficial to sign up with the AP Stylebook Online to keep apprised of all of the changes in English usage and spelling.

If you need assistance with your writing, editing, book proposals, or academic submissions, make sure to contact the writers and editors at Writing It Right For You.

Permanent link to this article: http://writingitrightforyou.com/home/2011/04/19/its-email-not-e-mail/

Apr 15

What We Do: Dissertations

Categories:

Academic Writing, College_University, Dissertation, Education, English Language Usage, Grammar, Spelling, Usage

April 15, 2011

This is IT. Senior year at your college/university is coming to a close. You’ve “busted your hump” getting in all of your work, getting financial clearance for graduation, all ducks are in a row.

The last thing on your list, the dissertation has to be completed. You’ve already done your research, it’s solid, and you’ve stayed up for hours writing your first draft. At this point, you don’t want to look at it anymore, let alone make corrections.

We understand. The team at Writing It Right For You will help you with grammar, spelling, usage and helping to show your paper with the potential it has. First, second and third drafts (could be more) will be reviewed meticulously and any changes are sent to you for your approval. Although we are a writing service we want to be sure your thoughts and opinions are ‘heard’ loud and clear.

Our pricing is results-driven as opposed to hourly rates. At Writing It Right For You, we are happy to work directly with you. Contact us for your free 30 minute consultation.