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DISCLAIMER: The principles and suggestions in this handout and the GREAT GRAMMAR AND PAINLESS PROOFREADING webinar are presented to apply to diverse personal and company situations. These materials and the overall seminar are for general informational and educational purposes only. The materials and the seminar, in general, are presented with the understanding that CareerTrack is not engaged in rendering legal advice. You should always consult an attorney with any legal issues.

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

GREAT GRAMMAR AND PAINLESS PROOFREADING

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

2

MODULE ONE

English GrammarWritten Spoken

• Formal: • Formal:

• Business: • Business:

• Informal: • Informal:

Business Grammar

Why is good grammar important?

Your Business Identity

You Are What You Speak

Sharp Business Communication

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

3

MODULE TWO

Sentence StructureIndependent and Dependent Clauses

Subject and Verb Agreement

Parallel Structure

Run-on Sentences

Sentence Fragments

Dangling Modifiers

Improve Sentence Clarity1. Gofromoldtonewinformation

2. Usetransitionalwords

3. Useactivevoice

4. Becarefulwithclauses

5. Useparallelconstruction

6. Avoidnounstrings

7. Avoidoverusingnounformsofverbs

8. Avoidmultiplenegatives

9. Chooseactionverbs

10. Avoidunclearpronouns

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

4

MODULE THREE

PunctuationThe Traffic Signals of Language:

Incorrect Punctuation Can Change the Meaning of Your Communication:

Apostrophes:

Quotation Marks:

Hyphens and Dashes:

When to Use a Comma

• Toseparatethesubjectfromtheverb

• Afteralongintroductoryprepositionalphraseormorethanoneintroductoryprepositionalphrase

• Afterintroductoryverbalphrases

• After an introductory clause

• Ifthereisadistinctpause

• Toavoidconfusion

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

5

MODULE FOUR

Grammar Tips

Grammar Errors to Avoid in Your Business Letters

Than,She,orHer:

CommonOwnership:

WordPlacement:

ParallelStructure:

Distance,Money,andTime:

ItsorTheir:

WhoorWhom:

IsBecause?

GoodorWell:

Mixing Up Words

There,Their,They’re:

Then,Than:

Loose,Lose:

To,Two,Too:

It’s,Its:

Common Grammar Mistakes That Make You Look Unprofessional

SubjectVerbAgreement

MixingTenses

ProperEndingstoPastVerbs

ApostropheErrors

IncorrectCommas

©2012 CareerTrack, a division of PARK University Enterprises, Inc. Registered U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Canadian Trade-Marks office. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from PARK University Enterprises, Inc.

6

MODULE FIVE

Painless Proofreading

Tools: Techniques:

Common Errors Spellcheckers Won’t Catch:

Four Important Proofreading Rules

3. Usetheadage“Ifitain’tbroke,don’tfixit.

4. Donotassumeandtakenothingforgranted.

1. Thecopyeditors’creed: First,donoharm.

2. Unlessyou’reabsolutelypositiveaboutsomething,lookitup.

Tips for Effective Proofreading• Takeabreak.• Lookforonetypeofproblematatime.•Useahardcopy.• Placearulerundereachlineasyouread.• Readaloud.•Double-checkfacts,figures,and propernames.

• Trustyourdictionary.• Proofreadthesecondhalfofthe

documentfirst.• Proofreadatthetimeofdaythatyouare mostalerttospottingerrors.• Useaspellchecker.• Customizeyourspellchecker.