Today, when giving a presentation to a group of business people on the topic of copywriting, I was asked how I balanced the desire to write ‘standard English’ with the more casual style of English usage that is developing.

I replied that whatever anyone writes has to sound natural to the intended audience, otherwise they will not accept it. To force what I perceive as correct grammar or punctuation on someone who takes a different view would be as ludicrous as writing in a Shakespearian style for a modern business audience (not that I would ever claim to be in the same league as Shakespeare).

So style has to adapt to suit the audience, and I find there are some styles, especially some of those aimed at youth markets, in which I would not be happy writing. I don’t say they are necessarily wrong, but they are not my cup of tea and I’m not sure I would be that good at writing in these styles.

Is this a problem? I don’t see it as one and I believe it adds to the variety of the English language. If there are lots of writers writing in lots of different styles, that must be a good thing.

Robert Zarywacz

Recently, I have read a lot about whether we should worry about how we communicate, especially when publishing material online. Does it matter if we don’t use capitals when we should or we spell words incorrectly or mangle our grammar?

I think it does.

Why? Well, over the past few weeks I’ve been proofreading some rather large documents and on a number of occasions have had to stop and re-read passages to try and figure out what the author was trying to say. Often, the solution is to add or take out a comma or other punctuation mark, which clarifies the meaning. The wrong punctuation in the wrong place or no punctuation can dramatically alter the meaning.

Punctuation acts like road signs. A road sign tells you to turn left and not pull into a stream of traffic speeding towards you. A road sign tells you to slow down if there is a hazard ahead. A road sign tells you to change into a lower gear if you are travelling down a steep hill. Punctuation plays a similar role by directing you to the intended meaning.

Is it worth bothering about? I think it is.

But what about spoken English? If we don’t want people to continually say “what?” every time we say something, correct grammar and language are very useful. People understand what we mean to say the first time and don’t keep having to ask us to explain ourselves again and again.

The added bonus is that these tools also make our language beautiful to hear and read, but – putting that aside – they enable us to communicate quickly and clearly, and then get on with something else. They are invaluable tools.

Robert Zarywacz

When do you append ‘of’ to the verb ‘comprise’?

Comprise means to include or to consist of. Of is added when the verb is used passively (eg something is comprised of something else). When used actively, do not use ‘of’. See following example.

If you want to write about the composition of a committee, you could write either:

“The committee comprises four managers, three members of staff and two customers.”

or

“The committee is comprised of four managers, three members of staff and two customers.”

You should not write: “The committee comprises of four managers, three members of staff and two customers.”

Robert Zarywacz

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