Two weeks ago, you had the chance to read about the most common grammatical errors in business writing. Many commit these errors when writing a memo, a business email, or a white paper. Commit these ten grammatical errors, and you may lose important business opportunities.
However, these ten grammar mistakes are not the only ones. Grammatical errors are more common in business writing than we want to believe. That’s why we have considered presenting you with another set of such errors.
In this post, you can read and learn about five more grammar mistakes in business writing that many commit. Avoid them at all costs.
1. Using double negatives
One of the biggest grammatical errors in the English language is the use of double negatives. Unfortunately, even people in the business world fall victim to this error.
“We don’t need no extra resources for the coming project.”
This sentence can be spotted in many informal emails. You, too, might have gotten an email like this from a coworker or business partner.
How to fix this grammatical error
Always try to use the positive form. This way, you will avoid this grammar mistake, but you will also make your writing more concise. Positive sentences always make the text clearer and easier to read.
However, if avoiding the negative form isn’t an option, the best advice you can receive is to be careful when writing and reading the text.
Be careful! Some negatives are not as clear as one may want to believe. Hidden negatives (link) exist in the English language, and they can confuse you.
For example:
“None of the members had no proposals.”
While the negative “no” should be clear to most, some will not realize that “None” counts as a negative.
The correct phrasing would be:
“None of the members had any proposals.”
2. Faulty parallelism
Although not a grammatical error, faulty parallelism makes the text difficult to read by affecting the natural flow.
What is parallelism?
Parallelism refers to the structure of the sentence. It means that all of a sentence’s parts need to be similar in shape and kind, like a parallel construction.
“The job requires attention to detail, being punctual, and you must communicate well.”
This is a poorly written sentence. Why? In this sentence, all parts of the sentence following the verb “requires” should be similar in kind.
In the case above, what follows after “requires” is the noun “attention,” the verb “being,” and a whole clause, “you must communicate well.”
How to fix this grammatical error
See which part of speech is the shortest, boldest, and most concise. In our example, the noun phrase seems to be the best candidate, “attention to detail.” This means that we need to transform the other two phrases into noun phrases.
“The job requires attention to detail, punctuality, and good communication.”
Now, the sentence’s structure is parallel, and, as you can see, it is easier to read.
3. Fragmented Sentences
A grammatical error that also affects style is the fragmented sentence.
Similar to sentence fragments, fragmented sentences happen when, instead of writing the full sentence, we only type parts of it, parts that we consider essential.
However, no two pairs of eyes and no two minds are the same. It is a mistake to assume that just because you understand a fragmented sentence that others will, too.
Take the following example:
“Because the deadline was tight.”
While context might clarify what the writer wanted to say, it would be unwise to assume that everybody will understand the message.
How to fix this grammatical error
Simply spell the whole sentence out. It makes no sense to take shortcuts.
So, instead of writing
“Because the deadline was tight.”
Write out the whole sentence
“Because the deadline was tight, we worked overtime.”
Now, all readers will understand what your sentence is about.
4. Incorrect tense usage
A common English error, not just in business English, is the wrong tense usage. Many nonnative English speakers tend to commit this error.
The issue stems from the fact that tenses behave differently in different languages. As a consequence, many will have a poor grasp of how to use the English tenses. This may have devastating effects, especially when it has to do with directives.
How to fix this grammatical error
English tenses are a complex topic. Not enough space can be addressed in a blog post of this size.
However, we can highlight some of the most common grammar mistakes noticed in business writing.
Confusing the present simple with the present perfect.
Many write
“My supervisor took care of the problem.”
The issue appears because, in other languages, a distinction between the present simple and the present perfect does not exist.
The issue, here, is that the person should have used the present perfect instead of the present simple tense.
“My supervisor has taken care of the problem.”
Why is this correct? The sentence is correct because we do not know, or we do not care, when the supervisor has taken care of the problem. The problem has been solved, sometime in the past, and that’s all that matters.
The first sentence would have been correct had it had a time marker such as ‘yesterday.’
“My supervisor took care of the problem yesterday.”
Here, a time marker exists, so the past tense makes sense.
Another tense error often made by nonnative speakers is not knowing how to construct the future.
In English, the future tense can be expressed in three ways.
- I will take you to the airport.
- I am going to take you to the airport.
- I am taking you to the airport tomorrow.
These are three different sentences that express three different ways of thinking about the future. Many confuse them or don’t even know that there is a difference.
Sentence (1) often reflects spontaneity. The speaker makes a promise, and it’s usually taken at the moment of speaking. Sentence (2) speaks about a prearranged action. You are going to take that person to the airport because you decided to do so in the past. On the other hand, sentence (3) reflects a previous agreement. The speaker has agreed to take a person to the airport, and the other person has also agreed to be taken to the airport.
Understanding what you want to communicate and how to do it properly can remove a lot of confusion in your business writing.
5. Ambiguous pronoun reference
This grammatical error is similar to the one in which the pronoun doesn’t agree with its antecedent. This error occurs when a pronoun doesn’t refer back to a specific noun, confusing who or what is being discussed.
This kind of subtle grammar issue often slips through but can significantly impact clarity in your business communication.
To offer an example, here is a sentence with an ambiguous pronoun reference:
“When the manager spoke to the employee, he said the project was delayed.”
Who said it? Was it the manager or the employee? It is unclear from this sentence alone to say clearly who said that the project was delayed.
How to fix this grammatical error
There are two ways in which you can correct this grammar mistake.
First is to specify the noun again.
Did the manager say that? Then, you can write the sentence in the following way:
“When the manager spoke to the employee, the manager said the project was delayed.“
Or
If the employee said it, you need to write
“When the manager spoke to the employee, the employee said the project was delayed.”
Although not the best sentence, its reference is more than clear.
The second option is to restructure the whole sentence. You can rewrite it in the following way:
“The manager told the employee that the project was delayed.”
It’s more than clear who said it. No room for ambiguity remains.
Grammar Mistakes and Business Writing
Grammatical errors in business English are diverse. In the future, we may publish a new article on the topic. For now, you should be aware of fifteen grammar mistakes.
For now, it is important to be aware that anyone can fall for such an error and that it is important to always practice your writing skills— daily.
