THE AMA HANDBOOK OF BUSINESS WRITING phần 4

156 The AMA Handbook of Business Writing You can add the en dash and em dash using the Insert/Symbol function on a word processor such as Microsoft Word. Data Data is always plural. Datum is the singular form but is rarely used. Incorrect: This data proves that our business is growing. Correct: These data prove that our business is growing. Dates When writing a date, a comma is placed between the day and the year. Example: September 16, 2012 There is no comma if the date is written in the European style. Example: 16 September 2012 Dates can also be written using a slash or hyphen to separate the day, month, and year. When a slash or hyphen is used, numerals are used to represent the month. Example: 9/16/2012 or 9-16-2012 Do not use slashes or hyphens when writing dates in formal business docu-ments. When including the day of the week, add a comma after the day. Example: Monday, September 16, 2012 When just writing a month and year, do not add a comma between them. Section 2 The Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference 157 Incorrect: September, 2012 Correct: September 2012 When abbreviating a decade, there are two options. Use no apostrophe between the number and the s. Example: 1990s Insert an apostrophe to show that something was left out. Example: ’80s Use the cardinal number when writing the days of the month without a year. Incorrect: His birthday is March 26th [ordinal]. Correct: His birthday is March 26 [cardinal]. When writing a century as a noun, do not use a hyphen. Example: The twentieth century gave birth to the television. When writing a century as an adjective, use a hyphen. Example: It was the nineteenth-century medical practices that caused so many battlefield deaths. Deaf or Hard of Hearing Use the entire phrase deaf or hard of hearing when referring to people who are deaf. Use deaf when space is limited. Hyphenate hard-of-hearing when it precedes a noun that it modifies. Example: A man doing sign language stood on the side of the stage for the deaf or hard-of-hearing audience members. 158 The AMA Handbook of Business Writing Deal Deal should not be used informally to refer to a business agreement. Incorrect: She made a deal to buy the house. Correct: She made an agreement to buy the house. Decimals The decimal system is a number system based on 10 that allows us to write large or small numbers. Numbers placed to the left of a decimal point are whole numbers. Numbers placed to the right of a decimal point are fractions that are equal to less than one. Figure 2.2 illustrates whole numbers and fractions. Figure 2.2 Whole Numbers and Fractions When writing decimals, you can write either the numerical form or the num-ber in words. Example: 0.3 or three-tenths When writing a whole number and a fraction in words, add the word and to signal the location of the decimal. Example: Two and three-tenths [written in numbers as 2.3] Section 2 The Business Writer’s Alphabetical Reference 159 When writing the numerical form of hundredths or thousandths, add zeros as place holders if there are no other numbers or if there is no whole number or decimal. Example: 0.003 [written in words as three-thousandths] A fraction can be written as a decimal. Example: 0.5 [one-half] Example: 0.25 [one-fourth] Example: 0.333 [one-third] Decimals can be written as a percentage. Move the decimal point two places to the right to translate a decimal into a percentage. Example: 0.50 = 50 [fifty percent] Example: 1.00 = 100 [one hundred percent] Declarative Mood Mood as a verb refers to the attitude of the speaker. The declarative mood is the normal form of a verb used to convey information or make statements of fact. The declarative mood is used to indicate that something has hap-pened or will happen. Declarative Sentence A declarative sentence is used to state facts or an argument. Declarative sentences do not require an answer or reaction from the reader. Example: Mike plays the guitar. 160 The AMA Handbook of Business Writing Example: The weather is warm in Florida. Declarative sentences are the most common type of sentence. Punctuate these sentences with a period. Defining Relative Clause A defining relative clause modifies a noun or noun phrase and provides essential information that is required for a sentence to make sense. Example: The bed and breakfast that we stayed in [defining relative clause] was really nice. Defining relative clauses can begin with who, whose, and that for defining people and which, whose, and that for defining things. Definite Article Nouns are preceded by words like the, a, or an. These words are called determiners. The determiner the is a definite article. A definite article restricts the meaning of a noun to refer to something already known by the reader from earlier sentences. Example: A taxi pulled up next to Joe. He got into the taxi [the taxi that pulled up]. The is used before both singular and plural nouns. Example: the dog, the dogs; the notebook, the notebooks; the pear, the pears Defuse, Diffuse You can defuse a bomb or dangerous situation by removing the trigger or the fuse. ... - tailieumienphi.vn