Business Writing

Lesson 2: Grammar and Punctuation

Clauses and Sub-Clauses

Many people leave the education system without achieving a proper understanding of punctuation. In this section, we look at punctuation marks and how they function. In order to do this, we first need to take a look at the way sentences function. Sentences can be divided into clauses, or units of information, as in the example below:-

"The letter is in the post."

The above sentence has just one clause, as it conveys just one piece of information.

The letter is in the post and should arrive on Thursday."

The above example has two clauses, because it contains two pieces of information which could be delivered separately (as 'The letter is in the post.' and 'The letter should arrive on Thursday.') The word 'and' is a conjunction, used to join these clauses together. Other conjunctions you'll encounter frequently are 'but', 'although', 'with' and 'when'.

"The letter is in the post and should arrive on Thursday, in time for your meeting."

In this example, a further clause has been added to the sentence. It is separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. Commas are not needed next to words which act as conjunctions, though sometimes they may be used there in order to make a sentence easier to read. When we speak, we tend to pause slightly and catch our breath at the points where commas would appear in writing.

Commas are also used to separate items in short lists, eg: "You may use blue, black, or red ink."

Many writers use too many commas. In most of your business writing, you will be using comparatively short sentences; if a sentence contains more than three commas, it would be wise for you to look at it again to see if all of them are necessary.

A semi-colon stands somewhere in between a comma and a period. It usually appears only in literary or legalistic writing, where a number of clauses must be presented in one sentence to demonstrate that they are closely connected. Semi-colons are also used when writing lists. As we have seen, commas can separate items in short lists, but semi-colons are better suited for longer lists, especially where other punctuation in used within one or more of the list items, as in the example below:-

"We have these items in stock: jackets; waistcoats; shirts in white, gray or blue; and socks."

A semi-colon should never be used to introduce a list; this is the job of a colon, as seen in the example above. A colon may also be used to introduce speech, eg: "My boss has a favorite saying: 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be'".

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