1. Capitalization of the first word of every sentence to begin the sentence
2. Proper nouns, such as places and names: Golden Gate Bridge, or John Smith
3. A title, should it precede the name such as Mr. Jones, or Ms. Simpson. This should also happen at a signature line or when using it as a direct form of address.
4. The proper title of a government official, for instance President Obama.  Lower case is used when using it in the context of, “The president of the company…”
5. Four points of the compass as long as they pertain to the regional direction, for instance North Texas, or Southern California.
6. Always capitalize the first and last words of a title or publication name, even if they are small words.  Within the title the smaller words such as the, but, and, an, it, of should be lowered caps.
7. Using a capital of ‘federal’ and ‘state’ should only be used when referring to the name of the department.
8. First word of a salutation and the first word of your close in correspondence.
9. Capitalize words that refer to proper nouns.  For instance, “I think Portuguese is spoken in Brazil.”
10. Capitalize the first word of the second sentence following a sentence ending in a colon (a list of more than one item that the list requires a full sentence, not just one word.)

Using these 10 rules, you should have no problem in making sure that your documents are properly edited and represent your professional point.  Watch for more tips and tricks here about how to remember common grammatical errors and how to correct them.

Over the next few weeks, we will look at a few of these confusing words and the way they should be used in hopes of helping other’s learn the right and wrong way of good grammar and save themselves with elements that could be embarrassing or make/break that business deal.

1. Weather vs Whether

• Weather is what we experience in our environment. Rain, heat etc.  All of it comes under the weather element (no pun intended). Example: The weather is beautiful outside. Normally used as a noun.
• Whether: Identified as a choice as to ‘whether or not’ someone will do something. Only to be used after a preposition for example: We had a huge argument over whether we should relocate the office.

2. Lie, Lay, Lying and Laying

• Lie meaning “to recline.”  Typically used as a verb that is not necessarily used with  out an object. To Lie meaning “to tell an untruth” uses lied for both the past tense and past participle, with lying as the present participle.
• Lay meaning “to put” or “to place.”  It typically is used as a verb as well but typically attached to the object of the sentence.The two words have different meanings and are not interchangeable.

3. Wait and Weight

• Wait: A verb that denotes to ‘stay’ or  ‘to remain’.  To wait in the doctor’s office or to tell your dog to wait for you.
• Weight:  A noun that will offer information about the density or mass that an item has. She was livid at how much weight she had gained over the holidays.

Check back for more grammar tips and tricks soon!