Whether you are a professional editor or someone simply trying to get your message across, it pays to be scrupulously consistent in the visual style of the written word. We are talking here not of the content of prose itself but of its adherence to the basic rules of good writing, particularly spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. These grammar elements have to be done just right, unnoticed and unobtrusive, so that readers can give undivided attention to the thoughts and ideas as they unfold on the page.
Spelling. We can be adventurous in our choice of words, but we can never be too careful with our spelling. A misspelled word or two could ruin the elaborate tapestry of thought woven so painstakingly on the page. In my case, for instance, when evaluating the résumés and covering letters of job applicants, I have no compunction whatsoever in eliminating those that show carelessness in spelling. Bad spellers simply don’t have the mental discipline required to succeed in work involving written communication even in its most basic forms.
Spelling can also suffer from lack of awareness about the English standard being used. The two predominant varieties of English, American English and British English, actually spell certain groups of words in different ways. In particular, the British typically spell English words ending in “-or” with the ending “-our” instead, as in “colour” and “honour” for the American English “color” and “honor”; those ending in “-er” with the ending “-re” instead, as in “centre” and “theatre” for “center” and “theater”; and those ending in “-ck” or “-sk” with the ending “-que” instead, as in “cheque” and “masque” for “check” and “mask”
Filipinos, of course, having been American English users for over a century now, are well advised to stick to the American English standard, with American-English dictionaries as their standard reference. We can do no worse than buying ourselves a copy of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language or Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary instead of the British-English Oxford Dictionary and the Cambridge Dictionary. To do otherwise could make our written English look strange or pretentious in parts.
Capitalization. The unbridled use of so many capital letters in prose can be very distracting; except in cases where they are needed or deserved, upper case letters are actually telltale signs of exaggeration—the prose equivalent of screaming. As a general rule, only the proper names of persons, places, companies and brands, and institutions as well as months and official names of holidays should automatically merit the upper case in their first letters, as in “Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” “Cebu City, Philippines,” “Microsoft,” “Windows 98,” “Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,” “Civil Service Commission,” “August,” “Rizal Day,” and “Ramadan.”
Most other uses of the upper case are best left to individual judgment, but any doubt on this should be resolved in favor of the lower case. It grates on the nerves, for instance, to read cloying photo-captions using upper-case letters, like this: “Madame Alyssa [M…], Supreme Patroness of the Arts and Culture in Asiana, cuts the Ceremonial Ribbon during the Company’s 25th Anniversary.” The same upper-case mania also looks awful in résumés and job application letters: “Served as Assistant Treasury Manager in an Acting Capacity for Three Months When My Superior was On Trial with the Sandiganbayan.” This tendency to capitalize first letters often reflects deep insecurity and doubt on the intrinsic value of one’s accomplishments.
Punctuation. Inconsistency in using punctuation marks is another common problem in day-to-day written English. Take the comma. American English requires a comma after each item in an enumerative sequence and before the “and” preceding the last item: “The senators, congressmen, governors, city mayors, barangay captains, and all citizens are duty-bound to respect the Constitution.” British English doesn’t put a comma before the “and”: “The senators, congressmen, governors, city mayors, barangay captains and all citizens are duty-bound to respect the Constitution.” However, although Philippine journalism uses American English, it has adopted the British English no-comma rule before the “and”—to the confusion of Filipino English-language learners. My advice: let the newspapers do away with that comma as they please, but use it in your own writing as American English requires.
The Associated Press Style Book is used in broadcasting, newspapers,
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Our use of quotation marks can sometimes be also problematic. American English uses double quotation marks (“…”) for quoted material, and single quotation marks (‘…’) for quotes within quotes: “And God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’.” British English does the exact opposite, using single quotation marks (‘…’) for quoted material, and double quotation marks for quotes within quotes: ‘And God said, “Let there be light, and there was light”’. And take note of one more thing: American English puts the period before the closing quotation mark; British English puts it outside the closing quotation mark.
For as long as American English is our standard, though, there should absolutely be no doubt which writing and style conventions we should follow to the letter.
This essay first appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times
and subsequently became Chapter 127 of his book Give Your English the Winning Edge
, © 2009 by Jose A. Carillo and published by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.RELATED READINGS ON STYLE:Homage to legendary coauthor of Strunk and White’s "The Elements of Style"Top 8 free online style guides in English (Style manuals for writers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada)
