Some examples for you:
Writers who don’t know when to correctly use the
word “than”, as opposed to “then” . . . as in:
O O
Should this occur,
than we will implement
the following
contingency plan.
Our experience
demonstrates this
course of action is
more effective then
conventional responses.
Writers who don’t know the difference between
“your” and “you’re” . . . (notwithstanding the fact
that the contraction “you’re” has no place in bid
writing) as in:
O O
We have given careful
consideration to the
issues your currently
experiencing as regards
consumables recycling.
You’re systems will be
monitored on a weekly
basis.”
Writers who seem to think commas have replaced
the traditional use of the full stop (and, worse still,
that it serves no other function) . . . as in:
O
This is a current
area of focus for our
organisation, we are
deeply concerned about
the impact upon local
waterways.”
Writers who have never heard of the hyphen . . .
as in:
O P
a 25 year old piece of
equipment
a 25-year-old piece of
equipment
to be advised date to-be-advised date
Or, worse still, clumsy and unhyphenated
conglomerations
O P
proAustralian pro-Australian
semidetachable semi-detachable
I’d like to share a list of common grammatical malfunctions
I see in bid submissions.
Call it an age-ist attitude on my part if you will, but an
area of real irritation for me is the lack of basic grammatical
knowledge by a significant proportion of the younger
generation. Worse still, in certain instances it seems almost
fashionable to replicate these appallingly elementary errors.
(That said, it’s probably my own generation that has the
greater culpability in the matter, given that it’s my generation
that should have taught them better.)
Blame aside, when personnel from the Millennial generation
are tasked with contributing to submissions – believe it or not
– I’m seeing some truly horrifying examples of poor schooling.
Writers who see no difference in their application of “there”,
“they’re”, and “their”, or “whose” and “who’s.”
The Disappearing Question Mark
My other beef with younger writers is their propensity to
see question marks as unnecessary.
Where did this notion come from?
Perhaps they feel that avoiding the use of a question mark
(where one is, in fact, necessary) makes their writing read
more authoritatively.
Whatever their reasoning, such a practice is grammatically
incorrect. A question is a question, and should be denoted as
such with a concluding question mark.
Ironically, it seems just as many of these young writers
employ question marks when it is grammatically incorrect to
do so:
“He asked what their labour turnover was?” This question
is indirect and does not require a question mark. This is not,
however, to be confused with the fact that a question mark
is used to indicate a reflective question (although these
instances occur primarily in spoken English: “You were
showing a profit up until then?”).
Perhaps I’m just a grumpy grammar curmudgeon. But I
firmly contend that bids, tenders, proposals and any other
formal submissions are the place to show high standards
and all-round diligence. There is no more glaring way to
demonstrate the opposite than with sloppy grammar.
