SPOKEN ENGLISH VERSUS WRITTEN ENGLISH
Many of the speaking patterns we use are not suitable in business writing. For example, if you listen to a conversation, you might hear incomplete sentences, sudden subject changes, or abbreviated versions of words and phrases. Although these expressions are common in casual conversation, they are confusing and inappropriate when you are writing to a customer, supervisor, or employer. Avoid these things in written communication. Incomplete Sentences Quite often,we use fragments when we speak.We count on our tone of voice and our expression or the reaction of the listener to fill in the spaces. In writing, this isn’t possible, so it’s important to write complete sentences that express complete thoughts. See Chapter 3 to learn how to avoid sentence fragments. Sudden Subject Changes In everyday conversation,we switch subjects easily.Two speakers can exchange far more information in two minutes than a reader can absorb in the same time period.That’s why it’s important to use the reader’s t...


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