Grammar for Business Writing

• The Structure of English
  – words
  – phrases
  – clauses
  – sentences
• Noun countability
  – paper or papers
  – food or foods
• Tenses
  – I have replied to the email or I had replied to the email
• Transitivity
  – I look forward to hear or I look forward to hearing
• Verb Mood
  – If I am you, I will tell him or If I were you, I would tell him
• Subject and Verb Agreement
  – None of the documents is or None of the documents are
  
• Preposition
  – I am on the bus or I am in the bus
• Correct sentence structures
  
• Punctuation
• Commonly Confused and Misused Words
  – revert or reply
  – kindly or please
  – subject to or subjected to

Ms Florence Au has been training adult learners in business communication for about 27 years. Her initial training stint in the private sector saw her teaching secretaries and administrative staff in the writing of letters, memos, reports, press releases and minutes of meetings for examination courses.

With this experience and that accumulated from her job as an administrator and later a training manager, she went on to train public officers. She has since been training at the Civil Service College (CSC) for more than 12 years. At CSC, Florence conducts public-run written communication courses in the Write programme, which includes grammar, emails, letters, reports and minutes of meetings. She has also re-written three courses for IPAM – Writing Reports and Proposals, Writing Minutes of Meetings and Writing Effectively – The Quality Service Approach.

Florence holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature, a Diploma in Translation and Interpretation and professional qualifications from the UK in writing minutes of meetings and shorthand.