6.Noun/Pronoun Agreement

(cont’d)

Easy grammatical ways to cut down on your use of “he” or “his”:

•Write “he or she” or “his or her”. “Each company director must comply with his or her duties.”

•Switch it up. Use “he” in some examples and “she” in others. “Each director must comply with her duties.”

•Write in the plural, thus avoiding the need to pick between “he” and “she”. Eg, “Directors must comply with their duties.”

6.Noun/Pronoun Agreement (cont’d)

Easy grammatical ways to cut down on your use of “he” or “his” (cont’d):

•Use the second person. “As a director, you must comply with various duties.”

•Eliminate the pronoun altogether:

•Repeat the noun instead of using a pronoun. This often has the added benefit of aiding clarity. “Directors must comply with the full panoply of directors’ duties.”

•Re-write so no noun or pronoun is necessary. “Directors must comply with a myriad of duties.”

6.Noun/Pronoun Agreement (cont’d)

Real example:

“Each party will bear their own costs of providing their services to the Joint Venture.”

Correct: “Each party will bear its own costs of providing its services to the Joint Venture.”

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7. Consistency of

Tense

Beware of jumping tenses.

“Always be consistent about the tense of the verb. If you write about something in the past, you should keep in the past all the way through your piece of writing. Don’t mix the past with the present.”

Source: Mentor Learning Series: Grammar at 19.

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7. Consistency of Tense

(cont’d)

Real example:

“The defendant wants to go to rehabilitation but he did not know any places to find help.”

Correct: “The defendant wants to go to rehabilitation but he does not know any places to find help.”

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8. Run-on

Sentences

Statements with a subject and verb that could stand alone as their own sentences are called independent clauses.

Examples: “I like litigation.” “It makes me rich.”

Do not join independent clauses with simply a comma.

Avoid: “I like litigation, it makes me rich.”

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8. Run-on Sentences

(cont’d)

When you have two or more independent clauses:

End the first with a full stop (period) followed by a new sentence.

For example, “I like litigation. It makes me rich.”

or . . .

8. Run-on Sentences

(cont’d)

When you have two or more independent clauses (cont’d):

Separate with a comma followed by a conjunction (and, but, as (meaning “because”), for, or, nor or while (meaning “and at the same time”)).

For example, “I like litigation, as it makes me rich.”

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8. Run-on Sentences

(cont’d)

If you do not want to use a full stop or a conjunction, in some cases you may join the two independent clauses with a:

semicolon [;] (to indicate closely related thoughts);

or

colon [:] (if the second clause interprets or amplifies the first).

For example, “I like litigation; it makes me rich.” or “I like litigation: it makes me rich.”

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8. Run-on Sentences

(cont’d)

But do not connect these separate complete ideas with simply a comma.

That creates a run-on sentence, which is incorrect. Wrong: “I like litigation, it makes me rich.”

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