Mechanics

Mechanics
M - Margining
M - Margining
E – End Stops
C – Comma and other
Punctuation Marks
Comma and other Punctuation Marks
H – Hypenation and Spacing Compunds
Abbreviation and Alignment
Numbers
Numbers
Italicization and Indention
Italicization and Indention
Capitalization
Why God Made Teachers
By: Kevin William Huff

When God created teachers,

He gave us special friends
To help us understand His world
And truly comprehend
The beauty and the wonder
Of everything we see,
And become a better person
With each discovery
When God created teachers
He gave us special guides
To show us ways which to grow
So we can all decide
How to live and how to do
What’s right instead of wrong,
To lead us so that we can lead
And learn how to be strong.
Why God created teachers,
In His wisdom and His grace,
Was to help us learn to make our world
A better, wiser place.
Business Communication
5. Words in titles of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, shows, and the like (Business Week,
Introduction to Economics, Angels and Demons)

6. The first word of the salutation or the complementary close of a letter ( Dear Atty. Lawyer, To whom
it may concern, Cordially yours, Yours very truly)

7. The names of natural and juridical persons (Mr. Manny Pera, San Miguel Corporation, LAB
Partnership, Claws Enterprises)

8. The names of historical periods and events (industrial Revolution, Renaissance Period, Green
Revolution, Masagana 99)

9. The names of the ships, aircrafts, spacecrafts (M/V Princess of the Star, Cebu Pacific Airways,
Apollo 11, Sputnik 1)

10. Words designating places, races, and languages (Turkey, Turk, Turkish, England, Englishman,
English, Scotland , Scot, Scottish)
11. Words used to address people (Madam President, Sir Walter Scott, Jaime Cardinal Sin, Prince of Wales,
Sultan of Brunei)

12. Words or title preceding names of people or used as epithets (Richard the Lion-Hearted, Saint John the
Beloved, James the less, John Jones, Ph. D.)

13. The pronoun I

14. Words designating the Deity (Allah, Jesus Christ, God, He, the Almighty)

15. The days of the week, the months of the year, and the holidays and holy days (Sunday, June, July,
Independence Day, Labor Day, Maundy Thursday)
16. Names of courts and treaties (Supreme Court of the Philippines,
Parañaque Regional Trial Court, Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Tordesillas)

17. Registered trademarks and service marks (Barbie, Fit and Right,
Smartmatic)

18. Names of planets, constellations, satellites, and other heavenly bodies

(Earth, Little Dipper, Phobos, Demons, Halley’s Comet)

19. Genera in binomial nomenclature or scientific names (Zea mays, Mimosa

pudica, Felis domestica, Canis carnivora)
 S- Spelling, Spacing and Symbols

Misspellings occur everywhere because writers do not observe the basic rules in spelling, as follows:

1. Silent e. When adding suffixes, drop the e if the suffix begins with a vowel or retain the e if the suffix
begins with a consonant.

Examples:

Love + able = lovable love+ ly = lovely

Like + ing = liking Like+ ness = likeness
Achieve + er = achiever Achieve + ment = achievement
Place + ed = placed place + ment= placement
Imagine +ation= imagination sore + ness= soreness
2. Final y. When adding suffixes, change y to I if y is preceded by a consonant and retain the spelling of the word to be affixed if y
preceded by a vowel.
Examples
Lady +es= ladies key+ s = keys
Marry + ed = married pray + ed = prayed
Mercy + ful = merciful buy + er = buyer
Pity + less = pitiless delay + ing = delaying
Penny + es = pennies pay + or = payor
3. Final Consonant. When adding suffixes, double the final consonant if it is preceded by a vowel and found in a one-syllable
word or a two-syllable word stressed on the final syllable and the suffix begins with a vowel.
Examples:
Begin + ing = beginning benefit + ed = benefited
Occur + ence = occurrence prefer+ ence = preference (stress shift)
Allot + ed = allotted allot+ ment = allotment
Remit + ance = remttance
Transmit + al = transmittal
4. EI and IE Pronounced as a Long e. Remember to use i before e, except after c.
Examples:
Receive perceive believe grieve
Receipt perceived belief grief
Receiver conceive relieve achieve
Deceive conceit reliever siege
Deceit ceiling relief field
5. Plurals of Nouns. Nouns which end with a sibilant sound ( s, z, sh, zh, ch, j, and x) have es as the plural suffix. Otherwise, the
nouns take the s as plural suffix.
Examples:
Bus-buses gas-gasses girl-girls cord-cords
Buzz-buzzes fez-fezes birth-births hand-hands
Fish-fishes flash-flashes test-tests bang-bangs
Loge-loges mirage-mirages death-deaths thing-things
Arch-arches match-matches mind-minds erg-ergs
Judge-judges badge-badges cent-cents work-works
Tax-taxes sex-sexes heart-hearts thorn-thorns
A dictionary is a good source for the spelling of words. If a write is not sure of the correct spelling of a word, he must refer to a
reliable dictionary or thesaurus.

As regards spacing, a writer must observe consistency. Ordinarily, the text reports, whether short or long, is double-
spaced or single space is sometimes used in typing the text. Other rules in spacing are as follows:
•Single-space within footnote and bibliography entries.
•Double-space between footnotes and bibliography entries
•Single-space the paragraphs in the body of a long letter and double-space the paragraphs in the body for a short letter.
•Double-space between letter elements except:
a. between the heading and the inside address, and
b. between the complementary close and the typed signature
•Quadruple-space or quintuple-space between the heading and the inside address and between the complementary close and the
typed signature.
•Single-space between lines in a stanza and double-space between stanzas in a poem,.
•Single-space between lines in a paragraph and double-space between paragraphs in a composition.
•Double-space between the side heading and the text.
•Triple-space between the center or main heading and the text.
•Single-space the lines of a long quotation separated from the texts.
 “With the increasing use of microcomputers and word processing software, spacing rules will be adapted to accommodate
equipment requirements and to increase uniformity. Many word processing operators space once after a period that ends with a
sentence when another sentence continues on the same line and once after a period used with itemized numbers or letters
(Brantley and Miller, 2007)”.
Brantley and Miller (2007) enumerate the situations in which spacing is done twice after a period, based on traditional rules.
These situations are as follows:
1. At the end of a sentence after a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.
This is a new product. It was launched recently in the local market.
What is the new product? When will it be launched?
Our net income trebled! Our cost-saving measures worked.
2. Immediately after a colon within a sentence, except in time references.
The president gave this admonition: “The company is known by the men it keeps. Therefore, a company
which hires responsible and efficient employees has a good reputation. On the other hand, one that employs irresponsible and
inefficient employees has ill repute.”
Space once after other punctuation markings- except for the following. Do not space immediately before or after:

1. A period inside an abbreviation.

Medie Calderon, M. D., will deliver a lecture at 9 a.m.
2. A period used as a decimal point.
The interest rate increased from 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
3. A hyphen or a dash.
The cardiologist- a heart specialist- belongs to a well-to-do family.
4. An apostrophes within a word.
The customers prefer Max’s chicken to Andok’s chicken.

Like in the spelling and spacing, the use of symbols is important in writing not only business letters but also business reports. It is
an imperative on the part of the writer to know what symbols are to be used, what are the uses of these symbols, and when and how
to use such symbols. In this way, the symbols are used appropriately.
Another important matter to remember in written communication is the word division. It is advisable to use a good dictionary to refer
to for syllabication purposes. If there is a doubt as to how a word is divided, Brantley and Miller (2007) lists the following guidelines
to follow:

1. Divide words only between syllables. ( af-flu-ent, ac-knowl-edge, hap-pi-er) Do not divide one syllable words. (fought, prays,
fries)
2. Do not divide words of five or fewer letters even if the words have more than one syllable (power, hairy, actor)
3. Retain more than one letter with the first part of a word and more than two letters with the last part of the word.
(tyrranni-cal, en-mity, imma-cullate)
4. Usually, divide a word between double consonants. (slip-ping, kit-ten, of-fering)
5. When a final consonant is doubled in adding a suffix, divide between the double letters. Maintain the correct spelling for the root
word (sit-ting, forget-able)
6. Divide after a one-letter syllable within a word/ (origi-nality, sepa-rately)
7. When the single-letter syllable a,I, or u is followed by the ending –ly, -ble, -bly,
-cle, or –cal, divide before the single-letter syllable. (hand-ily, cap-able, rad-ic
8. Divide hyphenated words only at the hyphen (self-made, one-fifthm son-in-
law)
9. Do not divide abbreviations, contractions, or figures/ (PAGASA, shan’t,
23,456)
10. Avoid dividing proper nouns. Separate titles, initials or degrees from a
surname only when impossible to write otherwise. (Marie N. Marino, CPA -->
Marie N. Marino/CPA)
11. If dividing the parts of a date is unavoidable, separate the day of the month
from the year. (January 1, 2010 --> January 1/2010)