Grammar & Style

Improve clarity, professionalism, and accuracy in your writing.

1. Formal vs. Informal Business English

Use formal phrases in emails and business documents:

  • Formal: “Could you please provide an update?”
    Informal: “Can you give me an update?”
  • Formal: “I would appreciate your feedback.”
    Informal: “Let me know what you think.”
  • Formal: “Thank you for your assistance.”
    Informal: “Thanks for the help.”
  • Formal: “I look forward to your reply.”
    Informal: “Hope to hear from you soon.”

2. Common Grammar Mistakes in Business English

✔ Plurals & Countable Words

  • ❌ “Informations” → ✔ “information”
  • ❌ “Equipments” → ✔ “equipment”
  • ❌ “Feedbacks” → ✔ “feedback”

✔ Articles (a / an / the)

  • ✔ “We scheduled a meeting for Monday.”
  • ✔ “She sent the report yesterday.”
  • ✔ “We need an update before 3 PM.”

✔ Prepositions

  • ❌ “I will discuss about the issue.” → ✔ “I will discuss the issue.”
  • ❌ “We depend of your answer.” → ✔ “We depend on your answer.”
  • ❌ “We are responsible of.” → ✔ “We are responsible for.”

3. Writing with a Professional Tone

✔ Use polite modal verbs

  • “Could you please…”
  • “Would you mind…”
  • “I would like to request…”

✔ Avoid overly direct language

  • ❌ “Send me the file.” → ✔ “Could you please send me the file?”
  • ❌ “You didn't do it correctly.” → ✔ “There seems to be an issue with the file.”

✔ Make sentences concise

  • ❌ “In order to be able to finish the task…” → ✔ “To finish the task…”
  • ❌ “At this point in time…” → ✔ “Currently…”

4. Important Business Tenses

✔ Present Simple (facts & routines)

“We deliver products worldwide.”

✔ Present Continuous (actions happening now)

“We are preparing the quarterly report.”

✔ Present Perfect (experiences / results)

“We have completed the project successfully.”

✔ Future (plans)

“We will schedule a meeting next week.”

5. Clarity & Style Tips

  • ✔ Always use short paragraphs.
  • ✔ Avoid overly complex vocabulary.
  • ✔ Use bullet points for clarity.
  • ✔ Remove filler phrases (“just”, “basically”, “kind of”).