Focused on the Write Stuff

Now and again, articles on the nuts and bolts of effective writing find their way into the national media. Two recently appeared a day apart.

One examines the importance of the present tense: "Want to Write a Persuasive Online Product Review? Use the Present Tense," by Lisa Ward, WSJ, 5/28/2024.

The other questions the use of apostrophes: "Lets [sic] Chill Out About Apostrophes," by John McWhorter, NYT, 5/27/2024.

Ward's article looks at two studies of product reviews on Amazon's website. One study analyzed 800,000 online reviews. The other, 1.6 million. The researchers found those "written in the present tense often seem more concrete and relevant."

They also rack up more "likes" from readers.

Stanford's David Fang, one of the authors, says that "changing the verb tense is very simple, but can have a big effect."

It's a "piece of the puzzle when crafting the perfect message," he concludes.

The researchers say that the present tense adds a measure of certainty to a statement or claim, which increases persuasiveness.

Its immediacy might also stir greater interest in the message.

The studies only examine online product reviews, but their findings may add value to other business writing. So, give it a try whether you're drafting an email to a customer, a report to your boss, a news release, or other material.

Would anyone care for an apostrophe?

McWhorter's views about apostrophes are more likely to create problems than to add value. He says that we could even dispense with apostrophes "with no harm to anyone."

A Columbia professor, he reaches back to Chaucer's "apostrophe-free English" and for good measure, the absence of apostrophes in Shakespeare's first edition of "Love's Labour's Lost."

Apostrophes, McWhorter claims, are only "a kind of formulaic salute to an earlier phase of the language."

It's certainly interesting to see how English has evolved.

But unless you're planning to write a companion piece to the Canterbury Tales, you might want to stay with today's conventions on the use of apostrophes.

Either "its" or "it's," "your" or "you're": you don't get to pick. Even McWhorter concedes that there are "cases where there is a genuine possibility of ambiguity," including Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost."

You almost get the impression that his article is an attempted provocation. McWhorter appears to have a side hustle challenging punctuation marks. A while back he questioned the need for Oxford commas.

And he seems bemused by the negative reactions to his suggestions, describing them as "near fury" and "rage."

I can't speak to the fury that grammarians might experience when it comes to punctuation. But it's likely that most other mortals probably aren't interested in engaging on the issue.

They simply want to get on with their careers and not create entirely unnecessary impediments.

In my last post, I mentioned a person who discounts job candidates if they casually use the word "like" during interviews ("Congrats, New Grads. Now, Score that First Job!" LinkedIn, 6/3/2024). Imagine. A careless verbal tic could result in not getting a job offer.

Does anyone want to have the sloppy use of apostrophes affect their chance at a promotion or a job?

McWhorter admits that "seeing anyone over 15" misuse it's, its, your or you're, makes him "wince." Yet he still believes that "blackboard grammar rules" represent "a kind of classism ... from which I cannot honestly exempt myself."

It's sometimes said that the elites operate based on "rules for thee but not for me." If so, then his admission of classism is quite an Olympic-worthy backflip.

Perhaps we should leave the academicians to continue their debate. The rest of us can stick to the prevailing standards and continue using apostrophes untroubled by Chaucerian punctuation.