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Pedants' corner

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm......contractions: can't, won't, don't

3 replies

Greythorne · 17/06/2013 09:20

Obviously, in formal writing, contractions are not used. But in business day to day use?

I use them in emails, memos, powerpoints and in internal documents. Recently, I got some feedback from a colleague on a long manual for employees' use and he had gone through and "corrected" every single contraction.

Is he right? The manual will not be published, but it will be available online. I love a bit of pedantry but this seems a bit old school.

OP posts:
MumnGran · 17/06/2013 12:04

Sorry, but I would agree with the corrections ..... a manual is a formal document.

Greythorne · 17/06/2013 12:08

Ah, I stand corrected!

OP posts:
somebloke123 · 18/06/2013 10:24

Strictly speaking yes - contractions shouldn't be used in a formal document.

But if it was, for example, a brief introductory users' guide I would quite happily use contractions.

It would depend on the type of document.

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