Commonly Confused Words

Posted on May 8th, 2008 in Grammar and Spelling by Cathy Stucker

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commonly_confused_words.jpgEven the best writers get tripped up by certain words. When does “its” include an apostrophe? When should you use “farther” and when is “further” correct? Is it “less” people or “fewer” people? Did you “lose” your keys or “loose” them?

Sometimes even when my brain knows that correct word, my fingers are confused. I have often keyed “there” when I meant “their,” for example. We get in the flow of writing or keying, and enter the wrong word without realizing it. That is why proofreading is so important.

Even if you think you know the correct usage, here are some of the words you need to watch out for in your writing, along with some tips to help you remember which words to use in various contexts. …continue reading Commonly Confused Words

Using I or Me in a Sentence

Posted on May 1st, 2008 in Grammar and Spelling by Cathy Stucker

i.jpgOne of the grammar issues many people struggle with is the question of whether to use “I” or “me” in a sentence. And should you mix it up now and then by using “myself” instead of “I” or “me”?

Consult a grammar book and it will tell you that you should use “I” when the word you are using is the subject of the sentence and you should use “me” when the word is the object of the sentence. Well, that clears that up. If you learned to diagram sentences in school, that may answer the question for you. However, that answer does not help if you do not know the difference between a subject or object, or just do not want to translate that way. There is an easier way to know when to use “I” and when to use “me.” …continue reading Using I or Me in a Sentence

Quotations in Your Mystery Shop Reports

Posted on March 13th, 2008 in Grammar and Spelling, Writing Mystery Shopper Reports by Cathy Stucker

quotation-marks.jpgThis is the latest post in my series about improving your mystery shopper report writing skills. Note that the rules for punctuation of quotations are different in the United Kingdom.

Adding direct quotations to your secret shopper reports provides a level of detail that will be appreciated by the mystery shopping company and the client. Which of the following do you think is better?

Maria smiled and said, “Welcome to Buck’s Steak House. Would you like to start with an appetizer? The Potato Poppers are delicious.”

Maria greeted me and smiled.

Pretty obvious, isn’t it? But what about those pesky punctuation marks? Do periods and commas go inside the quotation marks, or outside? What about question marks and exclamation points? And should you capitalize what is contained within the quotation marks? None of these will be a problem for you, once you understand a few basic rules. …continue reading Quotations in Your Mystery Shop Reports

Spelling Tips for Restaurant Mystery Shop Reports

Posted on March 6th, 2008 in Grammar and Spelling, Writing Mystery Shopper Reports by Cathy Stucker

The latest post in my series about improving your mystery shopper report writing skills.

Restaurant mystery shops have a language of their own. Spell check software may not recognize a word and mark something spelled correctly as an error, or may lack suggestions for words you have misspelled. It is always a good idea to keep a dictionary handy for looking up those hard-to-spell words.

Do not rely on the spelling of a food item found on the itemized receipt. It may be wrong. Even menus can have errors and typos. If you are not sure how to spell something, look it up in your dictionary or through a reliable online resource. Often, just going to Google and entering a misspelled word will do the trick. Google often comes back with a response such as, “Did you mean . . .?”

To make writing my restaurant secret shopping reports easier, I created a list of words I found myself looking up time after time. Why is it that I have never learned to spell “broccoli”? I have added a number of words to my original list to create a more general list for anyone who mystery shops in restaurants. …continue reading Spelling Tips for Restaurant Mystery Shop Reports

Sentence Fragments

Posted on February 27th, 2008 in Grammar and Spelling, Writing Mystery Shopper Reports by Cathy Stucker

Sentence fragments can be confusing. When used in secret shopper reports.

Oops. That second sentence is actually a sentence fragment. A full sentence typically includes both a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. Imagine each of the first two sentences standing on their own:

Sentence fragments can be confusing.

When used in secret shopper reports.

Could each sentence stand on its own? The first could, but not the second. That makes the second sentence actually a fragment. Fortunately, the fix for sentence fragments is usually easy. Here are some tips on recognizing sentence fragments and eliminating them from your mystery shopper reports. …continue reading Sentence Fragments

“I WANT TU B UR MSYTERY SHOPPR”

Posted on February 14th, 2008 in Applying to Mystery Shopping Companies, Grammar and Spelling, Mystery Shopper Tools, Writing Mystery Shopper Reports by Cathy Stucker

My post on Reverse Auctions and Secret Shopper Pay drew this comment from the owner of a mystery shopping company:

We have noticed a substantial increase in the number of evaluations we must return to shoppers because they are incomplete, have poor explanations, or just don’t make sense. I think in most cases we pay well, but we can’t seem to figure out why the quality has gone down - other than the influence of text messaging.

Do you think this is an exaggeration? Judging by the email I sometimes receive, I do not believe that it is. …continue reading “I WANT TU B UR MSYTERY SHOPPR”