Technical Writing actually resides under the umbrella of Business Writing. Many businesses have technical content or components in our technological age, so writing to coworkers, team members, vendors, customers, clients, and any others associated with the business must be deliberate: we cannot write on remote control or automatic pilot. We must make conscious decisions, differentiated from habit. Consequently, the following list of 10 confusing combinations of words and how they are used correctly and effectively will help you write those technical communications:
that (restrictive: only one qualifies) vs. which (nonrestrictive: one among many),
effect (a result or to make happen) vs. affect (an emotive state or to influence),
result (highly persuasive word choice) vs. outcome (a desired learning demonstration),
its (possessive pronoun similar to hers, his, ours, yours) vs. it's (a contraction for it is),
your (possessive pronoun for you) vs. you're (a contraction for you are),
then (a time reference) vs. than (a comparison reference),
fewer (used with count nouns) vs. less (used with amount nouns),
number (used with count nouns, such as envelopes) vs. amount (used with non-count nouns, such as mail),
a number (an undisclosed count) vs. the number (the exact count), and
because of (direct cause-effect reference) vs. due to (a contributing-factor reference).
Knowing these confusing combinations will give you the confidence to "say what you mean, and mean what you say" (or write)!
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