Grammar and Effective Writing for Finance Professionals

Department of Journalism and Publishing, Kingston University
Contributions from Maria Ahmed, Beth Brewster, Brain Cathcart and Clare Lovell

Grammar and Effective Writing for Accountants helps the learner discover the underlying rules and conventions of writing, consider the impact of their writing decisions and develop their own writing and editing skills.

Writing clear, accurate and engaging text relies on understanding and applying the rules of grammar, using the right words and constructing coherent prose. This course helps the learner to boost their grammar and punctuation skills, choose and use appropriate words and craft effective sentences and paragraphs.

• Understand and apply the rules of writing
• Craft effective sentences and paragraphs
• Generate clear, accurate and engaging writing
• Recognise and correct common writing errors
• Understand why using correct grammar and punctuation is important

Getting to grips with grammar
• What are the parts of speech?
• What is a sentence?
• What are clauses?
• What is the difference between active and passive verbs?
• How do I use prepositions?
• What are the most common grammar mistakes?
• Is it ever OK to break the rules?

Handling punctuation
• What are the main punctuation marks?
• How do I use commas?
• How do I use apostrophes?
• How do I use hyphens?
• How should I punctuate speech?
• When do I use italics?
• Are there any exceptions?

Choosing and using words
• How should I choose which words to use?
• What is plain English?
• Are words ever redundant?
• Are there words I should avoid?
• Is it ever acceptable to use clichés?
• What are the most commonly misspelled words?
• Where can I check spellings and word-use rules?

Crafting sentences and paragraphs
• How do I write effective sentences?
• Can I start a sentence with ‘And’ or ‘But’?
• How do I use clauses?
• How do I combine sentences together?
• When should I start a new paragraph?
• How do I display a list?
• What can go wrong?

This course is designed to appeal to accounting and finance professionals working at all levels.

This course has been created with content from the department of Journalism and Publishing, Kingston University
Contributions were also received from from Maria Ahmed, Beth Brewster, Brain Cathcart and Clare Lovell