5 Helpful Tips on How to Write Emails from Your Phone

Today, 80 percent of Internet users own a smartphone. It’s been predicted that, by this year, eight in ten email users will access their email accounts exclusively from their mobile devices. We’re reading and writing more emails on mobile than ever, so getting it right has never been more important. Getting communication right (in email or otherwise) is the driving force behind Grammarly’s recent launch of a mobile keyboard for iOS and Android. But, although Grammarly will help you write mistake-free messages, it’s combining that polish with style and substance that will inevitably make your written communication effective.

Five Tips for Writing Emails From Your Phone

We’ve all seen the ubiquitous “Sent from my iPhone” email signatures, or sigs along the lines of, “Please excuse the brevity. This was sent from my phone.” These signatures, in part, are meant to excuse the sender from typos, autocorrect slips, and all those other times our thumbs betray us when we communicate via mobile devices.

But just because you wield your thumbs instead of ten phalanges carefully placed on the home row doesn’t mean everything you send from your phone has to look as though it was transcribed by a typing chimpanzee. There’s hope! This article will guide you towards writing clear, concise emails from your mobile device with panache.

1 Put important information first.

Nearly half of mobile readers spend three seconds or less reading an individual email. That is, of course, if you can get them to open your email at all. But let’s assume you send emails that people want to read. Your challenge is to keep those emails brief or risk losing your reader to a very short digital attention span.

That means it’s essential to optimize. Before you put your thumbs to work tapping out your email opus, take a few minutes to figure out the key point you want to get across in your message. Ask yourself If I could have my recipient take just one thing away from this email, what would it be? Use the answer to that question to front-load your email so that the most critical information comes first. If you don’t, your recipient might miss the point of your email entirely, or breeze past it in her haste to move on to her next email to-do.

Hi Jane,

Yesterday, I was talking to Jim and he suggested you would have some good ideas about the upcoming Windy City Widgets marketing campaign. As you know, Windy City is an important client and this marketing campaign is pivotal to our success here at XYZ Advertising Associates. I’m going to be downtown tomorrow afternoon, so I thought we might have lunch at JB’s Sammiches to unpack what the client has told us about their ad needs and deadlines. JB’s is close to your office, so I thought it would be convenient. Does 12:30 p.m. work for you? All the best, Richard

Oy! That email comes in at around a hundred words, and most of them aren’t necessary. Let’s consider all the things this message conveys that it doesn’t have to.

For starters, it’s not necessary to state that Jim suggested talking to Jane. Especially not up front. If Jim’s referral would be helpful in sealing the lunch appointment, go ahead and use it, but consider saving it for later in the email.

It’s also not necessary to reiterate that a client is important. Any time you start a sentence with As you know, you’re probably telling the reader something they actually do already know. Driving home the point with an as you know statement can translate as passive-aggressive. It’s as if you’re saying, “You should know this, but I’ll reiterate just in case you’re not good at your job.” Make sure you don’t come across as talking down to your colleagues.

While it’s nice to consider a lunch location that’s convenient for your colleague, it’s not necessary to point out how nice you’re being. That extraneous information adds words, not impact.

Let’s front-load this email with important information and leave out any unnecessary details.

Hi Jane,

Are you available to meet me for lunch tomorrow at JB’s Sammiches at 12:30 p.m.? I’d like to unpack some of the info Windy City Widgets gave us about their needs and deadlines for the upcoming campaign. Let me know if that would be convenient for you. All the best, Richard

Much better! The message body comes in at a sleek forty-nine words and the all-important ask is straight up front rather than buried in a bunch of unimportant details. We can almost taste those sammiches now!

2 Clean up your wordy writing.

Can you imagine how long it would’ve taken Tolstoy to compose War and Peace on a smartphone? If you want to really feel like a slacker, consider that one novelist wrote a significant portion of his novel on his smartphone while commuting on the subway. (And he did it nearly a decade ago.) When you’re using two thumbs and staring at a small screen to craft your messages (let alone a novel), it pays to know how to keep your writing lean and mean.

First, avoid common filler words and phrases. We already talked about As you know. Now, strike useless phrases like As a matter of fact, For the most part, each and every, and at this point in time from your lexicon. Your readers will appreciate your clear, concise language and you’ll convey your points much better without all the clutter.

While you’re at it, dump most adverbs. These words, which often end in -ly, are unnecessary unless removing them drastically changes the meaning of your sentence. So, don’t bother thumb-typing words like basically, very, usually, extremely, probably, and absolutely.

3 Practice perfect email etiquette.

Your signature may say that your email was sent from your phone, but that doesn’t mean you should bypass the rules of polite email discourse.

When you send email to multiple recipients at the same time, respect everyone’s privacy by masking their email addresses with BCC. Similarly, don’t use Reply All and accidentally share an email with all members of an email chain when your reply was meant only to go to one person. And don’t automatically assume that email is private and confidential. Avoid saying things in an email that you wouldn’t say publicly. Otherwise, that email could come back to haunt you.

Here’s a tip: Don’t email when you’re angry. If you must tap out a strongly worded letter, hold off on hitting the Send button until you’ve had a chance to let it simmer. If you can wait, leave that letter on the back burner and come back to it twenty-four hours later. Were you more hostile than you meant to be in the heat of the moment? Could you have been more diplomatic and gotten your point across just as well? Edit!

4 Dictate it.

Some years back, my friend and I tried having a Messenger conversation by using our phones’ voice-to-text feature, and then sending whatever our smartphone interpreted. The result was hilariously bad. But voice-to-text has come a long way since then.

Most mobile keyboards have voice-to-text functionality. On the Grammarly keyboard, simply long-press the comma key to activate your phone’s voice capabilities and dictate your message. Once dictated, you can quickly edit or correct any misheard words.

Here’s a tip: Speak your punctuation so you don’t have to add it after the fact. Dave, did you remember to file your report? would be spoken as, “Dave comma did you remember to file your report question mark.”

5 Proofread.

You want to make a good impression. Proofreading is one way to ensure you will. We often write hasty notes when we use mobile technology, figuring that others will forgive us because, well, writing on a mobile device has its challenges. But proofreading before you hit send isn’t that complicated. And, if you’re using the Grammarly mobile keyboard, you can simply press the Grammarly button once you’ve finished writing to check your text and make sure your grammar, spelling, and punctuation is pristine. No more excuses just because you sent it from your iPhone!

Baseball Fans Come Out Swinging in 2016 MLB Grammar Power Rankings

The Boys of Summer are in their glory! Last year, we ranked all thirty Major League Baseball teams by how well their fans write when they’re talking them up or just playing armchair coach online. Our ranking was such a hit that we decided to make it an annual event.

We gathered 3,000 fan comments (of fifteen words or more) posted to each MLB team’s SB Nation blog between June 1 and June 14, 2016. We then used the Grammarly editor to detect grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation errors in each comment and used the sums to calculate the average number of errors per 100 words. Updates to Grammarly’s algorithms and an increase in our study sample size changed the numbers game this year. Our 2015 study analyzed 4,500 fan comments from MLB.com. The 2016 study sample size was twenty times that (90,000 total comments.) The larger sample, coupled with our software’s more objective grammar checks, meant that writing scores improved across the board.

This year, top honors went to the Miami Marlins. Marlins fans made an average 1.39 mistakes per 100 words. Baseball fans from Ohio also swung for the fences, with the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds coming in second and third. Saint Louis Cardinals fans, on the other hand, should’ve spent some time honing their writing skills during spring training. Their average of 2.2 errors per 100 words landed them in last place. National League fans edged out American League fans with 1.79 mistakes per 100 words versus 1.82.

How did your favorite team’s fans stack up? Take a look at our 2016 Grammar Power Rankings to find out.

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How to Show Your Writing Chops on a Resume

If you’re a good writer, never miss a chance to show off your writing skills. Think of your resume as an opportunity to tell the story of your candidacy. Why are you the right person for the job? How did you develop your skills? Why will you benefit the company? Let’s talk about how you can reflect your writing skills on your resume and how these talents can land you your dream job.

Be Effective

The best writers know how to get their point across succinctly. When you list your experience, include a few brief statements describing what you accomplished in each position. Choose powerful action verbs rather than boring ones such as taught, utilized, or sold. Don’t use generic adjectives. Instead, use specific vocabulary to describe your strengths.

Be Accurate

The worst thing you can do is overlook an error. Some hiring managers, especially in the writing industry, immediately discard resumes that contain misspellings or grammar mistakes. Proofread your resume several times. Then, ask a friend or colleague to look it over for you. Some people find it easier to see flaws if they review a printed copy of their resume rather than look at it on their computer screen.

Consider Your Audience

Just like when you write an article, you need to consider who will be reading your resume. If the reviewer won’t be an industry insider, avoid jargon and use terms that anyone can understand. If you know that the chief of the department in which you want to work will read it, use terms that show you know how to do the job.

Do a Peer Review

You might enjoy searching for resumes in your field. Print out a few of the best and then compare them with yours. If you were a recruiter, which resume would stand out to you? Which candidate’s word choices reflect intelligence and fluency? If your resume can’t withstand the scrutiny, make adjustments until it’s the best of the best.

Be Logical

The layout of your resume will directly influence how hiring managers perceive your writing skills. If the arrangement is thoughtless or confusing, why would a recruiter imagine that your writing would be any different? Many applicants automatically assume that a chronological format is the best way to go, but you’ll need to do a bit of research to see whether this is the best format for the type of work you do.

Replace the Objective Statement with a Targeted Summary

Many websites about resume writing encourage applicants to omit an objective statement. After all, it’s evident from your experience that you’re a content writer, sales writer, editor, etc. Obviously, you are looking for a position like the one that’s being offered. Therefore, it’s not necessary to spell out the obvious. A better use of the space below your name and contact information is a summary of your strongest qualifications for the open position. But keep it brief because you need the rest of the space for your education, certifications, and experience. You should be able to accomplish this aim in no more than three bullet points or a three-line paragraph.

Write About What’s Related

What have you done besides writing? While you may be proud of your years spent in nursing, it really only belongs on your resume if you want to be a medical writer. Freelance writers must be especially careful. Many of them have worked on everything from screenplays to children’s nursery rhymes. Focus on experience that is most relevant to each job announcement. Otherwise, you might seem like the kind of candidate who applies for everything, even positions in which you have no real aptitude or interest. On the other hand, some abilities are clearly a plus for almost any writing job. Feel free to enumerate your mastery of word processing programs, foreign languages, or typing.

Send a Thank You Note

A thank you note isn’t a part of the resume, but it should be a part of the process. Why? First of all, it’s simply a nice thing to do. Secondly, you can express your thanks and display your personal writing style at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Remember, too, that a thank you note can be sent by email. You actually might be more likely to get a response if human resources has your email at their fingertips. Also, ensure that your thank you note has a personal touch. No one likes a canned message!

Include an Attachment

When sending your resume by email or publishing it on a website, it’s easy to upload samples of your best writing. If you have room on your resume, you can make a list of published writing. Published work is always the best option, but newbies might feature unpublished work if that’s all they have. Make sure to organize your works into genres to make it easy to see what type of writing they feature. Place either the most recently published or the most relevant pieces at the beginning of the list. If you are including website hyperlinks, make sure they work before you send the email! Show that you understand copyright law by including only clips of works that you own or have permission to use.

A resume isn’t going to take the place of a short story or a newspaper article, but it can give potential clients a good idea of your writing style. Be sure that your resume reflects your accuracy, organizational skills, and effectiveness with your choice of words and formatting. Remember the questions asked at the onset? Why are you the right person for the job? How did you develop your skills? Why will you benefit the company? If you allow your resume to tell your story, you may just get the happy ending that you deserve!

Emigrate vs. Immigrate–What’s the Difference?

• Emigrate means to leave one location, such as one’s native country or region, to live in another.
• Immigrate means to move into a non-native country or region to live.
• Associate the I of immigrate with “in” to remember that the word means moving into a new country.

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Is emigrate an alternative spelling of immigrate? If not, what’s the difference between immigrate and emigrate?

The Meaning of Emigrate

Emigrate is not an alternative spelling of immigrate. Emigrate means to leave a place, such as a country of origin, to settle in another location. Here are some examples. To best understand them, remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria.

Arnold Schwarzenegger emigrated from Austria to the United States.

The Meaning of Immigrate

To immigrate is to settle in a country where you were not born. Here is an example of the verb immigrate using actress Natalie Portman, who was born in Israel.

Natalie Portman immigrated to the United States at a young age.

How to Remember the Difference Between Immigrate and Emigrate

Immigrate begins with the letter I. If you associate I with “in,” you can easily remember that immigrate means to move into a different country. Emigrate begins with an E, so if you associate it with exit, you’ll remember that it means to leave your home country.

Examples

“Canadians who marry someone from abroad shouldn’t have to wait for years to have them immigrate or be left with uncertainty in terms of their ability to stay,” says John McCallum, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.

Canadian Immigrant

Former Deal or No Deal star, Noel Edmonds is planning to leave Bristol and emigrate, according to reports.

Bristol Post

Prepositions of Direction

Prepositions of direction give readers a sense of place or location. The following chart lists different prepositions of direction, their definitions, and examples.

Preposition	Meaning	Example
above	higher relative to something else	The milk is above the soda in the refrigerator.
across	on the other side of	My friend lives across the street from me.
along	beside	The ducks are eating along the river.
among	within a group	The girl was sitting among her friends.
around	in a circular way	They told stories around the campfire.
at	indicates a particular point	Meet me at the stop sign.
behind	at the back of	The employees parked behind the store.
below	lower relative to something else	I hung the poster below the mirror.
beside	next to	Come stand beside me.
close to	near	The flowers are close to the produce section.
over	above	The spices are over the sink.
through	from one point to the next	The river runs through the woods.
toward	in the direction of	The man started walking toward the exit.
up	from low to high	The store is right up the road.
down	from high to low	The boy tumbled down the hill.
between	in the space separating two things	The ring fell between the couch cushions.
by	near	The thrift store is by the church.
inside/in	within	Have you ever been inside an abandoned building?
near	close by	The movie theater is by the interstate.
next to	beside	The library is next to the post office.
on	touching something	Put the mail on the table.
onto	moving on top of something	The dog climbed onto the bed.
off	away from	Don’t jump off that wall.
past	on the farther side of	She drove right past the house.
under	below something	The cat slept under the bed.

Some prepositions are trickier than others. For example, it’s not so logical to be on a bus or a train or a plane rather than in one, yet that’s the way we say it. While you are on the plane (i.e., inside the plane), there is also a logo on the plane, and two wings on the plane, though they’re not inside with you. When in doubt about how to use a specific preposition, look up the proper term in a dictionary.

4 Irish Authors Who Will Inspire Your St. Patrick’s Day

Did you know that St. Patrick’s Day, which is on March 17, is celebrated differently in the United States and Ireland? Irish-Americans initially celebrated the holiday as a show of solidarity and strength of the Irish in a foreign land; the celebrations have evolved to include parades, shamrocks, green outfits, green beer, and corned beef and cabbage. In Ireland, it’s a religious holiday and, in the past, the pubs would close; today, there are parades and shamrocks for tourists, but you’d be hard-pressed to find corned beef and cabbage anywhere. In honor of this holiday, we’ve compiled a list of four talented authors from the Emerald Isle.

1 James Joyce (1882–1941)

Who can forget Ulysses? Hailed as one of the most groundbreaking novels of the twentieth century, it made Joyce famous for his stream-of-consciousness style as well as for the book’s explicit content. Joyce was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1882 and was the eldest of ten children. He had a complex relationship with his homeland and lived in Paris before settling in Italy. He died in Zurich, Switzerland in 1941. Joyce’s other published works include Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which was recognized by poet Ezra Pound when he put the book into a magazine serial. An excerpt from Ulysses reads: “Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.”

A sample of his stream-of-consciousness style in the same work:

It soared, a bird, it held its flight, a swift pure cry, soar silver orb it leaped serene, speeding, sustained, to come, don’t spin it out too long long breath he breath long life, soaring high, high resplendent, aflame, crowned, high in the effulgence symbolistic, high, of the ethereal bosom, high, of the high vast irradiation everywhere all soaring all around about the all, the endlessnessnessness…

2 Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

Also a Dubliner, Wilde was famous not only for writing The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray but also for being arrested and imprisoned for being gay. Wilde was educated at Oxford and toured the US and the UK giving lectures. He was married and had two children when he was arrested for having an affair with a young man. He was imprisoned for two years and, after being released, died from cerebral meningitis at forty-six years old. His two best-known works are among the greatest accomplishments of the late Victorian period. Following are two excerpts from The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is about a man whose image in a portrait ages while he himself remains forever youthful so he can commit to a life of sin:

I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.

When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.

3 Leland Bardwell (1928– )

Bardwell, “a poet, dramatist, short-story writer, and novelist,” was born in India, but moved to Ireland at the age of two. She is a prominent author in Irish literature. Her novels The House and There We Have Been cover the topics of Protestantism, history, and relationships. Bardwell’s writing is honest and refreshing, and she perfectly captures life in a small Irish town in Mother to a Stranger. In the novel, the town’s inhabitants convene at the pub for community news:

“Not many sick this weather?” Matt queried. “Francie McCarthy’s mother has the shingles.” “That’s a terrible dose.” “She must be a quare age.” “Eighty-three.” “Is she gone into the general?” “Is Francie upset?” Nan asked. “Ah, you know Francie.”

4 Emma Donoghue (1969– )

Donoghue, the third on our list to have been born in Dublin, is famous for Frog Music and Room, which was made into a movie for which Brie Larson won an Oscar. She is the youngest of eight children. Donoghue earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge and has earned a living as a writer since she was twenty-three, stating, “[I] have been lucky enough to never have an ‘honest job’ since I was sacked after a single summer month as a chambermaid.” She currently lives in Canada. Here is an excerpt from Room, narrated by five-year-old Jack, who lives in captivity with his mother:

“In the world I notice persons are nearly always stressed and have no time…I don’t know how persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well…I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter all over the world, the roads and houses and playgrounds and stores, so there’s only a little smear of time on each place, then everyone has to hurry on to the next bit.”

Get ready for this St. Patrick’s Day by familiarizing yourself with these great Irish authors and others, including the people who didn’t make our list, such as Anne Enright, Bram Stoker, and Frank McCourt. However you’re celebrating this year, have a happy St. Patrick’s Day!