Carol Waites

Carol Waites Carol Waites
Writing skills and English coach. Writer.

18/05/2026

This week's writing tip is a reality check about confusing punctuation. Enjoy!

Where to put punctuation with conjunctions is often confusing. See this explanation given by Grammarly: Subordinating conjunctions Because, although, since, unless, while, if Starting a sentence with a dependent clause: If the sentence starts with the conjunction, place a comma at the end of the fir...

11/05/2026

Test your editing skills with these examples from UN writing

Proofread and correct these examples from United Nations writings. The United Nations and most international organizations in the UN system use the Editorial Manual online. AI tools won’t help you much to avoid stylistic errors, as they don’t distinguish enough between styles. If it’s importan...

03/05/2026

Are you writing appropriately? Check with this week's writing tip about diplomatic vs plain English tips.

When writing to diplomatic missions or within international organizations, the goal is often clarity wrapped in courtesy and neutrality. Diplomatic language softens directness, avoids blame and maintains relationships—even when the message is firm. Here are some examples showing the contrasting st...

20/04/2026

This week's writing tip is on how to offload your overloaded sentences!

In governmental and organizational writing, sentences are often overloaded with subordinate clauses, prepositional phrases and embedded lists. How can you simplify them? Example from an email (overloaded):Further to your request of 12 March, and in line with the instructions received from senior man...

14/04/2026

This week's writing tip is about confusing words. When do you use "less" and when do you use "fewer"? It may be a question of level of formality.

Use fewer with things you can count.Use less with things you measure, not count. Fewer meetings (you can count meetings) Less funding (you measure funding, not count it) If you mix these, it could be a question of style. In informal style, we use less for everything. In more formal style, we disting...

31/03/2026

This week's writing tip is about relative clauses. "which or that"? Commas or no commas?

The United Nations style allows both UK and US grammar usage. However, editors may have their own ideas about what is acceptable or not. Consistency is the most important point. Summary of rules Use that to introduce information essential to meaning (a defining or restrictive clause). Don’t use a ...

25/03/2026

This week's writing tip is about how to sound diplomatic. It's called hedging language.

When we write at work, we usually have to be factual, clear and direct. At other times, though, we need to express ourselves more cautiously and diplomatically. This will depend on the situation. Is it a statistic or fact that you are stating? If so, state it clearly and directly. Or is it something...

This week's writing tip is about confusing singular and plural nouns. Test your knowledge!
16/03/2026

This week's writing tip is about confusing singular and plural nouns. Test your knowledge!

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03/03/2026

This week's writing tip is about confusing words commonly found in UN texts.

In UN and other institutional texts, precision matters. Yet some of the most common problems arise not from complex terminology but from pairs or sets of ordinary words that look interchangeable — and are not. A few frequent culprits include: ensure / insure / assure notably / especially / special...

Here is an article on my memoir of my time at the United Nations. Behind the Flags described in the UN magazine.
01/03/2026

Here is an article on my memoir of my time at the United Nations. Behind the Flags described in the UN magazine.

By and for international civil servants, UN Today brings to staff, diplomats, and the wider international Geneva community an introspective analysis of what affects our life and work in Geneva and how to make the best of it.

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