A common mistake is writing complex sentences which are long and difficult to understand, with little or no punctuation. Long and complex sentences will probably include a number of ideas. Your reader might not be able to understand each individual idea if they are all written together.
Punctuation includes periods ( . ), commas ( , ), question marks ( ? ), exclamation points ( ! ) and other markings which separate ideas, phrases and sentences. You should always separate your most important ideas into separate sentences using the proper punctuation.
Here is an example of a sentence that is too long and complex, without much punctuation:
| We wish to inform you that the weather is bad so our shipment will be late and now we are trying to get in touch with the shipping company to see what they can do to make sure the delivery comes on time therefore we hope it will not cause any problems for you. |
You can rewrite the above sentence more effectively by breaking it into three shorter sentences and using professional words where possible. Here is an example of how you can do this:
| We are writing to inform you that our shipment has been delayed due to bad weather. We are now working with the shipping company to speed up delivery. We apologize for any inconvenience. |