In Part Two of my series on writing clear e-mail messages, we’ll consider good word choice.

I’m obsessed with words, I know. I’ve got Merriam-Webster’s homepage not just bookmarked, but on my bookmarks toolbar.  Most of you are more relaxed than that, but using the right word correctly matters if you want your e-mails and other business writing to be (a) read all the way through and (b) understood.

So let’s look at a few words that confuse and how to use them correctly:

Literally and virtually are not superlatives

Virtually means nearly, almost, and for all practical purposes. The project is virtually complete means that the bulk of the work is done but a few i’s remain to be dotted. In other words, it means that the project is not literally complete.

Literally refers to reality. I recently read in the newspaper: “She’s growing up so fast. It’s literally like watching a flower unfold.” No, it’s not. Literally means actually. If a girl were actually a flower unfolding, I would have read about her on the front page, not in the middle of the Local News section.

But I often see literally or virtually used to serve as superlatives (such as very), to emphasizes the message. That is not their function. It’s incorrect to use them this way; you risk confusing your reader, or making a poor impression. The quote I referenced would be correct (and charming) if it read simply, “It’s like watching a flower unfold.”

There are no gradations of unique.

More from the newspaper: He had a most unique combination of skills.

If he’s unique, he’s unique. Some authorities (but not I) now allow unique to be a synonym for unusual. Why? They are two distinct words, each doing its specific duty well.

Unique means one of a kind.  When you use it, feel free to then describe why someone or something is unique, he has a unique combination of skills or his unique combination of skills included fluency in Esperanto, but there is no need to describe any person, object or project as very unique, really unique or, horrors, unusually unique.

Beware homophones

Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled differently (homo= same as;  phone = sound of). The most commonly confused of these tricky little blighters are:

to, too and two

• To is a functional word
• Too means also
• Two means the number 2.

there, their and they’re

• There refers to direction, location or relation. We go there for vacation.
• Their is a possessive pronoun. Their home planet is Mars.
• They’re means they are. They’re on their way.

Never ever trust spell or grammar check to identify homophones correctly!

To build communicative emails, take my advice (which I take from Mark Twain): Use the correct word and not its second cousin.