Vocaboly.com

[KS]

I have some doubts about how to write company names in English, namely which
part of the name should go first.
For exapmle, should I write

Johnson&Thomas construction company (The building was constructed by J&T
construction company)

or

construction company "Johnson&Thomas"? (The building was constructed by the
company "J&T")


Maybe both ways are acceptable?

TIA
Kamil

[Alan Jones]

The first unnecessarily repeats 'company' and the second is not correct
English word order.

It is not usual to put the company's name or initials inside quotation
marks, as you did in your second example. That would imply that the name was
some sort of fraud, and the company was not the real J&T.

If the company is very well known, you could write simply <The building was
constructed by J&T.>. It would be more usual to add the appropriate
status-suffix, such as <Ltd> (for 'Limited') or <and Co> ('Company'), and a
brief version of the company's address <of Bourton-on-the-Water>. So your
sentence might run <The building was constructed by J&T Ltd of
Bourton-on-the Water>.

But these things vary from country to country and according to context. I
suggest that you look at a few local examples of the type of document you
are drafting, and use those as your model. It's a matter of custom rather
than grammar or formal usage. For instance, a more usual British wording
might be <The main building contractor was J&T Ltd", because almost
certainly many important aspects of the construction would be subcontracted
to other companies, some of which would wish their names to be mentioned.

Alan Jones

[meirman]

In alt.english.usage on Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:30:48 +0200 "KS"
<ks@ks.pll> posted: