the elements ofstyle

The Elements ofStyle

THE

ELEMENTSOF

StykBY

-

WILLIAM STRUNK Jr.

With Revisions, an Introduction,and a Chapter on Writing

BY

-E. B. WHITE

THIRD EDITION

MACMILLAN PUBLISHIN'G co., INC.NewYorl

COLLIER MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS

Lorultm .

I. White,Title.

78-18444

COPYRIGHT @ 1979, MACMILLAN PUBLISHING CO., INC.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproducedor transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permissionin writing from the Publisher.

Earlier "editions @ 1959 and ® copyright 1972 by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

The Introduction originally appeared, in slightly differentform, in The New Yorker, and was copyrighted in 1957 byThe New Yorker Magazine, Inc.

The Elements of Style, Revised Edition, by WilliamStrunk Jr. .and Edward A. Tenney, copyright 1935 byOliver Strunk.

MACMILLAN PUBLISHING Co., INC.866 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022

COLLIER MACMIL;LAN CANADA, LTD.

Library of Congress Catal'!ging in Publication Data

Strunk, William, 186g-1946.The elements of style

I. English language-Rhetoric.Elwyn Brooks, ( date) II.PEI408.S772 1979 808ISBN 0-02-418190-0ISBN 0-02"-:418200-1 pbk.

PRINTING 131415

ISBN 0-02-418200-1YEAR 456789

AC EN O·W L E DC MEN T

The coauthor, E. B.White, is most grateful to EleanorGould' Packard for her assistance in the preparation ofthe second edition.

Contents

JNTRODUCTION

I. ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE1. Fonn the possessive singular of nouns by

adding "2. In a series of three or more terms with a

single conjunction, use a comma .aftereach term .except the last '

3. Enclose parenthetic expressions betweencommas

4. Placea commabeforea conjunction introducing an independent clause

5. Do not join independent clauses by acomma .

6. Do not break sentences in two7. Use a colon after an independent clause

to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation

8. Use a dash to set off an' abrupt break orinterruption and to announcea long apositive or summary

9. Thenumber of the subjectdeterminesthenumberof the verb

10. Use the propercase of pronoun11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a

sentence must refer to the grammaticalsubject

vii

xi

1

1

2

2

5

57

7

·9

911

viii] CONTENTS

II. ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OFCOMPOSITION 15

12. Choose a suitable design and hold to it 15

13. Make the paragraph the unit of composi-tion 15

14. Use the active voice 1815. Put statements in positive form - 19

16.Use definite, specific, concrete language 21

17. Omit needless words 2318. Avoid a succession of loose sentences 25

19-. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form 2620. Keep related words together 2821. In summaries, keep to one tense 31.-22. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at

the end 32

III. A FEW MATTERS OF FORM 34

IV. WORDS AND EXPRESSIONSCOMMONLY MISUSED 39

V. AN APPROACH TO STYLE(With a List of Reminders) 661. Place yourself in the background 702. Write.in a way that comes naturally 703. Work from a suitable design 70

4. Write with nOUDS and verbs 71

5. Revise and rewrite 72

6. Do not overwrite 727. Do not overstate 72

8. Avoid the use of qualifiers 739. Do not affect a breezy manner 73

10. Use orthodox spelling 74 -11. Do not explain too much 7512. Do not construct awkward adverbs 7513. Make sure the reader knows who is speak.

ing 1614- Avoid fancy words 7615. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good 7816. Be"'clear 79

CONTENTS fix

808081818187

17. Do not inject opinion18. Use figures of speech sparingly19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity20. Avoid foreign languages"21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat

INDEX

Introduction

AT THE close of the first World War, when I was astudent at Cornell, I took a course called English 8.My professor was William Strunk Jr. A textbook required for the course was a slim volume called The Elements of Style, whose author was the professor himself.-The year was 1919. The book was known on the campus in those days as "the little book," with the stress onthe word "little." It had been privately printed by theauthor.

I passed the course, graduated from the university,and forgot the book but not the professor. Some thirtyeight years later, the book bobbed up again in my lifewhen Macmillan commissioned me to revise it for thecollege market and the general trade. Meantime, Professor Strunk had died.

The Elements oiStyle, when I re-examined it in1957, seemed to. me to contain rich deposits of gold.It was Will Strunk's parvum opus, his attempt to cutthe vast tangle of English rhetoric .down to size andwrite its rules and principles on the head of a pin. Willhimself had hungthe tag "little" on the book; he referred to it sardonically and with secret pride as "thelittle book," always giving the word "little" a specialtwist, as though he were putting a spin on a ball. In itsoriginal form, it was a forty-three-page summation ofthe case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the useof English. Today, fifty-two years later, its vigor is unimpaired, and for sheer pith I think it probably sets a

xi

xii] INTRODUCTION

record that is not likely to be broken. Even after I gotthrough tampering with it, it was still a tiny thing, abarely tarnished gem. Seven rules of usage, eleven principlesof composition, a few matters of form, and a listof words and expressions commonly misused-that wasthe sum and substance of Professor Strunk's work.Somewhat audaciously, and in an attempt .to give mypublisher his money's worth, I added a chapter calledc4An Approach to Style," setting forth my own prejudices, my 'notions of error, my articles of faith. Thischapter (Chapter V) is addressed particularly to thosewho feel that English prose composition is not only anecessary skill but a sensible pursuit as well-a way tospend one's days. I think ProfessorStrun~·would notobject to that.

A second edition of the book was published in 1972.I have now completed a third revision. Chapter IV hasbeen refurbished with words and expressions of a recentvintage; four roles of usage have been added to Chapter I. Fresh examples have been added to some of theroles and principles, amplification has reared its head ina few places in the text where I felt an assault couldsuccessfully be made on the bastions of its brevity, andin general the book has received a thorough overhaulto correct errors, delete bewhiskered entries, and enliventhe argument.

Professor Strunk was a positive man. His book contains rules of grammar phrased as direct orders. In themain I have not tried to soften his commands, or modify his pronouncements, or remove the special objects ofhis scorn. I have tried, instead, to preserve the flavor ofhis discontent while slightly enlarging the scope of thediscussion. The Elements of Style does not pretend tosurvey the whole field. Rather it proposes to give inbrief space the principal requirements of plain Englishstyle. It concentrates on fundamentals: the rules of

. usage and principles of composition most commonlyviolated.

The reader will soon discover that these rules andprinciples are in the form of sharp commands, Sergeant

.. INTRODUCTION [xiii

Strunk snapping orders to his platoon. "Do not joinindependent clauses by a comma." (Rule 5.) "Do notbreak sentences in two." (Rule 6.) "Use the activevoice." (Rule 14.) "Omit needless words." (Rule 17.)"Avoid a succession of loose sentences." (Rule 18.) "Insummaries, keep to one tense." (Rule 21.) Each rule orprinciple- is followed by a short hortatory essay, andusually the exhortation is followed by, or interlardedwith, examples in parallel columns-the true vs. thefalse, the rightvs. the wrong, the timid vs. the bold,the ragged vs. the trim. From every line there peers outat me the puckish face of my professor, his short hairparted neatly in the middle and combed down over hisforehead, his eyes blinking incessantly behind steelrimmed spectacles as though he had just emerged intostrong light, his lips nibbling each other like nervoushorses, his smile shuttling to and fro under a carefullyedged mustache.

"Omit needless words!" cries the author on page 23,and into that imperative Will Strunk really put hisheart and soul. In the days when I was sitting in hisclass, he omitted so many needless words, and omitted

, them so forcibly and with such eagerness and obviousrelish, that he often seemed in the position of havingshortchanged himself-a man left with nothing more tosay yet with time .to fill, a radio prophet who had out..distanced the _clock. Will Strunk got out of this pre.dicament by a simple trick: he uttered every sentencethree times. When he delivered his oration on brevityto the class, he leaned forward over his desk, graspedhis coat lapels in his hands, and, in a husky, conspiratorial voice, said, "Rule Seventeen. Omit needless words!Omit needless words! Omit needless words!"

He was a memorable man, friendly and funny. Underthe remembered sting of his kindly lash, I have beentrying to omit needless words since 1919, and althoughthere are still many words that cry for omission and thehuge task will never be accomplished, it is exciting tome to reread the. masterly Strunkian elaboration of thisnoble theme. It goes:

xiv] iNTB.ODUCTION

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should containno unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have nounnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.This requires not that the writer make all his sentencesshort, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjectsonly in outline, but that every word tell.

There you have a short, valuable essay on the nature and beauty of brevity-sixty-three words thatcould change the world. Having recovered from his ad...venture in prolixity (sixty-three words were a Iot ofwords in the tight world of William Strunk [r.}, theprofessor- proceeds to give a few quick lessons in pmning. The student learns to cut the .deadwood -from"this is a subject that," reducing it to "this subject," asaving of three words. He learns to trim "used for fuelpurposes" down to "used for fuel." He learns that he isbeing a chatterbox when he says "the question as towhether" and that he should just' say "whether"-asaving of four words out of a possible five. _

The professor devotes a special paragraph to the vileexpression the fClct that, a phrase that causes him toquiver with revulsion. The expression, he says, SIlOUldbe "revised out of every sentence in which it occurs,'But a shadow of gloom seems to hang over the page, and you feel that he knows how hopeless his cause is.I suppose I have written the fact that a thousand timesin the heat of composition, revised it out maybe fivebundred times in the cool aftermath. To be batting only.500 this late in the season, to fail half the time toconnect with this fat pitch, saddens me, for it seems abetrayal of the man who showed me how to swing at itand made the swingingseem worth while.

I treasure The Elements ofStyle for its sharp advice,but I treasure it even more for the audacity and selfconfidence of its author. Will knew where he stood. Hewas so sure of where he stood, and made his positionso clear and so plausible, that his peculiar stance hascontinued to invigorate me-and, I am sure, thousands

INTRODUCTION [XV

of otherex-students-during the years that have inter-·vened since our first encounter. He had a number oflike and dislikes that were almost as whimsical as thechoice of a necktie, yet he made them seem utterly convincing. He disliked the word forceful and advised us touse forcible instead. He felt that the word clever wasgreatly overused: "It is best restricted to ingenuity displayed in small matters." He despised the expressionstudent body, which he termed gruesome, and made aspecial trip downtown to the Alumni News office oneday to protest the expression and suggest that studentrybe substituted-a coinage of his own, which he feltwas similar to citizenry. I am told that the News editorwas so charmed by the visit, if not by the word, that heordered the student body buried, never to rise again.Studentry has taken its place. It's not much of an improvement, but it does sound less cadaverous, and itmade Will Strunk quite happy.

Some years ago, when the heir to the throne of England was a child, I noticed a headline in the Timesabout Bonnie Prince Charlie: "CHARLES' TONSILS OUT."

Immediately Rule 1 .leapt to mind.

1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ',.Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friendBurns's poemsthe witch's malice

Clearly, Will Strunk had foreseen, as far back as 1918, the dangerous' tonsillectomy of a prince, in which thesurgeon removes the tonsils and the Times copy deskremoves the final s. He started his book with it. I commend Rule 1 to the Times, and I trust that Charles'sthroat, notCharles' throat, is in fine shape today.

Style rules of this sort ate, of course, somewhat amatter of individual preference, and even theestablished rules of grammar are open to challenge. Professor Strunk, although one of the most inflexible andchoosy of men, was quick to acknowledge the fallacy ofinflexibility and the danger of doctrine. "It is an old

~] INTRODUCTION

observation," he wrote, "that the best writers sometimesdisregard the rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence somecompensating merit, attained at the cost of the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules."

It is encouraging to see how perfectly a book, even adusty rule book, perpetuates and extends the spirit of aman. WillStrunkloved the clear, the brief, the bold,and his book is clear, brief, bold. Boldness is perhaps itschief distinguishing mark. On page 27, explaining oneof his parallels, he says, "The left-hand version givesthe impression that the writer is undecided or timid; heseemsunable 'or afraid to choose one form of expressionand hold to it." And his Rule 11 was "Make definite assertions." That was Will all over. He scorned the vague,the tame, the colorless, the irresolute. He felt it wasworse to be irresolute than to be wrong. I remember aday in class when he leaned far forward, in his characteristic pose-the pose of a man about to impart a secret-and croaked, "If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud! If you don't know how topronounce 'a word, say it loud!" This comical piece ofadvice struck me as sound at the time, and I still respectit. Why compound ignorance with inaudibility? Whyrun and hide?

All through The Elements of Style one finds evidences of the author's deep sympathy for the reader.Will felt that the reader was in serious trouble most ofthe time, a man floundering in a swamp, and that it wasthe duty of anyone attempting to write English to drainthis swamp quickly and get his man up on dry ground,or at least throw him a rope. In revising the text, Ihave tried to hold. steadily in mind this belief of his,this concern for the bewildered reader.

In the English classes of today, "the little book" issurrounded by longer, lower textbooks-books withpermissive steering and automatic transitions. Perhapsthe book has become something of a curiosity. To me,it still seems to maintain its original poise, standing, in

INTRODUCTION [xvii

a drafty time, erect, resolute, and assured. I still findthe Strunkian wisdom a comfort, the Strunkian humora delight, and the Strunkian attitude toward right-andwrong a blessing undisguised.

E. B. WHITE

The Elements ofStyle

IElementary Rules of

Usage

1. Fonn the possessive singular of nouns by adding '8.

l Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thuswrite,

Charles's friendBums's poemsthe witch's "malice

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient propernames in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and suchforms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake.But such forms as Moses' Laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced by

the laws of Mosesthe temple of Isis

The pronominal possessives) hers, its, theirs, yours,and ours have no apostrophe. Indefinite pronouns,however, use the apostrophe to show possession.

one's rightssomebody else's umbrella

A common error is to write it's for its, or vice versa.The first is a contraction, meaning "it is." The second

. is a possessive.

It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.

1

2] THE ELEl\.{ENTS OF STYLE

2. In a series of three 01 more terms with a singleconiunction; use a comma after each term exceptthe last.

Thus write,

red, white, and bluegold, silver, or copperHe opened the letter 7 read it, and made a note of its

contents.

This comma is often referred to as the "serial"comma..

In the names of business firms the last comma is usually-omitted. Follow the u~ge of theindividualfirm.

Brown, Shipley and Co.Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated

3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.

The best way to see a country, unless you are pressedfor time, is to travel on foot.

This rule is difficult to apply; it is frequently hard todecide whether a single word, such as however, or abrief phrase is or is not parenthetic; If the interruption

.to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the writer maysafely omit the commas, But whether the interruptionis slight or considerable, he must never omit one commaand leave the other. There is no defense for such punctuation as

Marjorie's husband, Colonel Nelson paid us a visit yesterday.

or

My brother you will be pleased to hear, is now in perfect health.

Dates usually contain parenthetic words or figures.Punctuate as follows:

ELEMENTAllY RULES OF USAGE [3February to July, 1972

April 6, 1956Wednesday, November 13, 192 9

Note that it is customary to omit the comma in

6 April 1958'

The last fonn is an excellent way to write a date; thefigures are separated by a word and are, for that reason,quickly grasped.

A name or a title in direct address is parenthetic.

If, Sir,yourefuse, I cannot predict what willhappen.Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in.

The abbreviations etc.; ie., and e.g; the abbreviations for academic degrees,and titles that followa nameare parenthetic and should be punctuated accordingly.

Letters, packages, etc, should go here.Horace Fulsome, Ph.D., presided.Rachel Simonds, AttorneyThe Reverend HarryLang, S.J.

No comma, however, should separate a noun 'from arestrictive term of identification.

Billy the KidThe novelist John FowlesWilliam the ConquerorPliny the Younger

Although Junior, with its abbreviation lr., has commonly been regarded as parenthetic, logic suggests thatit is, in fact, restrictive and therefore not in need of acomma.

James Wright Jr.Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are

similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicatingtime or place. Commas are therefore needed. A nOD·

4] THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

restrictive clause is one that does not serve to identifyor define the antecedent noun.

The audience, which had at first been indifferent, became more and more interested.

In 176<}, when Napoleon was born, Corsica had but recently been acquired by France.

Nether Stowey, where Coleridge wrote The Rime of theAncient MaJjner, is a few miles from Bridgewater.

In these sentences, the clauses introduced by which,when, and where are nonrestrictive; they do not limitor define, they merely add something. In the first_ ex.amplevtheclauseintroduced by whichdoesllot serve totell which of several possible audiences is meant; thereader presumably knows that already. The clause adds,parenthetically, a statement supplementing that in themain clause. Each of the three sentences is a combination of two statements that might have beeen made in-dependen~y. _

The audience was at first indifferent. Later it becamemore and more interested.

Napoleon was born in 1769. At that time Corsica hadbut recently been acquired by France.

Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner atNether Stowey. Nether Stowey is a few miles' from Bridgewater.

Restrictive clauses, by contrast, are not parentheticand are not set off by commas. Thus,

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Here the clause introduced by who does serve. to tellwhich people are meant; the sentence, unlike the sentences above, cannot be split into two independentstatements. The same principle of comma use applies toparticipial phrases and to appositives.

People sitting in the rear couldn't hear. (restrictive)Uncle Bert,.being slightly deaf, moved forward. (non

restrictive) ,

· ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE [5My cousin Bob is a talented harpist. (restrictive)Our oldest daughter, Mary, sings. (nonrestrictive)

When the main clause of a sentence is preceded by aphrase or a subordinate clause, use a comma to set offthese elements.

Partly by hard fighting, partly by diplomatic skill, theyenlarged their dominions to the east and rose to royal rankwith the possession of Sicily.

4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.

The early records at the city have disappeared, and thestory of its. first years can no longer be reconstructed.~ The situation is perilous, but there is still one chanceof escape.

Two-part sentences of which the second member isintroduced by as (in the sense of "because") , for, or,nor, or while (in the sense of "and at the same time")likewise require a comma before the conjunction.

If a dependent clause, or an introductory phrase requiring to be set off by a comma, precedes the secondindependent clause, no comma is needed after theconjunction.

The situation is perilous, but if we are prepared to actpromptly, there is still one chance of escape.

When the subject is the same for both clauses and isexpressed only once, a comma is useful if the con...nective is but. When the connective isand, the commashould be omitted if the relation between the two statements is close" or immediate.

I have heard his arguments, but am still unconvinced.He has had several years' experience and is thoroughly

competent.

5. Do not join independent clausesby a comma.If two or more clauses grammatically complete and

not joined by a conjunction are to fonn a single com-

6) 'THB ELEMENTS OF STYLE

pound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is asemicolon.

Stevenson's romances are entertaining; they are full ofexciting adventures.

It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town beforedark.

It isJ of course, equally correct to write each of theseas two sentences, replacing the semicolons with periods.

Stevenson's romances are entertaining. They are full ofexciting adventures.

It isnearly half past five..We cannot reach town beforemrx.If a conjunction is inserted, the proper· mark is a

comma. (Rule 4.) ,Stevenson's romances are entertaining, for they are full

of exciting adventures.It is nearly half past five, and we cannot reach town

before dark.

A comparison of the three forms given above willshow clearly the advantage of the first..It is, at least inthe examples .given, better than the second form because it suggests the close relationship between the twostatements in a way that the second does not attempt,and better than the third because it is briefer and therefore more forcible. Indeed, this simple method of .. in.dicating relationship between statements is one of themost useful devices of composition. The relationship,as above, is commonly one of cause and consequence.

Note that if the second clause is preceded by an ad.verb, such as accordingly, besides, then, therefore, orthus, and not by a conjunction, the semicolon is stillrequired.

I had never been in the placebefore; besides, it was darkas a tomb.

An exception to the semicolon rule is worth notinghere. A comma is preferable when the clauses are very

ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE [7

short and alike in form, or when the tone of the sentence is easy and conversational.

Man proposes, God disposes.The gatesswung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was

drawn up.I hardly knew him, he was so changed.Here today, gone tomorrow.

6. Do not break sentences in two.In other words, do not use periods for commas.

I met them on a Cunard liner many years ago. Cominghome from Liverpool to New York.

He was an interesting talker. A man who had. traveledall over the world and lived in half a dozen countries.

In both these examples, the first period should bereplaced. by a comma and the following word begunwith a small letter.

It is permissible to make an emphatic word or expression serve the purpose of a sentence and to punctuate itaccordingly:

Again and again he called out. No reply.

The writer must, however, be certain that the emphasis is warranted, lest his clipped sentence seem merelyablunder in syntax or in punctuation. Generally speaking, the place for broken sentences is in dialogue, whena character happens to speak in a clipped or fragmentary way.

Rules 3, 4, 5, and 6 cover the most important principles that govern punctuation. They should be sothoroughly mastered that their application becomessecond nature.

7. Use' a colon after an independent clause tointroduce a list of particulars,an "rzppos~ti'Ve, anamplification, or an illustrative quotation.

A colon tells the reader that what follows is closelyrelated to the preceding clause. The colon has moreef...

. 8] THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

feet than the comma, less power to separate than thesemicolon, and more formality than the dash. It usuallyfollows. an independent clause and should not separatea verb from its complement or a preposition from itsobject. The examples in the left-hand column, below,are wrong; they should be rewritten as in the right-handcolumn.

Your dedicated whittIerrequires: a knife, a piece ofwood, and a back porch.

Understanding is that-penetrating quality ofknowledge that grows from:theory, practice, conviction,assertion, error, and humiliation.

Your dedicated whittIerrequires three props: aknife, a piece of wood, anda back porch.

Understanding is thatpenetrating. quality ofknowledge that grows fromtheory, practice, conviction,assertion, error, and humiliation.

Join two independent clauses with a colon if thesecond interprets or amplifies the first.

But ·even so, there was a directness and dispatch aboutanimal burial: there was no stopover in the undertaker'sfoul parlor, no wreath or spray.

A colon may introduce a quotation that supports orcontributes to the preceding clause.

The squalor of the streets reminded him of a line fromOscar Wilde: uWe are all in the gutter, but some of usare looking-at the stars."

The colon also has certain functions of form: to followthe salutation of a formal letter, to separate hourfrom minute in a notation of time, and to separate thetitle of a wosk from its subtitle or a Bible chapter froma verse.

Dear Mr. Montague:Practical Calligraphy: An Introduction to Italic Scriptdeparts at 10:48 P.M.

Nehemiah 11:7 ·

Her father's suspicionsproved well-founded. It wasnot Edward she cared for,it was San Francisco.

Violence, the kind yousee on television, is nothonestly violent. There liesits harm.


8. UBe a dash to set off an abrupt break OT interruption, and to announce a long appositive orsummary.

A dash is a mark of separation stronger than acomma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxedthan parentheses.

His first thought on getting out of bed-if he had anythought at all-was to get back in again.

The rear axle began to make a noise-a grinding,chattering, teeth-gritting rasp.

The increasing reluctance of the sun to rise, the extranip in the breeze, the patter of shed leaves droppingall the evidences of fall drifting into winter were clearereach day.

Use a dash only when a more common mark of punctuation seems inadequate.

Her father's suspicionsproved well-founded-s-it wasnot Edward she cared for-it was San Francisco.

Violence-the kind yousee on television-is nothonestly violent-there liesits harm.

9. The number of the subject determines thenumber of the verb.

Words that intervene between subject and verb donot affect the number of the verb.

The bittersweet flavor of The bittersweet flavor ofyouth-its trials, its joys', yout4-its trials, its joys,its adventures, its chal- its adventures, its challengeslenges-are not soon for- -is not soon forgotten.gotten.

A common blunder is the use of a singular verb formin a relative clause following (lone of ..." or a similarexpression when the relative is the subject.


One of the ablest men One of the ablest menwho has attacked this who have attacked this prob-problem lem

One of those people One of those people whowho is never ready on time are never ready on time

Use a singular verb form after each, either, every-one, everybody, neither, nobody, someone. -

Everybody thinks he has a sense of humor.Although both clocks strike cheerfully, neither keeps

good time.

With 1l01J,€, use the singular. verb when the word?"' means "no one" or "not one."

None of us are perfect. None of us is perfect.

A plural verb is commonly used when none suggestsmore than one thing or person

None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.

A compound subject formed of two or more nounsjoined by and almost always requires a plural verb.

The walrus and the carpenter were walking close athand.

But certain compounds, often cliches, are so inseparablethey are considered a unit and so take a singular verb,as do compound subjects qualified by each or every.

The long and the short of it is . . .Bread and butter was all she served.Give and take is essential to a happy household.Every window, picture, and mirror was smashed.

A singular subject remains singular even if othernouns are connected to it by with, as well as, in addition to, except, together with; and no less than.

His speech as well as his manner is objectionable.

A'linking verb agrees with the number of its subject.


What is wanted is a few more pairs of hands.The trouble with truth is its many varieties.

Some nouns that appear to be plural are usuallyconstrued as singular and given a singular verb.

Politics is an art, not a science.The Republican Headquarters is on this side of the

tracks.

But

The general's quarters are over the river.

In these cases the writer must simply learn theidioms. The contents of a book is singular. The contents of a jar may be either singular or plural, depending on what's in the jar-jam or marbles.

10. Use the proper case of pronoun.The personal pronouns, as well as the pronoun who,

change form as they function as subject or object.

Will Jane or he be hired, do you think?The culprit, it turned out, was he.We heavy eaters would rather walk than ride.Who knocks?

Give this work to whoever looks idle"

In the last example, whoever is the subject of looks idle;the object of the preposition- to is the entire clausewhoever looks idle. When who introduces a subordinate"clause, its case depends on its function in that clause.

Virgil Soames is the Virgil Soames is thecandidate whom we think candidate who we think willwill win. win.

Virgil Soames is the Virgil Soames is thecandidate who we hope to candidate whom we hopeelect. to elect.

A pronoun in a comparison is nominative if it is thesubject of.a stated or understood verb.


Sandy writes better than I. (Than I write.)

In general, avoid _"understood" verbs by supplyingthem.

I think Horace admiresJessica more than I.

Polly- loves cake morethan me.

I think Horace admiresJessica more than I do.

Polly loves cake. morethan she loves me.

Blake and I stayed home.

Howard and you broughtthe lunch, I thought.

The objective case is correct in the following ex-amples. .

The ranger offered Shirley and him some advice. oncampsites.

They came to meet the Baldwins and us.

Let's talk it over between us, then, you and me.

Whom should I ask?

A group of us taxpayers protested.

Us in the last example is in apposition to taxpayers,the object of the preposition of. The wording, althoughgrammatically defensible, is rarely apt. "A group of usprotested as taxpayers" is.better, if not exactly equivalent.

Use the simple personal pronoun as a subject.

Blake and myself stayedhome.

Howard and yourselfbrought the lunch, Ithought..

The possessive case 'of pronouns is used to showownership. It has two forms: the adjectival modifier,your hat, and the noun form, a hat of yours.

.The dog has buried one of your gloves and one of minein the flower bed.

gerunds usually require the possessive case.

Mother objected to our driving on the icy roads.

ELEM·ENTARY -RULES OF USAGE [13

A present participle as a verbal, on the .other hand,takes the objective case.

They heard him singing in the shower.

The difference between a verbal participle and a gerundis not always obvious, but note what is really said ineach of the following.

Do you mind me asking a question?Do you mind my asking a question?

In the first sentence, the queried objection is to me,as opposed to other members of the group, putting oneof the questions. In the second example, the issue iswhether a question may beasked at all.

11. A participial phrase at the beginning of asentence must refer to the grammatical subject.

Walking slowly down the road, he saw a womanaccompanied by two children.

The word walking refers to the subject of the sentence, not to the woman. If the writer wishes to makeit refer to the woman, he must recast the sentence.

-He saw a woman, accompanied by two children, walk-

ing slowly down the road.

Participial phrases preceded by a conjunction or by apreposition, nouns in apposition, adjectives, and adjective phrases come under the same rule if they begin thesentence.

On arriving in Chicago,his friends met him at thestation.

A soldier of proved valor,they entrusted him with thedefense of the city.

Young and inexperienced,the task seemed easy to me.

On arriving in Chicago,he was met at the station byhis friends.

A soldier of proved valor,he was entrusted with thedefense of the city.

Young and inexperienced,I thought the task easy.


Without a friend to Without a friend tocounselhim, the temptation counsel him, he found theproved irresistible. temptation irresistible.

Sentences violating Rule 11 are often ludicrous:

Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able .to buy thehouse very cheap.

Wondering irresolutely what to do next, the clockstruck twelve.

As a mother of five, with another on the way, myironing board is always up.

IIElementary Principles of

.Composition

12. Choose a suitable deSign and hold to it.A basic structural design underlies every kind of writ

ing. The writer will in part follow this design, in partdeviate from it, according to his skill, his needs, and theunexpected events that accompany the act of composition. Writing, to be effective, must follow closely thethoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the orderin which those thoughts occur. This calls for a schemeof procedure. In some cases the best design is no design,as with a love letter, which is simply an outpouring, orwith a casual essay, which is a ramble. But in most casesplanning must be a deliberate prelude to writing..Thefirst principle of composition, therefore, is to foresee .ordetermine the shape of what is to come and pursue thatshape.

A sonnet is built on a fourteen-line frame, each linecontaining five feet. Hence, the sonneteer knows exactlywhere he is headed, although he may not know how toget there. Most forms of composition are less clearly defined, more flexible, but all have skeletons to which thewriter will bring the flesh and the blood. The moreclearly he perceives the shape, the better are his chancesof success.

13. Make the paragraph the unit of composition.The paragraph is a convenient unit; it servesall forms

of literary work. As long as it holds together, a para-1;


graph may be of any length-a single, short sentenceor a passage of great duration.

If the subject on which you are writing is of slightextent, or if you intend to treat it briefly, there may beno need to divide it into topics. Thus, a brief description, a brief book review, a brief account of a single incident, a narrative merely outlining an action, thesetting forth of a single idea-anyone of these is bestwritten in a single paragraph. After the paragraph hasbeen written, examine it to see whether division willimprove it.

Ordinarily, however, a subject requires division intotopics, each of which should be dealt with in a para-'graph. The object of treating each topic in a paragraph'by itself is, of course, to aid the reader. The beginningof each paragraph is a signal to him that a new step inthe development of the subject has been reached.

As a rule, single sentences should not be written orprinted as paragraphs. An exception may be made ofsentences of transition, indicating the relation betweenthe parts of an exposition or argument.

In dialogue, each speech, even if only a single word,is usually a paragraph by itself; that is, a new paragraphbegins with each change of speaker. The application ofthis rule when dialogue and narrative are combined isbest learned from examples in well-edited works of fie..tion. Sometimes a writer, seeking to create an effect ofrapid talk or for some other reason, will elect not to setoff each speech in-a separate paragraph and instead willrun speeches together. The common practice, however,and the one that servesbest in most instances, is to giveeach speech a paragraph of its own.

As a rule, begin each paragraph either with a sentencethat suggests the topic or with a sentence that helps thetransition. If a paragraph forms part of a larger composition, its relation to what precedes, or its function as a.part of the whole, may need to be expressed. This cansometimes be done by a mere word or phrase (again;therefore; for the same reason) in the first sentence.Sometimes, however, it is expedient to get into the

PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION [17

topic slowly, byway of a sentence or two of introduction or transition.

In 'narration and description, the paragraph sometimes begins with a concise, comprehensive statementserving to hold together the, details that follow.

The breeze served us admirably.

The campaign opened with a series of reverses.

The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curiousset of entries.

But when this device, or any device, is too often used,it becomes a mannerism. More commonly the openingsentence simply indicates by its subject the direction theparagraph is to take.

At length I thought I might return toward the stockade.

He picked up the heavy lamp from the table and beganto explore.

Another flight of steps, and they emerged on the roof.

In animated narrative, the paragraphs are likely to beshortand without any semblance of a topic sentence,the writer rushing headlong, event following event inrapid succession. The break between such paragraphsmerely serves the purpose of a rhetorical pause, throwing into prominence some,detail of the action.

In general, remember that paragraphing calls for agood eye as well as a logical mind. Enormous blocks ofprint look formidable to a reader. He has a certain reluctance to tackle them; he can lose his way in them.Therefore, breaking long paragraphs in two, even if it is "not necessary to do so for sense, meaning, or logical development, is often a visual help. But remember, too,that firing off many short paragraphs in quick successioncan bedistracting. Paragraph breaks used only for show read like the writing of commerce or of display advertising. Moderation and a sense of order should be themain considerations in paragraphing.


14. Use the active voice.The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous

than the passive:

I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.

This is much better than

My first visit to Boston will always be remembered byme.

The latter sentence is less direct, less bold, and less concise. If the writer tries to make it more concise by omitting "by me,"

My first visit to Boston will always be remembered,

it becomes indefinite: is it the writer or some person undisclosed or the world at large that will always remember this visit?

This rule does not, of course, mean that the writershould entirely discard the passive voice, which is frequen~~y convenient and sometimes necessary.

The dramatists of the Restoration are little esteemedtoday.

Modem readers have little esteem for the dramatists ofthe Restoration.

The first would be the preferred form in a paragraph onthe dramatists of the Restoration, the second in a paragraph on the tastes of modern readers. The need ofmaking a particular word the subject of the sentencewill often, as in these examples, determine which voiceis to be used.

The habitual use of the active voice, however; makesfor forcible writing. This is true not only in narrativeconcerned principally with action but in writing of ariykind. Many a tame sentence of description or expositioncan be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is or could be heard.

He usually came late.

He thought the .study ofLatin a waste of time.

The women in TheTaming of the Shrew areunattractive. Katharine isdisagreeable, Bianca insignificant.

·PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION [19

There were a great num- Dead leaves covered theber of dead leaves lying on ground.the ground.

At dawn the cr-owing of The cock's crow camea rooster could be heard. with dawn.

The reason he left col- Failing health compelledlege was that his health be~ him to leave college.came impaired.

It was not long before he He soon repented hiswas very sorry that he. had words.said what he had.

Note, in the examples above, that when a sentence ismade stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevityis a by-product of vigor.

15. Put' statements in positive form.Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesi

tating, noncommittal language. Use the word not as ameans of denial or in antithesis, never as a means ofevasion.

He was not very often ontime.

He did not think thatstudying Latin was a sensible way to use one's time.

The Taming ofthe Shrewis rather weak in spots.Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a veryadmirable character, nordoes Bianca remain long inmemory as an importantcharacter in Shakespeare'sworks.

The last example, before correction, is indefinite aswell as negative. The corrected version, consequently, .issimply a guess at the writer's intention.

All three examples show the weakness inherent in theword not. Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is


dissatisfied with being told only what is not; he wishesto be told what is. Hence, as a role, it is better to express even a negative in positive form,

not 'honest dishonest

not important triflingdid not remember forgot

did not pay any attention to ignored

did not have much confidence in distrusted

Placing negative and positive in opposition makes fora stronger structure.

Not .charity, but simple justice.

Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Romemore.

Ask not what your country can do for you-ask whatyou can do for your country.

Negative words other than not are usually strong.

Her loveliness I never knew/Until she smiled on me.

Statements qualified with unnecessary auxiliaries orconditionals sound irresolute.

If you would let us know If you will let us knowthe time of your arrival, we the time of your arrival,would be happy to arrange we shall be happy to aryour transportation from range your transportationthe airport. from the airport.

The applicant can make The applicant WIll makea good impression by being a good impression if he isneat and punctual. neat and punctual.

Keats may be ranked Keats was one of thoseamong those romantic poets romantic poets who diedwho died young. young.

If your every sentence admits a doubt, your writing willlack authority. Save the auxiliaries would, should,could, may, might, and can for situations involvingreal uncertainty.


16. Use definite, specifi~, concrete language.Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the

vague, the concrete to the abstract.

A period of unfavorable It rained every day" for aweather set in. week.

He showed satisfaction as He grinned as he pock-he took possession of his eted the coin. .well-earned reward.

If those who have studied the art of writing are inaccord on anyone point, it is on this: the surest way toarouse and hold the attention of the reader is by beingspecific, definite, and concrete. The greatest writersHomer, Dante, Shakespeare-are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details thatmatter. Their words call up pictures.

Jean Stafford, to cite a modem author, demonstratesin her short story "In the Zoo" how prose is madevivid by the use of words that evoke images and sensations:

.. . Daisy and I in time found asylum in a smallmenagerie down by the railroad tracks. It belonged to agentle .alcoholic ne'er-do-well, who did nothing all daylong but drink bathtub gin in rickeys and play solitaireand smile to himself and talk to his animals. He had alittle, stunted -red vixen and a deodorized skunk, a parrotfrom Tahiti that spoke Parisian French, a woebegonecoyote, and two. capuchin monkeys, so serious and humanized, so small and sad and sweet, and so religiouslooking with their tonsured heads that it was impossiblenot to think their gibberish was really an ordered languagewith a grammar that someday some philologist wouldunderstand.

Gran knew about our visits to Mr. Murphy and shedid not object, for it gave her keen pleasure to excoriatehim when we came home. His vice was not a matter ofguesswork; it was an established fact that he was halfseas over from dawn till midnight. "With the black Irish,"said Gran, "the taste for drink is taken - in with themother's milk and is never mastered. Oh, I know all aboutthose promises to join the temperanc~ movement andDot


to touch another drop. The way to Hell is paved withgood intentions."

We were still little girls when we discovered Mr.Murphy, before the shattering disease of adolescence wasto make our bones and brains ache even more painfullythan before, and we loved him and we hoped to marryhim when we grew up. We loved him, and we loved hismonkeys to exactly the same degree and in exactly thesame way; they were. husbands and fathers and brothers,these little, ugly, dark, secret men who minded their ownbusiness and let us mind ours. If we stuck our fingersthrough the bars of the cage, the monkeys would sometimes take them in their tight, tiny hands and look intoour faces with a tentative, somehow absent-minded sorrow, as if they- terribly regretted that they could not-placeus but were glad to see us ,all the same. Mr. Murphy,playing a solitaire game of cards called "once in a bluemoon" on a kitchen table in his back yard beside thepens, would occasionally look up and blink his beautifulblue eyes and say, "You're peaches to make over my weefriends. I love you for it." There was nothing demandingin his voice, and nothing sticky; on his lips the word"love" was jocose and forthright, it had no strings attached. We would sit on either side of him and watch himregiment his ranks of cards and stop to drink as deeplyas if he were dying of thirst and wave to his animals andsay to them, "Yes, lads, you're dandies."*If the experiences of Walter Mitty, of Dick Diver, of

Rabbit Angstrom have seemed for the moment teal tocountless readers, if in reading Faulkner we have almostthe sense of inhabiting Yoknapatawpha County duringthe decline of the South, it is because the details usedare definite, the terms concrete. It is not that everydetail is given-that would be impossible, as well as tono purpose-but that all the significant details aregiven, and with such accuracy and vigor that the reader,in imagination, can project himself into the scene.

In exposition and in argument, the writer must like-

• A selection from "In the Zoo" from Bad Characters by JeanStafford. Copyright @ 1953, 1964 by Jean Stafford. This selectionappeared originally in The New Yorker. Reprinted with the permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.


wise never .lose his hold upon the concrete; and evenwhen he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application. _

In his Philosophy of Style, Herbert Spencer gives twosentences to illustrate how the vague and general canbeturned into the vivid and particular:

In proportion as themanners, customs, andamusements of a nation'arecruel and barbarous, theregulations of its penal codewill be severe.

In proportion as men delight in .battles, bullfights,and combats of gladiators,will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.

To show what happens when strong writing is deprived of its vigor, George Orwell once took a passagefrom the Bible and drained it of its blood. On the left,below, is Orwell's translation; on the right, the verse'from Ecclesiastes (King James Version).

Objective considerationof contemporary phenomena compels the conclusionthat success or failure incompetitive activities exhibits no tendency to becommensurate with innatecapacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitablybe taken into account.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the raceis not to the swift, nor thebattle to the strong, neitheryet bread to the wise, noryet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor tomen of skill; but time andchance happeneth to themall.

17. Omit needless words.Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should con

tain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessarysentences, for the same reason that a drawing shouldhave no unnecessary lines and' a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all hissentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat hissubjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Many expressions in common use violate this principle.

~4] THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

my arrival

I was unaware that (didnot, know)

his failure

since (because)though (although)remind you (notify you)

whether (the questionwhether)

no doubt (doubtless)

the question as towhether

there is no doubt butthat

used for fuel purposes used for fuelhe is a man who hein a hasty manner hastilythis is a subject that this subjectHis story is a strangeone. His story is strange.the reason why is that because

An expression that is especially debilitating is the factthat. It should be revised out of every sentence in whichit occurs.

owing to the fact thatin spite of the fact thatcall your attention to the

fact thatI was unaware of the fact

thatthe fact that he had not

succeededthe fact that I had ar

rived

See also the words case, character, nature in ChapterIV.

Who is, which was, and the like are often super.fluous,

His brother, who is a His brother, a member ofmember of the same firm the same finn

Trafalgar, which was Trafalgar, Nelson's lastNelson's last battle battle

As a positive statement is more concise than a negative one, and the active voice more concise than thepassive, many of the examples given under Rules 14and 15 illustrate this rule as well.

A common way to fall into wordiness is to present a


single complex idea, step by step, in a series of sentences that might to advantage be combined into one.

Macbeth was very ambi- Encouraged by his wife,tious. This led him to wish Macbeth achieved his amto become kingof Scotland. bition and realized the preThe witches told him that diction of the witches bythis wish of his would come murdering Duncan and betrue. The king of Scotland coming king of Scotland inat this time was Duncan. his place. (%6 words)Encouraged by his wife,Macbeth murdered Duncan.He was thus enabled to suc-ceed Duncan as king. (51words)

18. Avoid a succession of loose sentences.This rule refers especially to loose sentences of a par

ticular type: those consisting of two clauses, the secondintroduced by a conjunction or relative. A writer mayerr by making his sentences too compact and periodic.An occasional loose sentence prevents the style frombecoming too fonnal and gives the reader a certainrelief. Consequently, loose sentences are common ineasy, unstudied writing. The danger is that there maybe too many of them. .

An unskilled writer will sometimes construct a wholeparagraph of sentences of this kind; using as connectivesand, but, and, less frequently, who, which, when,where, and while, these last in nonrestrictive senses.(See Rule 3.)

The third concert of the subscription series was givenlast evening, and a large audience was in attendance. Mr.Edward Appleton was the soloist, .and the Boston Symphony Orchestra furnished the instrumental music. Theformer. showed himself to be an artist of the first rank,while the latter proved itself .fully deserving of its highreputation. The interest aroused by the series bas beenvery. gratifying ,to the Committee, and it is planned togive a similar series annually hereafter. The fourth concertWIll be given on Tuesday, May 10, when an equally attractive program will be presented.


Apart from.its triteness and emptiness, the paragraphabove is bad because of the structure of its sentences,with their mechanical symmetry and singsong. Comparethese sentences from the chapter "What I Believe" inE.·M. Forster's Two Cheers for Democracy: \

I believe in aristocracy, though-if that is the rightword, and. if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy ofpower, based upon rank and influence, put an aristocracyof the sensitive, the considerate and the-plucky. Its members are to be found in all nations and classes, and allthrough the ages, and there is a secret understanding between them when they meet. They represent -the truehuman tradition, the one permanent victory of our queerrace over cruelty and chaos. Thousands of them perish inobscurity, a few are great names. They are sensitive forothers as well as for themselves, they are considerate without being fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but thepower to endure, and they can take a joke.*If the writer finds that he has written a series of loose

sentences, he should recast enough of them to removethe monotony, replacing them by simple sentences, bysentences of two clauses joined by a semicolon, by periodic sentences of two clauses, by sentences (loose orperiodic) of three clauses-whichever best represent thereal relations of the thought.

19. Express coordinate ideas in similar form.This principle, that of parallel construction, requires

that expressions similar in content and function be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the readerto recognize more readily the likeness of content andfunction. The familiar Beatitudes exemplify the virtueof parallel construction.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdomof heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted..

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

• ' From Two Cheers for Democracy, copyright, 195I, by E. M.Forster. Published by Harcourt, Brace and Company. Inc.


Blessed are they -whic~ do hunger and thirst afterrighteousness: for they shall be filled.

The unskillful writer often violates this principle,from a mistaken belief that he should constantly varythe form of his expressions. When repeating a state- I

ment to emphasize it, the writer may need to vary itsform. But apart from this he should follow the principleof parallel construction.

Formerly, science was Formerly, science wastaught by . the textbook taught by the textbookmethod, while now the lab- method; now it is taught byoratory method is employed. the laboratory method.

The left-hand version gives the impression that thewriter is undecided or timid; he seems unable or afraidto 'choose one form of expression and hold to it. Theright-hand version shows that the writer has at leastmade his choice and abided by it. .

By this principle, an article or a preposition applyingto all the members of a series must either be used onlybefore the first term or else be repeated before eachterm.

the French, the Italians,Spanish, and Portuguese

the French, the Italians,the Spanish, and the Portuguese

in spring, summer, or in in spring, summer, orwinter winter (in spring, in sum

mer, or in winter)

Somewords require a particular preposition in certainidiomatic uses. When such words are joined in a compound construction, all the appropriate prepositionsmust be included, unless they are the same.

His speech was marked His speech was markedby disagreement and scorn by disagreement with andfor his opponent's position. scorn for his opponent's

position.

Correlative· expressions (both, and; not, but; notonly, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and thelike) should be followed by the same grammatical con-

The ceremony was bothlong and tedious.

A time not for wordsbutfor action.

You must either grant hisrequest or incur his ill will.

28]. THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

struction. Many violations of this rule can be correctedby rearranging the sentence.

It was both a long ceremony and very tedious.

A time not for words butaction.

Either you must granthis request or incur his illwill.

My objections are, first, My objections are, first,the injustice of the meas- that the measure is unjust;ure: second, that it is un- second, that it is unconsti-constitutional. tutional.

I t maybe asked; what if a writer needs to express arather large number of similar ideas-say, twenty? Musthe write twenty consecutive sentences of the same pat-

~ tern? On closer examination he will probably find thatthe difficulty is imaginary-that his twenty ideas can beclassified in groups, and that he need apply the principle only within each group. Otherwise he had bestavoid the difficulty by putting his statements in theform of a table.

20. Keep related words together.The position of the words in a sentence is the princi

pal means of showing their relationship. Confusion andambiguity result when words are badly placed. Thewriter must, therefore, bring together the words andgroups of words that are related in thought and keep

-apart those that are not so related.

He noticed a large stainin the rug that was right inthe center.

You can call your motherin London and tell her allabout George's taking youout to dinner for just sixtycents.

He noticed a large stainright in the center of themg.

For just sixty cents youcan call your mother inLondon and tell her allabout George's taking youout to dinner.


New York's first com- New York's first com-mercial human-sperm bank mereial human-sperm bankopened Friday with semen' opened Friday when semensamples from 18 men frozen samples were taken from 18in a stainless steel tank. men. The samples were

then frozen and stored in astainless steel tank.

In the left-hand version of the first example, thereader has no way of knowing whether the stain was inthe center of the rug or the rug was in the center of theroom. _In the left-hand version of the second example,the reader may well wonder which cost sixty cents-thephone call or the dinner. In the left-hand version of the ..third example, the reader's heart goes out to those eighteen poor fellows frozen in a steel tank.

The subject of a sentence and the principal verbshould not, as a rule, be separated by a phrase or clausethat can be transferred to the beginning.

Wordsworth, in the fifth -In the fifth book of Thebook of The Excursion, Excursion, Wordsworthgives a minute description gives a minute descriptionof this church. of this church.

A dog, if you fail to dis- Unless disciplined, a dogcipline him, becomes a becomesa household pest.household pest.

Interposing a phrase or a clause, as in the left-hand ex-- amples above, interrupts the flow of the 'main clause.

This interruption, however, is not usually bothersomewhen the flow is checked only by a relative clause or byan expression in apposition. Sometimes, in periodic sentences, the interruption is a deliberate device for creat-ing suspense. (See examples under Rule 22.) -

The relative pronoun should come, in most instances,immediately after its antecedent.

There was a stir i~ the A stir that suggested dis-audience that suggested disapproval swept the audience.approval.

He wrote three articles He published three am-about his adventures in cles in HarfJer', MctgcWntI


Spain, which were published about his adventures inin Harper's Magazine. Spain.

This is a portrait of Ben-' This is a portrait of Ben-jamin Harrison, grandson of jamin Harrison, who beWilliam Henry Harrison, came President in 1889.who became President in He was the grandson of1889. William Henry Harrison.

If the antecedent consists of a group of words, therelative comes at the end of the group, unless thiswould cause ambiguity.

The Superintendent of the Chicago Division, who

No -ambiguity results from the above. But

A proposal to amend the Sherman Act, which has beenvariously judged

leaves the reader wondering whether it is the proposalor the Act that has been variously judged. The relativeclause must be moved forward, to read, "A proposal,which has been variously judged, to amend the Sherman Act...." Similarly

The grandson of William William Henry Ham-Henry Harrison, who son's grandson, Benjamin

Harrison, who

A noun in apposition may come between antecedentand relative, because in such a combination no realambiguity can arise.

The Duke of York, his brother, who was regarded withhostility by the Whigs

Modifiers should come, if possible, next to the wordthey modify. If several expressions modify the sameword, they should be so arranged that no wrong relationis suggested.

All the members werenot present.

He only found two mistakes.

Not all the memberswere present.

He found only two mistakes.


The. chairman said he At a meeting of the com-hoped all members would mittee yesterday, the chairgive generouslyto the Fund man said he hoped all memat a meeting of the com- bers would give generouslymittee yesterday. to the Fund.

Major R. E. Joyce will On Tuesday evening atgive a lecture on Tuesday eight, Major R. E. Joyceevening .in Bailey Hall, to will give a lecture in Baileywhich the public is invited Hall on his experiences inon "My Experiences in Mesopotamia. The publicMesopotamia" at eight P.M. is invited.

Note, in the last left-hand example, how swiftly meaning departs when words are wrongly juxtaposed.

21. In summaries, keep to one tense.In summarizing the action of a drama, the writer

should use the present tense. In summarizing a poem,story, or novel, he should also use the present, thoughhe may use the past if it seems more natural to do so.If the summary is in the present tense, antecedent action should be expressed by the perfect; if in the past,by the past perfect.

Chance prevents Friar Johnfrom delivering Friar Lawrenee's letter to Romeo. Meanwhile, owing to her father'sarbitrary change of the day set for her wedding, Juliet hasbeen compelled to drink the potion on Tuesday night, withthe result that Balthasar informs Romeo of her supposeddeath before Friar Lawrence learns of the nondelivery ofthe letter.

But whichever tense is used in the summary, a pasttense in indirect discourse or in indirect question remains unchanged.

The Friar confesses that it was he who married them. '

-Apart 'from the exceptions noted, whichever tensethe writer chooses he should use throughout. Shiftingfrom one tense to another gives the appearance of uncertainty and irresolution.

In presenting the statements or the thought of someone else, as in summarizing an essay or reporting a


speech, the writer should not overwork such expressionsas "he said," "he stated," "the speaker added," "thespeaker then went on to say," lethe author also thinks."He should indicate ,clearly at the outset, once for all,that what follows is summary, and then waste no wordsin repeating the notification.

In notebooks, in newspapers, in handbooks of literature, summaries of one kind or another may be indispensable, and for children in primary schools retellinga story in their own words is a useful exercise. But inthe criticism or interpretation of literature the writershould be careful to avoid dropping into summary. Hemay find it necessary to devote one or two sentences toindicating the subject, or the opening situation, of thework he is discussing; he may cite numerous details toillustrate its qualities. But he should aim at writing anorderly discussion supported by evidence, not a summary with occasional comment. Similarly, if the scopeof his discussion includes a number of works, he will asa rule do better not to take them up singly in chronological order but to aim from the beginning at establishing general conclusions.

~2. Place the emphatic words of a sentence atthe end.

The proper place in the sentence for the word orgroup of words that the writer desires to make mostprominent is usually the end.

Humanity has hardly ad- Since that time, human-vanced in fortitude since ity has advanced in manythat time, though it has ad- ways, but it has hardly advanced in many other ways. vanced in fortitude.

This steel is principally Because of its hardness,used for making razors, be- this steel is used principallycause of its hardness. for making razors.

The word or group of words entitled to this position ofprominence is usually the logical predicate--that is, thenew element in the sentence, as it is in the second example.

PRIN-CIPLES OF COMPOSITION [33

The effectiveness of the periodic sentence arises fromthe prominence it gives to the main statement.

Four centuries ago, Christopher Columbus, one of theItalian mariners whom the decline-of their own republicshad put at the service of the world and of adventure,seeking for Spain a westward passage to the Indies tooffset the achievement of Portuguese discoverers, lightedon America.

With these hopes and in this belief I would urge you,laying aside all hindrance, thrusting away all private aims,to devote yourself unswervingly and unflinchingly to thevigorous and successful prosecution of this war.

_The other prominent position in the sentence i~ thebeginning. Any element in the sentence other than thesubject becomes emphatic when placed first.

Deceit or treachery he could never forgive.Vast and rude, fretted by the action of nearly three

thousand years, the fragments of this architecture mayoften seem, at first sight, like works of nature.

Home is the sailor.

A subject coming first in its sentence may be ernphatic, but hardly by its position alone. In the sentence

Great kings worshiped at his shrine

the emphasis upon kings arises largely from its meaningand from the context. To receive special emphasis, thesubject of a sentence must take the position of thepredicate.

Through the middle of the valley flowed a windingstream.

The principle that the proper place for what is to bemade most prominent is the end applies equally to thewords of a sentence, to the sentences of a paragraph,and to the- paragraphs of a composition.

IIIA Few Matters of

-Form

__ Colloquilllisms. If you use a colloquialismjor aslang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw atten,tion to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To; do sois to put on airs, as though you were inviting the readerto join you in a select society of those who know better.

. I

Exclamations. Do not attempt to emphasize simplestatements by using a mark of exclamation.

It wasa wonderful showl It was a wonderful show.

The exclamation mark is to be reserved for use aftertrue exclamations or commands.

What a wonderful showlHaIti

Headings. If a manuscript is to be submitted forpublication, leave plenty of space at the top of page 1.

The editor will need this space for his penciled directions to the compositor. Place the heading, or title, atleast a fourth of the way 'down the page. Leave ablank line, or its equivalent in space, after the heading.On succeeding pages, begin near the top, but not sonear as to give a crowded appearance. Omit the periodafter a title or heading. A question mark or an exclamation point may be used if the heading calls for it.

Hyphen. .When two or more words are combinedto form a compound adjective, a hyphen is usually re-

34

A FEW MATTERS OF FORM [35

quired. "He belonged to the leisure class and enjoyedleisure-elass pursuits." "He entered his boat in theround.the.island race."

Do not use a hyphen between words that can betterbe written as one word: water-iowl, waterfowl. Yourcommon sense will aid you in the decision, but a dietionary is more reliable. The steady evolution of thelanguage seems to favor union: two words eventually become one, usually after a period of hyphenation.

bed chamber bed-chamber bedchamberwild life wild-life wildlifebell boy ben-boy bellboy

The hyphen can play tricks on the unwary, as it didin Chattanooga when two newspapers merged-theNewsand the Free Press. Someone introduced a hypheninto the merger, and the paper became The Chattanooga News-Free Press, which sounds as though thepaper were news-free, or devoid of news. Obviously, weask too much of a hyphen when we ask it to cast itsspell over words it does not adjoin.

Margins. Keep right.hand and left.hand marginsroughly the same width. Exception: If a great deal of 'annotating or editing is anticipated, the left-hand. margin should be roomy enough to accommodate this work.

Numerals. Do not spell .out dates or other serialnumbers. Write them in figures or in Roman notation)as may be appropriate.

August 9, 1968 ' Chapter- XII

Rule 3 352d Infantry

Exception: When they occur in dialogue, most datesand numbers are best spelled out.

"I arrived home on August ninth.""In the year 1970, I turned twenty-one.""I shall read Chapter Twelve:'


PdTentheses. A sentence containing an expression inparentheses is punctuated outside the marks of parenthesis exactly as if the parenthetical expression wereabsent. The expression within the marks is punctuatedas if it stood by itself, except that the final stop isomitted unless it is a question mark or an exclamationpoint.

I went to his house yesterday (my third attempt to seehim), but be bad left town.

He declares (and why should we doubt his good faith?)that he is now certain of success.

(When a wholly detached expression or sentence isparenthesized,the final stop comes before the last markof parenthesis.) ,

Quotations. formal quotations cited as documen...tary evidence are introduced by a colon and enclosed inquotation marks.

The United States Coast Pilot has this to say of theplace: "Bracy Cove, 0.5 mile eastward of Bear Island, isexposed to southeast winds, has a rocky and uneven bottom, and is unfit for anchorage."

A quotation grammatically in apposition or the directobject of a verb is preceded by a comma and enclosedin quotation marks.

I am reminded of the advice of-my neighbor, "Neverworry about your heart till it stops beating."

Mark Twain says, "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."

When a quotation is followed. by an attributivephrase, the comma is enclosed within the quotationmarks.

"1 can't attend," she said.

Typographical usage dictates that the comma be insidethe marks, though logically it often seems not to be ...long there.

A FEW MA TTERS OF FORM [37

"The Clerks," "Luke Havergal," and "Richard Cory"are in Robinson's Children of the Night.

When quotations of an entire line, or more, of eitherverse or prose are to be distinguished typographicallyfrom text matter, as are the quotations in this book,begin on a fresh line and indent. Quotation marksshould 'not be used unless they appear in the original,as in dialogue.

Wordsworth's enthusiasm for the French Revolutionwas at first unbounded:

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,But to beyoung wasvery heavenl

Quotations introduced by that are indirect discourseand not enclosed in quotation marks.

Keats declares that beauty is troth, truth beauty.

Proverbial expressions and familiar phrases of literaryorigin 'require no quotation marks.

These are the times that try men's souls.He lives far from the madding crowd.

'Reference,. In scholarly work requiring exact references, abbreviate titles that occur frequently, givingthe full forms in an alphabetical lis! at the end. As ageneral practice, give the references in parentheses or infootnotes, not in the body of the sentence. Omit thewords act, scene, line, book, volume, page, except whenreferring by only one of them. Punctuate as indicatedbclow. .,

in the second scene of in III.ii (Still better, sim-the third act ply insert III.ii in parenthe

ses at the proper, place inthe sentence.)

After the killing of Polonius, Hamlet is placed 'uaderguard (rv.ii. 14).

2 Samuel i:17-27OtheUa n.iii, 264-267, m.iii, 155-161


Syllabictttion. When a word must be divided at theend of a line, consult a dictionary to learn the syllablesbetween which division should be made. The studentwill do well to examine the syllable division in a number of pages of any carefully printed book.

Titles. For the titles of literary works, scholarlyusage prefers italics with capitalized initials. The usageof editors and publishers varies, some using italics withcapitalized initials, others using Roman with capitalized initials and with or without quotation marks. Useitalics (indicated in manuscript by underscoring) except in writing for a periodical that follows a differentpractice. Omit initial Aor The from titles when youplace the possessive before them.

A Tale of Two Cities; Dickens's Tale of Two Cities.

IVWords andExpressions

Commonly Misused

MANY of the words and expressions here listed are notso much bad English as bad style, the commonplaces ofcareless writing. As is illustrated under Feature, theproper correction is likely to be not the replacement. ofone word or set of words by another but the replacement of vague generality by definite statement.

The shape of our language is not rigid; in questionsof usage we have no lawgiver whose word is final. Students whose curiosity is aroused by the interpretationsthat follow, or whose doubts are raised, will wish topursue their investigations further. Books useful in suchpursuits are Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Revised Edition; The Random House College Dictionary;The American Heritage Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage; Webster's New I ntemational Dictionary ofthe English Language, Second Edition; H. W. Fowler'sDictionary of Modern English Usage, Second Edition';Wettch Your Language, by Theodore M. Bernstein; andRoy H. Copperud's American Usage: The Consensus..

Aggravate. Irritate. The first means "to add to" analready troublesome or vexing matter or condition.-Thesecond means "to. vex" or "to annoy" or "to chafe."

All right. Idiomatic in familiar speech as a detachedphrase in the sense "Agreed," or "Go ahead," or"O.K." Properly written as two words-all right.

39


Allude. Do not confuse with elude. You allude toa book; you elude a pursuer. Note, too, that allude isnot synonymous with refer. An allusion is an indirectmention, a reference is a specific one.

Allusion. Easily confused with illusion. The firstmeans "an indirect reference"; the second means Clanunreal image" or "a false impression."

, Alternate. Altematlve. The words are not alwaysinterchangeable as nouns or adjectives. ,The first meansevery other one in a series; the second, one of two pos.sibilities. As the other one of a series of two, analternate may stand for- 'fa ·substitute/'but an oltema...tive, although used in a similar sense, connotes a matterof choice that is never present with alternate.

As the flooded road left them no alternative, they tookthe alternate route.

Among. Between. When more than two things orpersons are involved, among is usually called for: "Themoney was divided among the four players." When,however, more than two are involved but each is considered individually, between is preferred: "an agreement between the six heirs."

And/or. A device, or shortcut, that damages a sentence and often leads to confusion or ambiguity.

First of all, would an First of all, would anhonor system successfully honor 'system reduce the incut down on the amount of cidence of stealing or cheat-stealing and/or cheating? ing or both?

Anticipate. Use expect in the Sense of simple expectation.

I anticipated that she I expected that shewould look older. would look older.

My brother anticipated My brother expected thethe upturn in the market. upturn in the market.

MISUSED WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS [41

In the second example, the word anticipated is ambiguous.. It could mean simply that the brother believed. the .upturn would occur,or it could mean that he acted inadvance of the expected uptum-by buying stock, per-haps. _

Anybody. In .the sense of "any person" not to bewritten as two words. Any body means "any corpse,' or"any human form," or "any group." The role holdsequally for everybody, nobody, and somebody.

Anyone. In the sense of "anybody," written as oneword. Anyone means "any single person" or "anysingle thing."

As good or better than: Expressions of this typeshould be corrected by rearranging the sentences.

My opinion is as good or My opinion is as good asbetter than his. his, or better (if not bet

ter).

As to whether. Whether is sufficient.

As yet. Yet nearly always is as good, if not better.

No agreement has been . No agreement has yetreached as yet. been reached.

The chiefexception is at the beginning of a sentence,where yet means something different.

Yet (or despite everything) he has not succeeded.Asyet .(or so far) he bas not succeeded.

Being. Not appropriate after regard • . • tIS.

He is regarded as being He is regarded .as thethe best dancer in the club. best dancer in the club.

But. Unnecessary after doubt and help.


I have no doubt but thatHe could not help but

see that

I have no doubt thatHe could not help seeing

that

The too-frequent use of but as a conjunction leads tothe fault discussed under Rule 18. A loose sentenceformed with but can usually be converted into a periodic sentence formed with although, as illustratedunder Rule 4.

Particularly awkward is one but closely followinganother, thus making a contrast to a contrast, or a res.ervation to a reservation. This is easily corrected byrearrangement.

America had vast re-1 sources, but she seemed al

most wholly unprepared forwar. But within a year shehad created an army of fourmillion men.

America seemed almostwholly unprepared for war,but she had vast resources.Within a year she had created an army of four million men.

Can. Means "am (is, are) able." Not to be used asa substitute for may.

Case. Often unnecessary.

In many cases, the roomswere poorly ventilated.

It has rarelybeen the casethat any mistake has beenmade.

Many of the rooms werepoorly ventilated.

Few mistakes have beenmade.

Certainly. Used indiscriminately by some speakers,much as others use very, in an attempt to intensify anyand every statement. A mannerism of this kind, bad inspeech, is even worse in writing.

- Character. Often simply redundant, used from amere habit of wordiness,

acts of a hostile character hostile acts


Cldim (~erb). With object-noun, means "lay claimto." May be used with a dependent clause if this senseis clearly intended: 4'He claimed that he was the soleheir." (But even here claimed to be would be better.) ~

Not to be used as a substitute for declare, maintain, orcharge.

He claimed he knewhow. He declared he knewhow.

Clever. Note that the word means one thing whenapplied to men, another when applied to horses. Aclever horse is a good-natured one, not an ingeniousone.

Compare. To compare to is to point out or implyresemblances between objects regarded as essentially ofa different order; to compare with is mainly to point outdifferences between objects- regarded as essentially ofthe same order. Thus, life has been compared to a pilgrimage, to a drama, to a battle; Congress,may be compared with the British Parliament. Paris has been compared to ancient Athens; it may be compared withmodem London.

Comprise. Literally, "embrace": A zoo comprisesmammals, reptiles, and birds (because it "embraces,"or '''includes,'' them). But animals do not comprise(4'embrace~'), a zoo--they constitute a zoo.

Consider. Not followed bv as when it means "be-lieve to be." ., ,

I consider him as compe- I consider him compe-tent. tent.

When considered means "examined" or "discussed," itis followed by as:

The lecturer considered Eisenhower first as soldier andsecond as' administrator.


Contact. As a transitive verb, the word is vagueand self-important. Do not contact anybody; getjntouch with him, or look him up, or phone him, or findhim, or meet him.

cope. An intransitive verb used with with. In formal writing, one doesn't "cope," one "copes with"something or somebody.

I knew she'd cope. (joe- I knew she would copeular) with the situation.

Currently. In the sense of now with a verb in thepresent tense, currently is usually redundant; emphasisis better achieved through a more precise .reference totime.

We are currently reviewing your application.

We are at this momentreviewing your application.

Data. Like strata, phenomena, and media; data is aplural and is best used with a plural verb. The word,however, is slowly gaining acceptance as a singular.

The data is misleading. These data are mislead-ing.

Different than. Here logic supports establishedusage: one thing differs from another, hence, differentfrom. Or, other than, unlike.

Disinterested. Means "impartial:' Do not confuseit with uninterested, which means "not interested in."

Let a disinterested person .judge our dispute. (an impartial person)

This man is obviously uninterested in our dispute.(couldn't care less)

Divided into. Not to be misused for composed of.The line is sometimes difficult to draw; doubtless playsare divided into acts, but poems are composed of stan.

He lost the first game because of carelessness.

She was enthused abouther new car.

She enthused about hernew car.


zas. An apple, halved, is divided into sections, but anapple is composed of seeds, flesh, and skin.

Due to. Loosely used for through, because of, orowing to, in adverbial phrases.

He lost the first gamedue to carelessness.

In correct use synonymous with attributable to: "Theaccident was due to bad weather"; "losses due to preventable fires."

Each and every one. Pitchman's jargon. Avoid, except in dialogue.

It should be a lesson to It should be a lesson toeach and everyone of us. every one of us (to us all).

Eff~ct. As a noun, means "result"; as a verb, means"to bring about," "to accomplish" (not to be confusedwith affect, which means Uto influence").

As a noun, often loosely used in perfunctory writingabout fashions, music, painting, and other arts: "an Oriental effect"; "effects in pale green"; "very delicateeffects"; "subtleeffects": "a charming effect was produced." The writer who has a definite meaning to express will not take refuge in such vagueness.

Enormity. Use only in the sense "monstrous wickedness." Misleading, if not wrong, when used to expressbigness.

Enthuse. An annoying verb growing out of thenoun enthusiasm. Not recommended.

She was enthusiasticabout her new car.

She talked enthusiastically (expressed enthusiasm)about her new car.

Etc. Literally, "and other things"; sometimesloosely used to.mean "and other persons." The phrase

Parents complained bitterly about the fire hazardin the wooden schoolhouse.

He has been appointedwarden of the new prison.

Facility. Why must jails,denly become "facilities"?

Parents complained bitterly about the fire hazardin the wooden facility.

He has been appointedwarden of the new facility.


is equivalent to and the rest, and so forth, and hence isnot to be used if one of these would be insufficientthat is, if the reader would be left in doubt as to anyimportant particulars. Least open to objection wheait represents the last terms of a list already given almostin full, or immaterial words at the end of a quotation.

At the end. of a list 'introduced by such as, for example, or any similar expression, etc. is incorrect. Informal writing, etc. is a misfit. An item importantenough to call for etc. is probably important enough tobe named.

Ji'act.U~ this word only of matter capabl~ ofdirectverification, not of matters of judgment. That a particular event happened on a given date, that lead meltsat a certain temperature are facts. But such conclusionsas that Napoleon was the greatest of modem generalsor that the climate of California is delightful, howeverdefensible they may be, are not properly called facts.

hospitals, schools sud-

Factor. A hackneyed word; the expressions of which.it forms part can usually be replaced by something moredirect and idiomatic.

His superior training was He won the match bythe great factor in his win- being better trained.ning the match.

Air power is becoming an Air power is playing aincreasingly important factor larger and larger part in,de-in deciding battles. ciding battles.

Farther. Further. The two words are commonly in-'terchanged, but there is a distinction worth observing:


farther serves best as a distance word, further as a timeor .quantity word. You chase a ball farther than theother fellow; you pursue a subject further.

Feature. Another hackneyed ~word; like factor, itusually adds nothing to the sentence in which it occurs.

A feature of the enter- (Better use the sametainment especially worthy number of words to tellof mention was the singing what Miss A. sang and howof Miss A. she sang it.)

_ As a verb, in the sense of "offer as a special attraction," to be avoided.

Finalize. A pompous, ambiguous verb. (See Chapter V, Reminder 21.)

Fix. Colloquial in America for arrange, prepare,mend. The usage is well established. But bear in mindthat this verb is from {igere: "to make finn," "to placedefinitely." These are the preferred meanings of theword.

Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful in savinglives. The common word meaning "combustible" isinflammable. But some people are thrown off by the inand think inflammable means "not combustible." Forthis reason, trucks carrying gasoline or ,explosives arenow marked FLAMMA.BLE. Unless you are operating sucha truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

Folk. A collective noun, equivalent to people. Usethe singular form' only. Folks, in the sense of "parents,""family," "those present," is colloquial and too folksyfor formal writing.

Her folks arrived by the Her father and motherafternoon train. arrived by the afternoon

train.

without

He has no sense.

They returnedhaving got any.

48] THE- ELEMENTS OF STYLE

Fortuitous. Limited to what happens by chance.Not to be used for fortunate or lucky.

Get. The colloquial have got for have should not be,used in writing. The preferable form of the participleis got, not gotten.

He has not got anysense.

They returned withouthaving gotten any.

Gratuitous. Means "unearned," or "unwarranted."

'Theinsult seemed gratuitous. (undeserved)

He is a man who. A common type of redundant expression; see Rule 17.

He is a man who is very He is very ambitious.ambitious.

Vermont is a state that Vermont attracts visitorsattracts visitors because of because of its winter sports.its winter sports.

Hopefully. This once-useful adverb meaning "withhope" has been distorted and is now widely. used tomean "I. hope" or "it is to be hoped." Such use is notmerely wrong, it is silly. To say, "Hopefully I'll leaveon the noon plane" is to talk nonsense. Do you meanyou'll leave on the noon plane in a hopeful frame ofmind? Or do yon mean you hope you'll leave on thenoon plane? Whichever you mean;. you haven't. said itclearly. Although the word in its new, free-floating ca..pacity may be pleasurable and even useful to many, itoffends the ear of many others, who do not like to seewords dulled or eroded, particularly when the erosionleads to ambiguity, softness, or nonsense.

However. Avoid starting a sentence with howeverwhen the meaning is "nevertheless." The word usuallyserves better when not in first position..

MISUSED WORDS A'ND EXPRESSIONS' [49

The roads were almost The roads were almostimpassable. However, we at impassable. At· last, howlast succeeded in reaching ever, we succeeded in reach-camp. ing camp.

When however comes first, it means "in whateverway" or "to whatever extent."

However you advise him, he will probably do as hethinks best.

However discouraging the prospect, he never lost heart.

Illusion. See allusion.

Imply. Infer. Not interchangeable. Something implied is something suggested or indicated, though notexpressed. Something inferred is something deducedfrom evidence at hand.

Farming implies early rising.Since he was a farmer, we inferred that he got up early.

Importantl», Avoid by rephrasing.

More importantly, he What's more, he paid forpaid for the damages. the damages.

With the breeze freshen- With the breeze freshen-ing, he altered course to pass ing, Qealtered course to passinside the-island. More im- inside the island. More importantly, as things turned portant, as things turnedout, he tucked in a reef. out, he tucked in a reef.

In regard to. Often wrongly written in regards to.But as regards is correct, and means the same thing.

In the last analysis. A bankrupt expression.

Inside of. Inside. The of following inside is correctin the adverbial meaning "in less than." In other meanings ofis unnecessary.

Inside of five minutes 111 be inside the bank.


Insightful. The word is a suspicious overstatementfor "perceptive." If it is to be used at all, it shouldbe used for instances of remarkably penetrating vision.Usually, it crC?ps up merely to inflate the commonplace.

That was an insightful That was a perceptive re-remark you made. mark you made.

In, terms of. A piece of padding usually best omitr ,

ted.

The job was unattractivein terms of salary.

The salary made thejob unattractive.

(Tell the story withoutpreamble.)

Mr. B., who will soonvisit America

Interesting. .An nnconvincingword; avoid it as ameans of introduction. Instead of announcing that whatyou are about to tell is interesting, make it so.

An interesting story istold of

In connection with theforthcomingvisit of Mr. B.to America, it is interestingto recall that he

Also to be avoided in introduction is the word funny.Nothing becomes funny by being labeled so.

'"egaTdless. Should be regardless. The error resultsfrom failure to see the negative in -less and from a desire to get it in as a prefix, suggested by such words asirregular, irresponsible, and, perhaps especially, irre-·spective.

-ize. Do not coin verbs by adding this temptingsuffix. Many good and useful verbs do end in -ize:summarize, temporize, fraternize, harmonize, fertilize.But there is a growing list of abominations: containerize, customize, prioritize, finalize, to name four. Besuspicious of -ize; let your ear and your eye guide you.Never tack ...ize onto a noun to create a verb. Usuallyyou will discover that a useful verb already exists. Why

,_MISUSED WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS [51

say "moisturize" when there is the simple, unpretentious word moisten?

Kind of. Except in familiar style, not to be used asa substitute for rather or something like. Restrict it toits literal sense: "Amber is a kind of fossil resin"; "Idislike that kind of publicity." The same holds true ofsort of.

La», A transitive verb. Except in slang (Hl.£t itlay"), do not misuse it for the intransitive verb lie. Thehen, or the play, lays an egg; the llama lies down. Theplaywright went home and lay down.

lie; lay; lain; lyinglay; laid; laid; laying

Leave. Not to be misused for let.

Leave it stand the way itis

Leave go of that rope!

Let it stand the way it is.

Let go of that ropel

Less. Should not be misused for fewer.

He bad less men than inthe previous campaign.

He had fewer men thanin the previous campaign.

Less refers to quantity, fewer to number. "His troubles are less than mine" means "His troubles are not so

. great as mine." "His troubles are fewer than mine"means "His troubles are not so numerous as mine."

Like. Not to be used for the conjunction as. Likegoverns nouns and pronouns; before phrases and clausestoe equivalent word is as.

We spent the eveninglike in the old days.

Chloe smells good, like apretty girl should.

We spent the evening asin the old days.,

Chloe smells good, as apretty girl should.


The use of like for as has its defenders; they argue thatany usage that achieves currency becomes valid automatically. This, they say, is the way the language isformed. It is and it isn't. An expression sometimesmerely enjoys a vogue, much as an article of appareldoes. Like has long been widely misused by the illiterate; lately it has been taken up by the knowing and thewell-informed, who find it catchy, or liberating, andwho use it as though they were slumming. If every wordor device that achieved currency were immediately authenticated, simply on the ground of popularity, thelanguage would be as chaotic as a ball game. with nofoul lines. For the student, perhaps the most usefulthing to know about like is that most carefully editedpublications regard its use before phrases and clauses assimple error.

Line. Along these lines. Line in the sense of"course of procedure, conduct, thought" is allowable,but has been so overworked, particularly in the phrasealong these lines, that a writer who aims at freshness ororiginality had better discard it entirely.

Mr. B. also spoke alongthe same lines.

He is studying along theline of French literature.

Mr. B. also spoke to thesame effect.

He is studying French literature.

Literal. Literally. Often incorrectly used in supportof exaggeration or violent metaphor.

a literal flood of abuseliterally dead with fatigue

a flood of abusealmost dead with fatigue

(dead tired)

Loan. A noun. As a verb, prefer lend.

Lend me your ears.the loan of your ears


Meaningful. A bankrupt adjective. Choose another,or rephrase. '

His was a meaningful His contribution countedcontribution. heavily.

We are instituting many We are improving themeaningful changes in ,the curriculum in many ways.curriculum.

Memento. Often incorrectly written momento.

Most. Not to be used for almost in formal compo-sition. .

most everybodymost all the time

almost everybodyalmost all the time

Nature. Often simply redundant, used like char.acter.

acts of a hostile nature hostile acts

Nature should be avoided in such vague expressionsas "a lover of nature," "poems about nature." Unlessmore specific statements follow, the reader cannot tellwhether the poems have to do with natural scenery,rural life, the sunset, the untracked wilderness, or thehabits of squirrels.

Nauseous. Nauseated. The first means "sickeningto contemplate"; the second means "sick at the stomach." Do not, therefore, say "I feel nauseous," unlessyou are sure you have that effect on others.

Nice. A shaggy, all-purpose word, to be used sparingly in formal composition. "I had a nice time." "Itwas nice weather." "She was so nice to her mother."The meanings are indistinct. Nice is most useful in thesense of "precise" or "delicate": "a nice distinction."

Nor. Often used wrongly for or after negativeexpressions.


He cannot eat nor sleep. He cannot eat or sleep.He can neither eat nor

sleep.He cannot eat nor can

he sleep.

Noun used as verb. Many nouns have lately beenpressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but all aresuspect.

Be prepared for kisseswhen you gift your girl withthis merry scent.

The candidate hosted adinner for fifty of his workers.

The meeting was chairedby Mr. Oglethorpe

He headquarters in Newark.

She debuted last fall.

Be prepared for kisseswhen you give your girl thismerry scent.

The candidate gave adinner for fifty of his workers.

Mr. Oglethorp was chairman of the meeting.

He has headquarters inNewark.

She made her debut lastfall.

Offputting. Ongoing. Newfound adjectives, to beavoided because they are inexact and clumsy. Ongoingis a mix of "continuing" and "active" and is usuallysuperfluous.

She devoted all her sparetime to the ongoing program for aid to the elderly.

She devoted all her sparetime to the program for aidto the elderly.

Offputting might mean "objectionable," "disconcerting," "distasteful." Select instead a word whosemeaning is clear. As a simple test, transform the participles to verbs. It is possible to upset something. Butto offput? To ongo?

One. In the sense of "a person," not to be followedby his.

One must watch his step.

MISUSE!? WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS [55

One must watch one'sstep. (You must watch yourstep.) -

One of the most. Avoid this feeble formula. "Oneof the most exciting developments of modem scienceis . . ."; "Switzerland is one of the most beautifulcountries of Europe." There is nothing wrong with thegrammar; the formula is simply threadbare.

-oriented. A clumsy, pretentious device, much invogue. Find a better way of indicating orientation oralignment or direction.

His was a manufacturingoriented company.

Many of the skits are situation-oriented.

His was a company chieflyconcerned with manufacturing.

Many of the skits rely onsituation.

Partially. Not always interchangeable with partly.Best used in the sense of "to a certain degree," whenspeaking of a condition or state: "I'm partially resignedto it." Partly carries the idea of a part as distinct fromthe whole-usually a physical object. .

The log was partially sub- The log was partly sub-merged. merged.

He was partially in and He was partly in andpartially out. partly out.

He was part in, part out.

Pttrticiple for verbal noun.

There was little prospectof the Senate accepting eventhis compromise.

There was little prospectof the Senate's acceptingeven this compromise.

In the left-hand column, accepting is a present participle; in the right-hand column, it is a verbal noun(gerund}; The construction shown in the left-handcolumn is occasionally found, and has its defenders.


Yet it is easy to see that the second sentence has to donot with a prospect of the Senate but with a prospectof accepting.

Any sentence in which the use of the possessive isawkward or impossible should of course be recast.

In the event of a recon- If it should become nee-sideration of the whole mat- essary to reconsider thetel's becoming necessary whole matter

There was great dissatis- There was great dissatis..faction with the decision of faction with the arbitrators'the arbitrators being favor- decision in favor of theable to the company. company.

People. A word with many meanings. (The American Heritage Dictionary gives ten.) The people is a political term, not to be confused with the public. Fromthe people comes political support or opposition; fromthe public comes artistic appreciation or commercialpatronage.

The word people is best not used with words of num..ber, in place of persons. If of "six people" five wentaway, how many people would be left? Answer: onepeople.

Personalize. A pretentious word, often carrying badadvice. Do not personalize your prose; simply make itgood and keep it clean. See Chapter V, Reminder 1.

a highly personalized af- a highly personalaffairfair

Personalize your station- Get up a letterhead.ery.

Personally. Often unnecessary.

Personally, I thought it I thought it a good book.was a good book.

Possess. Often used because to the writer it soundsmore impressive than have or own. Such usage is notincorrect but is to be guarded against.


He- possessed great courage.

He was the fortunate possessor of

He had great courage(was very brave).

He was lucky enough toown

These words may usually

Presently. Has two meanings: "in a short while"and "currently." Because of this ambiguity it is best restricted to the first meaning: "He'll be here presently"(41soon," or "in a short time").

Prestigious. Often an adjective of last resort. It's inthe dictionary, but that doesn't mean you have to use it.

Refer. See allude.

Regretiul.. Sometimes carelessly used for regrettable:"The mixup was due to a regretful breakdown in communications."

Relate. Not to be used- intransitively to suggestrapport.

I relate well to Janet. Janet and I see things thesame way.

Janet and I have a lot incommon.

Respective. Respectively.be omitted with advantage.

Works of fiction are Works of fiction arelisted under the names of listed under the names oftheir respective authors. - their authors. -

The mile ron and the The mile run was won bytwo-mile run were won by Jones, the two-mile ron byJones and Cummings re- Cummings.spectively.

Secondly, thirdly, etc. Unless you are prepared tobegin with firstly and defend it (which willbe difficult) ,do not prettify numbers with -lYe Modem usage preferssecond, third, and so on.


ShtJU. Will. In formal writing, the future tenserequires shall for the first person, will for the second andthird. The formula to express the speaker's belief re-~

garding his future action or state is I shall; I wiU expresses his determination or his consent. A swimmerin distress cries, eel shall drown; no one will save mel"A suicide puts it the other way: eel will drown; no oneshall save me!" In relaxed speech, however, the wordsshall and will are seldom used precisely; our ear guidesus or fails to guide us, as the case may be, and we arequite likely to drown when we want to survive andsurvive when we want to drown.

So. Avoid, in writing, the use of so as an intensifier:"so good"; "so warm"; 44S0 delightful."

Sort of. See kind of.

Split infinitive. There is precedent from the fourteenth century down for interposing an adverb betweento and the infinitive it governs, but the constructionshould be avoided unless the writer wishes to place unusual stress on the adverb.

to diligently inquire to inquire diligently

For another side to the split infinitive, see Chapter V,Reminder 14.

State, Not to be used as a mere substitute for say,remark. Restrict it to the sense of "express fully orclearly": "He refused to state his objections."

Student body. Nine times out of ten a needless andawkward expression, meaning no more than the simpleword students.

a member of the studentbody

popular with the studentbody

a student

liked by the students

I'm probablycloser to mymother than my father is;

It looked more like a cormorant than like a heron.

It looked more like a cormorant than a heron.

MISUSED WORDS AND EXPR.ESSIONS [59

Than. Any sentence with than (to express COIDparison) should be examined to make sure no essentialwords are missing.

I'm probablycloserto my I'm probablycloser to mymother than my father. mother than to my father.(Ambiguous.)

Thanking you in advance. This sounds as if thewriter meant, "It will not be worth my while to writeto you again." In making your request, write, "Willyou please," or "I shall be obliged." Then, later, if youfeel moved to do so, or if the circumstances call for it,write a letter of acknowledgment.

That. Which. That is the' defining, or restrictivepronoun, which the nondefining, or nonrestrictive. SeeRule 3.

The lawn mower that is broken is in the garage. (Tells. which one) .

The lawn mower, which is broken, is in the garage.(Adds a fact about the only mower in question)

The use of which for that is common in written andspoken language ("Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,and see this thing which is come to pass.") Occasionallywhich seems preferable to that, as in the sentence from.the Bible. But it would be a convenience to all if thesetwo proriouns were used with precision. The carefulwriter, watchful for small conveniences, goes which.hunting, removes the defining whiches, and by so doingimproves his work.

The foreseeable future. ~ cliche, and a fuzzy one.How much of the future is foreseeable? Ten minutes?Ten years? Any of it? By whom is it foreseeable? Seers?Experts? Everybody?


The truth is. . . . The fact is. . . . A bad beginning for a sentence. If you feel you are possessed of thetruth, or of the fact, simply state it. Donat give it advance billing.

They. Not to be used when the antecedent is a distributive expression such as each, each one, everybody,every one, many a man. Use the singular pronoun.

Every one of us knowsthey are fallible.

Everyone in the community, whether they are amember of the Associationor not, is invited to attend.

Every one of us knows heis fallible.'

Everyone in the community, whether he is a member of the Association ornot, is invited to attend.

A similar fault is the use of the plural pronoun withthe antecedent anybody, anyone, somebody, someone,the intention being either to avoid the awkward "he orshe" or to avoid committing oneself to one or the other.Some bashful speakers even say, "A friend of mine toldme that they. . . ."

The use of he as pronoun for nouns embracing bothgenders is a simple, practical convention rooted in thebeginnings of the English language. He has lost all suggestion of maleness in .these circumstances. The wordwas unquestionably biased to begin with (the dominantmale), but after hundreds of years it has become seemingly indispensable. It has no pejorative connotations;it is never incorrect. Substituting he or she in its placeis the logical thing to do if it works. But it often doesn'twork, if only because repetition makes it sound boringor silly. Consider the following unexceptional sentencesfrom 'The Summing Up, by W. Somerset Maugham:

Another cause of obscurity is that the writer is himselfnot quite sure of his meaning. He has a vague impressionof what he wants to say, but has not, either from lack ofmental power or from laziness, exactly formulated it in hismind, and it is natural enough that he should not find aprecise expression for a confused idea.


Rewritten. to affirm equality of the sexes, the samestatement verges on nonsense:

Another cause of obscurity is that the writer is herselfor himself not quite sure of her or his meaning. He or shehas a vague impression of what he or she wants to say, buthas not, either from lack of mental power or from laziness,exactly formulated it in her or his mind, and it is naturalenough that he or she should not find a precise expression .for a confused idea.

No one need fear to use -he if common sense supports it. The furor recently raised about he would bemore impressive if there were a handy substitute forthe word. Unfortunately, there isn't-c-or, at least, noone .has come up with one yet. If you think she is ahandy substitute for he, try it and see what happens.Alternatively, put all controversial nOl;lns in the pluraland avoid the choice of sex altogether, and you mayfind your prose sounding general and diffuse as a result.

This. The pronoun this, referring to the completesense of a preceding sentence or clause, can't alwayscarry the load and so may produce an imprecise statement.

Visiting dignitarieswatched yesterday as groundwas broken for the newhigh-energy physics laboratory with a blowout safetywall. This is the first visibleevidence of the university'splans for modernization andexpansion.

Visiting dignitarieswatched yesterday as groundwas broken for the newhigh-energy physics labora,tory with a blowout safetywall. The ceremory affordedthe first visible evidence ofthe university's plans formodernization and expansion.

In the left-hand example above, this does not immediately make clear what the first visible evidence is.

Thrust. This showy noun, suggestive of power, hint..ing of sex, is the darling of executives, 'politicos, andspeech-writers, Use it sparingly. Save it for specific application.


Our reorganization planhas a tremendous thrust.

The thrust of his letterwas that he was workingmore hours than he'd bargained for.

The piston has' a five-inchthrust.

The point he made in hisletter was that he was working more hours than he'dbargained for.

Tortuous. Torturous. A winding road is tortuous, apainful ordeal is torturous. Both words carry the ideaof "twist," the twist having been a form of torture.

Transpire. Not to be used in the sense of "happen,""come to pass." Many writers so use it (usually whengroping toward imagined elegance), but their usagefinds little support in the Latin "breathe across orthrough." It is correct, however, in the sense of "become known." "Eventually, the grim account of hisvillainy transpired" (literally, "leaked through or out") .

Try. Takes the infinitive: "try tomend it," not "tryand mend it." Students of the language will argue thattry and has won through and become idiom. Indeed ithas, and it is relaxed and acceptable. But try to is precise, and when you are writing formal prose, try andwrite try to.

Type. Not a- synonym for kind of. The examplesbelow are common vulgarisms.

that type employeeI dislike that type pub

licity.small, home-type hotelsa new type plane

that kind of employee'I dislike that kind of pub

licity.small, homelike hotelsa plane of a new design

(new kind)

Unique. Means "without like or equal." Hence,there can be no degrees of uniqueness.

It was the most unique It was a unique eggegg beater on the market. beater.


The .balancing act was - The balancing' act wasvery unique. unique.

Of all the spiders, the Among spiders, the oneone that lives in a bubble that lives in a bubble UDunder water is the most der waterfs unique.unique.

Utilize. Prefer use.

I utilized the facilities.She utilized the dish

washer.

I used the toilet.She used the dishwasher.

VerbtJl. Sometimes means "word for word" and inthis sense may refer to something expressed in writing.Oral (from Latin AS, "mouth") limits the meaning towhatis transmitted by speech. Oral agreement is moreprecise than verbal agreement. ,

Very. Use this word sparingly. Where emphasis isnecessary, use words strong in themselves.

WhUe. Avoid the indiscriminate use of this wordfor and, but, and although. Many writers use it frequently as a substitute for and or but, either from amere desire to vary the connective or from doubt aboutwhich of the two connectives is, the more appropriate.In this use it is best replaced by a semicolon.

The office and salesrooms The office .and salesroomsare on the ground tloor, are on the ground HOOf; thewhile the rest of the build- rest of the building is useding is used for manufactur- for manufacturing.ing,

Its use as a virtual equivalent of although is allowablein sentences where this leads to no ambiguity or absurdity.

While I admire his energy, I wish it were employed ina better cause.

This is entirely correct, as is shown bythe paraphrase


I admire his energy; at the same time, I wish it wereemployed in a better cause.

Compare:

While the temperature reaches 90 or 95 degrees in thedaytime, the nights are often chilly.

The paraphrase shows why the use of while is incorrect:

The temperature reaches 90 or 95 degrees in the daytime; at the same time the nights are often chilly.

In general, the writer will do well to use while onlywith strict literalness, in the sense of "during the timethat."

-wise. Not to be used indiscriminately as a pseudosuffix: taxwise, pricewise, matriagewise, prosewise, saltwater taffywise. Chiefly useful when it means "in themanner of": clockwise. There is not a noun in thelanguage to which -wise cannot be added if the spiritmoves one to add it. The sober writer will abstain fromthe use of this wild additive.

,,",orth while. Overworked as a term of vague approval and (with not) of disapproval. Strictly applicableonly to actions: "Is it worth while to telegraph?"

His books are not worth His books are not worthwhile. reading (are not worth one's

while to read; do not repayreading) .

The adjective worthwhile (one word) is acceptable butemaciated. Use a stronger word.

a worthwhile project a promising (useful, valu-able,_ exciting) project

Would. Commonly used to express habitual or repeated action. ("He would get up early and prepare hisown breakfast before he went to work.") But when theidea of habit or repetition is expressed, in such phrasesas once a year, every day, each Sunday, the past tense,

Once a year he visitedthe old mansion.

MISUSED WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS [6;

without would, is usually sufficient, and, from its brevity, more emphatic.

Once a year he wouldvisit the old mansion.

In narrative writing, always indicate the transition fromthe general to the particular-that is, from sentencesthat merely state a general habit to those that expressthe action of a specificday or period. Failure to indicatethe change will cause confusion.

Townsend would get up early and prepare his ownbreakfast. If the day was cold, he filled the stove and hada warm fire burning before he left the house. On his wayout to the garage, he noticed that there were footprints inthe new-fallen snow on the porch.

The reader is lost, having received no signal that Town.send has changed from a mere man of habit to a manwho has seen a particular thing on a particular day.

Townsend would getup early and prepare his ownbreakfast. If the day was cold, he filled the stove and hada warm fire burning before he left the house. One morning in January, on his way out to the garage, he noticedfootprints in the new-fallen snow on the porch.

vAn Approach to Style

(With a List of Reminders)

Up TO this point, the book has been Concerned withwhat is correct, or acceptable, in the use of English. Inthis final chapter, we approach style in its broader meaning: style in the sense of what is distinguished and distinguishing. Here we leave solid ground. Who canconfidently say what ignites a certain combination ofwords, causing them to explode in the mind? Whoknows why certain notes in music are capable of stirringthe Iistener deeply, though the same notes slightly rearranged are impotent? These are high mysteries, andthis chapter is a mystery story, thinly disguised. Thereis no satisfactory explanation of style, no infallible guideto good writing, no assurance that a person who thinksclearly will be able to write clearly, no key that unlocksthe door, no inflexible rule by which the young writermay shape his course. He will often find himself steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion .

.The preceding chapters contain instructions drawnfrom established English usage; this one contains advicedrawn from a writer's experience of writing. Since the'book is a rule book, these cautionary remarks, thesesubtly dangerous hints, are presented in the form ofrules, but they are, in essence, mere gentle reminders:they state what most of us know and at times forget.

Style is an increment in writing. When we speak ofFitzgerald's style, we don't mean his command of therelative pronoun, we mean the sound his words make onpaper. Every writer, by the way he uses the language,

66

AN APPROACH TO STYLE [67

reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities,his bias. This is inevitable as well as enjoyable. All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation-it is the Self escaping into theopen. No writer long remains incognito.

If the student doubts that style is something of amystery, let him try rewriting a familiar sentence andsee what happens. Any much-quoted sentence will do.Suppose we take "These are the times that try men'ssouls." Here we have 'eight short, easy words, forminga simple declarative sentence. The sentence contains noflashy ingredient such as "Damn the torpedoes!" andthe words, as you see, are ordinary. Yet in that arrangementtheyhave shown great durability; the sentence isalmost into its third century. Now .compare a fewvariations:

Times like these try men's souls.How trying it is to live in these timesI

These are trying times for men's souls.Soulwise, these are trying times.

It seems unlikely that Thomas Paine could have madehis sentiment stick if he had couched it in any of theseforms, But why not? No fault of grammar can be detected in them, and in every case the meaningis clear,Each version is correct, and each, for some reason thatwe can't readily put our finger on, is marked for oblivion. We could, of course, talk about "rhythm" and"cadence," but _the talk would be vague and 'unCODvincing.We could declare soulwise to be a silly word,inappropriate to the occasion; but even that won'tdo-it does not answer the main question. Are we evensure BOulwise is silly? If otherwise is a serviceableword,what's the matter with soulwise? '

Here is another sentence, this one by a later Tom. Itis not a famous sentence, although its author (ThomasWolfe) is well known. "Quick are the mouths of earth,and quick the teeth that fed upon this loveliness." Thesentence would'not take a prize for clarity, and rbetori..


cally it is at the opposite pole from "These are thetimes." Try it in a different form, without the inversions:

The mouths of earth are quick, and the teeth that fedupon this loveliness are quick, too.

The author's meaning is still intact, but not his overpowering emotion. What was poetical and sensuous hasbecome prosy and wooden; instead of the secret soundsof beauty, we are left with the simple crunch of mastication. (Whether Mr. Wolfe was guilty of overwriting is,of course, another question-one that is not pertinenthere.)

With some writers, style not only reveals the spirit ofthe man but reveals his identity, as surely as would hisfingerprints. Here, following, are two brief passagesfromthe works of two American novelists. The subject ineach case is languor. In both, the words used are ordinary, and there is nothing eccentric about the construction.

He did not still feel weak, he was merely luxuriatingin that supremely gutful lassitude of convalescence inwhich time, hurry, doing, did not exist, the accumulatingseconds and minutes and hours to which in its well statethe body is slave both waking and sleeping, now reversedand time now the lip-server and mendicant to the body'spleasure instead of the body thrall to time's headlongcourse.

Manuel drank his brandy. He felt sleepy himself. Itwas too hot to go out into the town. Besides there wasnothing to do. He wanted to see Zurito. He would go tosleep while he waited.

Anyone acquainted with Faulkner and Hemingwaywill have recognized them in these passages and perceived which, was which. How different are their Ianguorsl

Or take two American poets, stopping at evening.One stops by woods, the other by laughing flesh.

My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse near


Between the woods and. frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.*

I have perceived that to be with those I like is enough,To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,To be suerounded by beautiful, curious, breathing,

laughing flesh is enough . . .

Because of the characteristic styles, there is littlequestion about identity here, and if the situations werereversed, with Whitman stopping by woods and Frostby laughing flesh (not one of his regularly scheduledstops), the reader would still know who was who.

Young writers often. suppose that style is a garnishfor the meat of prose, a sauce by which a dull dish ismade palatable. Style has no such separate entity; it isnondetachable, unfilterable. The beginner should approach style warily, realizing that it is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turningresolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style-all mannerisms, tricks, adornments. The approach to style is byway of plainness,simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.

Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The mindtravels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wingshots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashesby. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in his blindfor something to come in, sometimes roaming thecountryside hoping to scare something up. Like othergunners, he must cultivate patience; he may have towork many covers to bring down one partridge. Here,following, are some suggestions and cautionary hintsthat may help the beginner find his way to a satisfactorystyle. . .

• From "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" .from ThePoetry of Robert Frost.:edited by Edward Connery Latham. Copyright 1923, ® 1969 by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc.Copyright 1951 by Robert Frost. Reprinted by permission of Holt, Rine-hart, and Winston, Inc., and Jonathan Cape Ltd. .

I.


1. Place yourself in the background.Write in a way that draws the reader's attention to

the sense and substance of the writing, rather than tothe mood and temper of the author. If the writing issolid and good, the mood and temper of the writer willeventually be revealed, and not at the expense of thework. Therefore, the first piece of advice is this: toachieve style, begin by affecting none-that is, placeyourself in the background. A careful and bonest writerdoes not need to worry about style. Ashe becomes pro.ficient in the use of the language, his style will emerge,because he himself will emerge, and when this happenshe will find it increasingly easy to break through thebarriers that separate him from other minds, otherhearts-which is, of course, the purpose of writing, aswell as its principal reward. Fortunately, the act of composition, or creation, disciplines the mind; writing is oneway to go about thinking, and the practice and habit ofwriting not only drain the mind but supply it, too.

2. Write in a way that comes nafuraUy.Write in a way that comes easily and naturally to

you, using words and phrases that come readily to band.But do not assume that because you have acted naturally your product is without flaw.

The use of language begins with imitation. The in.fant imitates the sounds made by its parents; the childimitates first the spoken language, then the stuff ofbooks. The imitative life continues lon~ after the writeris on his own in the language, for it IS almost impossible to avoid imitating what one admires. Never imitateconsciously, but do not worry about being an imitator;take pains instead to admire what is good. Then whenyou write in a way that comes naturally, you will echothe halloos that bear repeating.

3. Wark from a suifdble design.Before beginning to compose something, gauge the

nature and extent of the enterprise and worle from a


suitable design. (See Chapter II~ Rule 12.) Design informs even the simplest structure, whether of brick andsteel or of prose. You raise a pup tent from one sort ofvision, a cathedral from another. This does not meanthat you must sit with a blueprint always in front ofyou, merely that you had best anticipate what you aregetting into. To compose a laundry list, a writer canwork directly from the pile of soiled garments, tickingthem off oneby one. But to write a biography the writerwill need at least a rough scheme; he cannot plunge inblindly and start ticking off fact after fact about hisman, lest he miss the forest for the trees and there beno end to his labors.

Sometimes, of course, impulse and emotion are morecompelling than design. A'deeply troubled person, com-

\ posing a letter appealing for mercy or for love, had best .not attempt to organize his emotions; his prose willhave a better chance if he leaves his emotions in dis-.array-which he'll probably have to do anyway, since"one's feelings do not usually lend themselves to rearrangement. But even the kind of writing that is essentially adventurous and impetuous- will on examination" be found to have a secret plan: Columbus didn'tjust sail, he sailed west, and the New W orId took shapefrom this simple and, we now think, sensible design.

4. Write with nouns and 'Verbs.Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and

adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull aweak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place. This is notto disparage adjectives and adverbs; they are indispensable parts of speech. Occasionally they surprise us withtheir power, as in

Up the airy mountain,Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-huntingFor fear of little men . . .

The nouns mountain and glen are accurate enough, buthad the mountain not become airy, the glen rushy, Wil-

72 ] THE ELEMENTS OF. STYLE

liam Allingham might never have got off the groundwith his poem. In general, however, it is nouns andverbs, not their assistants, that give to good writing itstoughness and color.

5. Revise and rewrite.Revising is part of writing. Few writers are so expert

that they can produce what they are after on the firsttry. Quite often the writer will discover, on examiningthe completed work, that there are serious flaws in thearrangement of the material, calling for transpositions.When this is the case, he can save himself much laborand time by using scissors on his manuscript, cutting itto pieces and fitting the pieces together in a better Ofder. If the work merely needs shortening, a pencil is themost useful tool; but if it needs rearranging, or stirringup, scissors should be brought into play. Do not beafraid to seize whatever you have written and cut it toribbons; it can always be restored to its original condi..tion in the morning, if that course seems best. Re..member, it is no sign of weakness or defeat .that yourmanuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is acommon occurrence in all writing, and among the bestwriters.

6. Do not overwrite.Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally un

wholesome, and sometimes nauseating. If the sickly..sweet word, the overblown phrase are a writer's naturalfonn of expression, as is sometimes the case, he willhave to compensate for it by a show of vigor, and bywriting something as meritorious as the Song of Songs,which is Solomon's.

7. Do not overstate.When you overstate, the reader will be instantly on

guard, and everything that has preceded your overstatement as well as everything that follows it will be suspectin his mind because he has lost confidence in your judg..

AN APPR.OACH TO STYLE [73

ment or your poise. Overstatement is one of the common faults. A single- overstatement, wherever or however it occurs, diminishes the whole, and a singlecarefree superlative has the power to destroy, for thereader, the object of the writer's enthusiasm.

8. Avoid the use of. qualifiers.Rather, very, little, pretty-these are the leeches that

infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words.The constant use of the adjective little (except to indicate size) is particularly debilitating; we should all tryto do a little better, we should all be very watchful ofthis rule, for it is a rather important one and we arepretty sure to violate it now and then.

9. Do not affect a breezy manner."The volume of writing is enormous, these days, and

much of it has a sort of windiness about it, almost asthough the author were in a state of euphoria. "Spon.taneous me," sang Whitman, and, in his innocence, letloose the hordes of uninspired scribblers who would oneday confuse spontaneity with genius.

The breezy style is often the work of an egocentric,the person who imagines that. everything that pops intohis head is of general interest and that uninhibitedprose creates high spirits and carries the day. Open anyalumni magazine, turn to the class notes, and you arequite .likely to encounter old Spontarieous Me at work-an aging collegian who writes something like this:

Well, chums, here I am again with my bagful of dirtabout your disorderly classmates, after spending a helluvaweekend in N'Yawk trying to view the Columbia gamefrom behind two bumbershoots and a glazed cornea. Andspeaking of news, howzahout tossing a few chirce nuggetsmy way?

This is an extreme example, but the same wind blows,at lesser velocities, across .vast expanses of journalisticprose. The author in this case has managed in two sen...tences to commit most of the unpardonable sins: be


obviously has nothing to say, he is showing off anddirecting the attention of the reader to himself, he isusing slang with neither provocation nor ingenuity, headopts a patronizing air by throwing in the word chirce,he is tasteless, humorless (though full of fun), dull, andempty. He has not done his work. Compare his openingremarks with the following-a plunge directly into thenews:

Clyde Crawford, who stroked the varsity shell in 1928,is swinging an oar again after a lapse of forty years. Clyderesigned last spring as executive sales manager of the Indiana Flotex Company and is now a gondolier in Venice.

This, although conventional, is compact, informative,unpretentious. The writer has dug up an item of newsand presented it in a straightforward manner. What thefirst writer tried to accomplish by cutting rhetoricalcapers and by breeziness, the second writer managed toachieve by good reporting, by keeping a tight rein on hismaterial, and by staying out of the act.

10. Use orthodox spelling.In ordinary composition, use orthodox spelling. Do

not write nite for night, _thru for through, pleez forplease, unless you plan to introduce a complete systemof simplified spelling and are prepared to take the COD·sequences.'

In the original edition of The Elements of Style,there was a chapter on spelling. In it, the author hadthis to say:

The spelling of English words is not fixed and invariable, .nor does it depend on any other authority than general agreement. At the present day there is practicallyunanimous agreement as to the spelling of most words.. . . At any given moment, however, a relatively smallnumber of words may be spelled in more than one way.

- Gradually, as arule, one of these forms comes to be generally preferred, and the less customary form comes tolook obsolete and is discarded. From time to time newforms, mostly simplifications, are introduced by innovators, and either win their place or die of neglect.

AN APPROACH TO STYLE bs. The practical objection to unaccepted and oversimplifiedspellings is the disfavor with which they are received bythe readere . They distract his attention and exhaust hispatience. He reads the form though automatically, withoutthought of its needless complexity; he reads the abbreviation tho and mentally supplies the missing letters, at thecost of a fraction of his attention. The writer has defeatedhis own purpose.

The language manages somehow to keep pace withevents. A word that has taken hold in our century isthruway; it was born of necessity and is apparently hereto stay. In combination with way, thru is more serviceable than through; it is a high-speed word for readerswho are going sixty. Throughway wouldbe too long tofit on a road sign, too slow to serve the speeding eye. Itis conceivable that because of our thruways, throughwill eventually become thru-after many more thousands of miles of travel.

11. Do not explain too much.It is seldom advisable to tell all. Be sparing, for in

stance, in the use of adverbs after "he said," "shereplied," and the like: "he said consolingly"; "she replied grumblingly." Let the conversation itself disclosethe speaker's manner or condition. Dialogue heavilyweighted with adverbs after the attributive verb is clutteryand annoying. Inexperienced writers not only overwork their adverbs but load their attributives withexplantory verbs: "he consoled," "she congratulated."They do this, apparently, in the belief that the wordsaid is always in need of support, or because they havebeen told to do it by experts in the art of bad writing.

12. Do not construct awkward adverbs.Adverbsare easy to build. Take an adjective or a par

ticiple, add -ly, and behold! you have an adverb. Butyou'd probably be better off without it. Do not writetangledly. The word itself is a tangle. Do not even writetiredly.Nobody says ta!lgledly and not many people say

overmuchthus

76J THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

tiredly. Words that are not used orally are seldom theones to put on paper.

He climbed tiredly to He climbed wearily tobed. bed.

The lamp cord lay tan- The lamp cord lay in tan-gledly beneath his chair. gles beneath his chair.

Do not dress words up by adding ly to them, as thoughputting a hat on a horse.

overlymuchlythusly

13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.Dialogue is a total loss unless you indicate who the

speaker is. In long dialogue passages containing no attributives, the reader may become lost and be compelledto go back and reread in order to puzzle the thing out.Obscurity is an imposition on the reader, to say nothing

-of its damage to the work.In dialogue, make sure that your attributives do not

awkwardly. interrupt a spoken sentence. Place themwhere the break would come naturally in speech-thatis, where the speaker would pause for emphasis, or takea breath. The best test for locating an attributive is tospeak the sentence aloud. .

"Now, my boy, we shallsee," he said, "how well youhave learned your lesson."

"What's more, theywould never," he added,"consent to the plan."

"Now, my boy," he said,"we shall see how well youhave learned your lesson."

"What's more," headded, "they would neverconsent to the plan."

14. Avoid fancy words.Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the

cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word whenthere is a ten-center handy, ready and able. Anglo-Saxonis a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo-Saxon

AN APPROACH TO STYLJ!: [77

words. In this, as in so many matters pertaining to style,one's ear must be one's guide: gut is a lustier noun thanintestine, but the two words are not interchangeable,because gut is often inappropriate, being too coarse forthe context. Never call a stomach a tummy withoutgood reason.

If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous,every blonde curvaceous, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have a bad time with Reminder 14.What is wrong, you ask, with beauteous? No oneknows, for sure. There is nothing wrong, really, with any'word-c-all are good, but SOme are better than others.A matter of ear, a matter of reading the books thatsharpen the ear.

The line between the fancy and the plain, betweenthe atrocious and the felicitous, is sometimes alarminglyfine. The opening phrase of the Gettysburg address isclose to the line, at least by our standards today, andMr. Lincoln, knowingly or unknowingly, was flirtingwith disaster when he wrote "Four score and seven yearsago." The President could .have got into his sentencewith plain "Eighty-seven"-a saving of two words andless of a strain on the listeners' powers of multiplication.But Lincoln's ear must have told him to go ahead withfour score and seven. By doing so, he achieved cadencewhile skirting the edge of fanciness. Suppose he hadblundered over the line and written, HIn the year ofour Lord seventeen hundred and seventy-six." Hisspeech would have sustained a heavy blow. Or supposehe had settled for "Eighty-seven." In that case'he wouldhave got into his introductory sentence too quickly; thetiming would have been bad.

,The question. of ear is vital. Only the writer whoseear is reliable is in a position to use bad grammar deliberately; only he knows for sure when a colloquialismis better than formal phrasing; only he is able to sustainhis work at the level of good taste. So cock your ear.Years ago, students were warned not to end a sentencewith a preposition; time, of course, has softened thatrigid decree. Not only is the preposition acceptable at


the end, sometimes it is more effective in that spot thananywhere else. "A claw hammer, not an ax, was the toolhe murdered her with." This is preferable to "A clawhammer, not an ax, was the tool with which he murdered her." Why? Because it sounds more violent, morelike murder. A matter of ear.

And would you write "The worst tennis playeraround here is I" or "The worst tennis player aroundhere is me"? The first is good grammar, the second isgood judgment-although the me might not' do in allcontexts.

The split infinitive is another trick of rhetoric inwhich the ear must be quicker than the handbook.Some infinitives seem to improve on being split, just asa stick of round stovewooddoes. "I cannot bring myselfto really like the fellow." The sentence is relaxed, themeaning is clear, the violation is harmless and scarcelyperceptible. Put the other way, the sentence becomesstiff, needlessly formal. A matter of ear.

There are times when the ear not only guides usthrough difficult situations but also saves us from minoror major embarrassments of prose. The ear, for example,must decide when to omit that from a sentence, whento retain it. "He knew he could do it" is preferable to"He knew that he could do it"-simpler and just asclear. But in many cases the that is needed. "He feltthat his big nose, which was sunburned, made him lookridiculous." Omit the that and you have "He felt hisbig nose...."

15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.Do not attempt to use dialect unless you are a de

voted student of the tongue you hope to reproduce. Ifyou use dialect, be consistent. The reader will becomeimpatient or confused if he finds two or more versionsof the same word or expression. In dialect it is necessary to spell phonetically, or at least ingeniously, to capture unusual inflections. Take, for example, the wordonce. It often appears in dialect writing as oncet, butoncet looks as though it should be pronounced "onset."


A better spelling would be wunst. But if you write itoncet once, write it that way throughout. The best dialect writers, by and large, are economical .of their talents, they use the minimum, not the maximum, ofdeviation from the norm, thus sparing the reader as wellas convincing him.

16. Be clear.Clarity is not the prize in writing, nor is it always the

principal mark of a good style. There are occasions 'when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are writers whose mien is moreovercast than clear. But since writing is communication,clarity can only be a virtue. And although there is nosubstitute' for merit in writing, clarity comes closest tobeing one. Even to a writer who is being intentionallyobscure or wild of tongue we can say, "Be obscureclearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understandI"Even to writers of market letters, telling us (but nottelling us) which securities are promising, we can say,"Be cagey plainly! Be elliptical in a straightforwardfashion I"

Clarity, clarity, clarity. When you become hopelessly"mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh; do not tryto fight your way through against the terrible odds ofsyntax. Usually what is wrong is that the constructionhas become too involved at some point; the sentenceneeds to be broken apart and replaced by two or moreshorter sentences. -

Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it isalso a destroyer of life, of hope: death-an the highwaycaused by a badly worded road sign, heartbreak amonglovers caused by a misplaced phrase in a well-intentioned letter, anguish of a traveler expecting to be metat a railroad station and not being met because of aslipshod telegram. Usually we think only of the ludiemus aspect of ambiguity; we enjoy it when the Timestells us that Nelson Rockefeller is "chairman of theMuseum of Modem Art, which he entered in a fireman's raincoat during a recent .fire, and founded the


Museum of Primitive Art." This we all love. But thinkof the tragedies that are rooted in ambiguity; think ofthat side, and be clear! When you say something, makesure you have said it. The chances of your having saidit are only fair.

17. Do not infect opinion.Unless there is a good reason for its being there, do

not inject opinion into a piece of writing. We all haveopinions about almost everything, and the temptationto toss them in is great. To air one's views gratuitously,however, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk,which may not be the case,and which, in any event,may not be relevant to the discussion. Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotismon a work. Similarly, to air one's views at an impropertime may be in bad taste. If you have received a letterinviting you to speak at the dedication of a new cathospital, and you hate cats, your reply, declining the invitation, does not necessarily have to cover the fullrange of your emotions. You must make it clear thatyou will not attend, but you do not have to let fly atcats. The writer of the letter asked a civil question; attack cats, then, only if you can do so with good humor,good taste, and in such a way that your answer will becourteous as well as responsive. Since you are out ofsympathy with cats, you may quite properly give this asa reason for not appearing at the dedicatory ceremoniesof a cat hospital. But bear in mind that your opinion ofcats was not sought, only your services as a speaker. Tryto keep things straight.

18. Use figures of speech sparingly.The simile is a common device and a useful one, but

similes coming in rapid fire, one right on top of another, are more distracting than illuminating. Thereader needs time to catch his breath; he can't be expected to compare everything with something else, andno relief in sight.


When you use metaphor, do not mix it up. That is,don't start by calling something a swordfish and end by.calling it an hourglass.

19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity.Do not use initials for the names of organizations or

movements unless you .are certain the initials will bereadily understood. Write things out. Not everyoneknows that SALT means Strategic Arms LimitationTalks, and even if everyone did, there are babies beingborn every minute who will someday encounter thename for the first time. They deserve to see the words,not simply the initials. A good rule is to start yourarticle by writing out names in full, and then, later,when the reader has got his bearings, to shorten them.

Many shortcuts are self-defeating; they waste thereader's time instead of conserving it. There are all sortsof rhetorical stratagems and devices that attract writerswho hope to be pithy, but most of them are simplybothersome. The longest way round is usually the short.est way home, and the one truly reliable shortcut inwriting is to choose words that are strong and surefooted to carry the reader on his way.

20. Avoid foreign languages.The writer will occasionally find it convenient or nee

essary to borrow from other languages. Some writers,however, from sheer exuberance or a desire to show off,sprinkle their work liberally with foreign expressions,with no regard for the reader's comfort. It is a badhabit. Write in English.

21•. Prefer thestandard to the oflbeat.The young writer will be drawn at every tum toward

eccentricities in language. He will hear the beat of newvocabularies, the exciting rhythms of special segmentsof his society, each speaking a language of its own. Allof us come under the spell of these unsettling drums;the problem for the beginner is to listen to them, learn


the words, feel the vibrations, and not be carried away.Youth invariably speaks to youth in a tongue of his

own devising: he renovates the language with a wildvigor, as he would a basement apartment. By the timethis paragraph sees print, uptight, ripoff, rap, dude,vibes, copout, and funky will be the words of yesteryear,and we will be fielding more recent ones that have comebouncing into our speech-some of them .into our die.tionaryas well. A new word is always up for survival.Many do survive. Others grow stale and disappear. Mostare, at least in their infancy, more appropriate to con..versation than to composition.

Today, the language of advertising enjoys an enormous circulation. With its deliberate infractions ofgrammatical rules and its crossbreeding of the parts ofspeech, it profoundly influences the tongues and pensof children and adults. Your new kitchen range is sorevolutionary it obsoletes all other ranges. Your countertop is beautiful because it is accessorized with gold..plated faucets. Your cigarette tastes good like a cigaretteshould. And, like the man says, you will want to try one.You will ~also, in all probability, want to try writing thatway, using that language. You do so at your peril, for itis the language of mutilation.

Advertisers are quite understandably interested inwhat they call "attention getting." The man photographed must have lost an eye or grown a pink beard, orhe must have three arms or be sitting wrong-end-to ona horse, This technique is proper in its place, which istheworld of selling, but the young writer had best not'adopt the device of mutilation in ordinary composition,whose purpose is to engage, not paralyze, the reader'ssenses. Buy the gold-plated faucets if you will, but donot accessorize your prose. To use the language well,do not begin by hacking it to bits; accept the wholebody of it, cherish its classic form, its variety, and itsrichness.

Another segment of society that has constructed alanguage of its own is business. The businessman saysthat ink erasers are in short supply, that he has updated ~

tIIt

AN APPtOACR TO STYLE [83

the next shipment of these erasers, and that he willfinalize his recommendations at the next meeting of theboard. He is speaking a language that is familiar to himand dear to him. Its portentous nouns and verbs investordinary events with high adventure; the executivewalks among ink erasers, caparisoned like a knight. Weshould tolerate him-every man of spirit wants to ride awhite horse. The only question is whether his vocabulary is helpful to ordinary prose. Usually, thesame ideascan beexpressed less formidably, if one makes the effort.A good many of the special words of business seem designed more to express the user's dreams than to expresshis precise meaning. Not all such words, of course, canbe dismissed summarily; indeed, no word in the language can be, dismissed offhand by anyone who has ahealthy curiosity. Update isn't a bad word; in the rightsetting it is useful. In the wrong setting, though, it isdestructive, and the trouble with adopting coinages tooquickly is that they will bedevil one by insinuatingthemselves where they do not belong. 'This may soundlike rhetorical snobbery, or plain stuffiness; but thewriter will discover, in the course of his work, that thesetting of a word is just as restrictive as the setting of ajewel. The general rule here is to prefer the standard.Finalize, for instance, is not standard; it is special, andit is a peculiarly fuzzy and silly word. Does it mean"terminate," or does it mean "put into final form"?One can't be sure;'really, what it means, and one getsthe impression that the person using it doesn't know,either, and doesn't want to know.

The special vocabularies of the law, of the military,of government are familiar to most of us. Even theworld of criticism has a modest pouch of private words(luminous, taut), whose only virtue is that they are ex,ceptionally nimble and can .escape from the garden ofmeaning over the wall, Of these Critical words, WolcottGibbs once wrote, 4C. • • they are detached from thelanguage and inflated like little balloons." The youngwriter should learn to spot them-words that at firstglance seem' freighted with delicious meaning but


that soon burst in air, leaving nothing but a memory ofbright sound.

The language is perpetually in flux: it is a livingstream, shifting, changing, receiving new strength froma thousand tributaries, losing old forms in the backwaters of time. To suggest that a young writer not swimin the main stream of this turbulence would be foolishindeed, and such is not the intent of these cautionaryremarks. The intent is to suggest that in choosing between the formal and the inforinal, the regular and theoffbeat, the general and the special, the orthodox andthe heretical, the beginner err on the side of conservatism, on the side of established usage. No idiom istaboo, no accent forbidden; there is simply a. betterchance of doing well if the writer holds a steady course,enters the stream of English quietly, and does notthrash. about.

"But," the student may ask, "what if it comes naturalto me to experiment rather than conform? What if Iam a pioneer, or even a genius?" Answer: then be one.But do not forget that what may seem like pioneeringmay be merely evasion, or laziness-the disinclinationto submit to discipline. Writing good standard Englishis no cinch, and before you' have managed it you winhave encountered enough rough country to satisfy eventhe most adventurous spirit.

Style takes its final shapemore from attitudes of mindthan from principles of composition, for, as an elderlypractitioner once remarked, "Writing is an act of faith,not a trick of grammar." This moral observation wouldhave no place in a rule book were it not that style is thewriter, and therefore what a man is, rather than what heknows, will at last determine his style. If one is to write,one must believe-in the truth and worth of the scrawl,in the ability of the reader to receive.and decode themessage. No one can write decently who is distrustful ofthe reader's intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing.

Many references have been made in this book to "the

,AN APPROACH TO STYLE ",[85

reader"-he has been much in the news. It is now neeessary to warn the writer that his concern for the readermust be pure: he must sympathize with the reader'splight (most readers are in trouble about half the time)but never seek to know his wants. The- whole duty of awriter is to please and satisfy himself, and the truewriter always plays to an audience of one. Let him startsniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, andhe is as good as dead, although he may make a nice living.

Full of his beliefs, sustained and elevated by thepower of his purpose, armed with the rules of grammar,the writer is ready for exposure, At this point, he maywell pattern himself on the fully exposed cow of RobertLouis Stevenson's rhyme. This friendly and commendable animal, you may recall, was "blown by all thewinds that pass/And wet with all the showers." And somust the young writer be. In our modern idiom, wewould say that he must get wet all over. Mr. Stevenson,working in a plainer style, said it with felicity, and suddenly one cow, out of so many, .received the gift of immortality. Like the steadfast writer, she is at home inthe wind and the rain; and, thanks to one moment offelicity, she will live on and on and on.

Index

abbreviations, punctuating 3academic degrees, punctuating

3 'accordingly, semicolon used

with 6'active voice 18adverbs, awkard 75-76affect and effect 45aggravate and irritate 39agreement

pronoun agreement withone 54

subject-verb agreement9-10

all right, use of 39JlUingharn, VVilliam 71-72allude and elude 40allude and refer (to) 40allusion and illusion 40almost and most 53along these lines 52alternate and alternative 40among and between 40'and, used too frequently 25and/or, used as a conjunction

40antecedent, position in sen-

tence 29-:30anticipate and expect 40anybody and any body 41anyone and any one 41 .articles, used with series of

terms 27asand like 51-52

as good, or better than 41as regards (see in regard to)

49as to whether 41as well as, subject-verb agree-

ment with 10as yet 41auxiliary verbs, use of 20being, used with regarded as

41besides, semicolon used with

6between and among 40books, identifying titles in a

paper 38both . • . and, used with

parallel construction 27but

used after help or doubt 41used as a conjunction 42used too frequently 25

can and may 42case

objective case used withpresent participle 13

possessive of pronouns,1,11,12

possessive with gerunds 12case (noun), misused 42certainly, misused 42character, misused 42charge and claim 43claim (verb) and declare,

maintain, Charge 43

-87

88] INDEX

clarity in writing 79-80clauses, punctuating 5-8clever, use of 43colloquialisms 34, 77colon, use of 7-8commas

abbreviations 3dates 2-3degrees and titles 3dependent clauses 5e.g. 3etc. 3i.e. 3independent clauses 5-6introductory phrases in a

sentence SJr. 3nonrestrictive clauses 3-4parenthetical expressions 2participial phrases 4relative clauses 3-4restrictive clauses 4restrictive modifiers 3series of terms 2subordinate phrases 5

composedofand divided into44

compound subject, subject-verb agreement 10

comprise 43concrete language ,21-23conditional verbs 20consider and consider as 43contact, used colloquially 44coordinate ideas, expressed in

parallel construction . 26cope and cope with 44correlative expressions (both,

and; not, but; etc.) 27currently 44dashes, use of 9data, used as singular and

plural noun 44dates

methods for writing 3punctuating 2-3

declare and claim 43degrees (titles), punctuating 3dependent clauses, punctuat-

ing S.dialect, writing 78-79dialogue, writing 76different from and different

than 44disinterested and uninterested

44divided into and composed of

44due to 4Se.g., punctuating 3each, subject-verb agreement

with ·10each and everyone 45effect and affect 4Seither, subject-verb agreement

with 10either . . • or, used with

parallel construction 27elude and allude 40emphasis, principle of 32-33enormity 4Senthuse 45etc. misuse of 45-46

punctuating 3everybody, subject-verb agree

mentwith 10everyone, subject-verb agree

ment with 10except, subject-verb agreement

with 10exclamations 34expect and anticipate 40facility 46fact, misused 46(the) fact is • •• 60(the) fact that. •• 24factor, misused 46farther and further 46-47Faulkner, William 22, 68feature 47fewer and less S1

fJgUfes of speech 80-81finalize 47fint, second, used with

parallel construction 27firstly (see secondly) 5'7Fitzgerald, F. Scott 66fix, colloquial use 47flammable and inflammable

47folk and folks 47foreseeable future 59Forster, E. M. 26fortuitous and fortunate 48fragments, sentence 7Frost, Robert 68-69further and farther 46-47gerunds, possessive case used

with 12get, use of 48Gibbs, Wolcott 83gratuitous 48happen and transpire 62he, used to signify both men

and women 60-61he is a man who 48headings (of papers) 34Hemingway, Ernest 68hopefully 48however,.use of 48-49however and nevertheless 48hyphens 34-35Le., punctuat~ 3idiomatic expressions 27illusion and allusion 40imply and infer 49importantly 49

, in addition to, subject-verbagreement with 10

in regard to and in regards to49 .

in terms of soin the last analysis 49In the Zoo (Stafford) 22-23independent clauses, punc-

tuating 5-8

INDEX [89

indirect discourse 37infer and imply 49infinitives 58, 78tnflammable and flammable

47initials 81inside and inside of 49insightful SOinteresting SOinterrupting phrases, in

periodic sentences 29introductory phrases, punc-

tuating 5i"egardless SOirregular possessives 1irritate and aggravate 39it's and its 1-ize suffixes 50Jr., punctuating 3kind of 51

and type 62language, concrete 21-23Illy and lie 51leave and let 51lend and loan 52less and fewer 51let and leave 51lie and Illy 51like and as 51-52line (along these lines) 52

~ literal and literally 52loan and lend 52loose sentences 2Smaintain and claim 43margins (in student papers)

35111Ily and can 42meaningful 53memento S3metaphor 81modifiers

position in sentence 30punctuating 3-4

most and almost 53nature, overused S3

901 INDEX

nauseous and nauseated 53needless words 23negative statements and

sentences 19neither, subject-verb agree-

ment with 10nevertheless and however 48nice, overused 53no less than, subject-verb

agreement with 10nobody, subject-verb agree

ment with 10none, subject-verb agreement

with 10nonrestrictive clauses, punc

tuating 3-4nor and or 53-54not ... but, used with

parallel construction 27nouns

-in opposition 30possessive case 1used as verbs 54writing with 71-72

numberingWith parallel construction

27a series 57

numerals .35objective case, used with

present participle 13offputting S4one, agreement with pro

nouns 54one of, subject-verb agree-

ment with 9-10one ofthe most 5Songoing 54opinion, avoiding in writing 80or and-nor 53-54oral

and verbal 63and/or 40

oriented, as a suffix S5Orwell, George 23

overstatement 72-73overwriting 72Paine, Thomas 67paragraphs 15-17parallel construction

26-27parentheses 36parenthetical expressions 2partially and partly 55participial phrases 13participles 5Spassive voice 18people and public S6periodic sentences

emphasis in 33 ..~interrupting phrases in 29used to correct loose sen-

tence structure 26personal pronouns 1personalize S6personally 56Philosophy ofStyle (Spencer)

23phrases

interrupting 29participial 13position in sentence 28subordinate S

poetry, quoting in papers 37positive statements and sen

tences 19possess 56possessive (case)

gerunds requiring possessive12

irregular possessives 1of nouns 1of personal pronouns 1of.pronouns 12used with one 54-5Sused with participles 5S

prepositionsused with idiomatic expres

sions 27used with series of terms 27

presently 57prestigious 57pronouns

case of 11-13possessive case of 1, 11, 12relative pronouns 29used with one 54-55

public and people 56qualifiers, avoiding 73quotations 36-37refer to and allude 40references 37regretful and regrettable 57relate 57relative clauses, punctuating

4relative pronouns

position with antecedents29-30

that and which 59respective and respectively

57restrictive clauses, punctuat-

ing 4restrictive modifiers 3revising 73.rewriting 72sOy and state 58secondly, use of 57semicolon, use of 6, 26.sentences

emphasis in 32-33fragments 7interposing clauses in 29loose sentences 25periodic sentences 33poor beginnings 60position of modifiers in

30position of phrases in 28position of subject in 29position of verb in 29positive and negative state-

ments 19sentence structure 25-31.·

INDEX [91

series of termsparallel construction used

with 26-27punctuating 2

shall and will 58simile 80so 58someone, subject-verb agree-

ment with 10sortof 51,58specific language 21-23spelling 74 -75Spencer, Herbert 23split infmitive 58, 78Stafford, Jean 21-22state and say 58Stevenson, Robert Louis 85structure in composition 15

in sentences 25-31student body 58subject, position in sentence

29subject-verb agreement 9-11summaries. in literary interpretation 32

tense.used in 31syllabification 38tense in summaries 31than, use of 59thanking in advance 59that and which 59then, punctuating 6therefore, punctuating 6they

as modifier of singularpronoun 60

vague use of 61this, ambiguous reference

61thrust 61thus, punctuating 6titles of books, identifying

in papers 38titles of persons,punctuating

3

92] INDEX

together with, subject-verbagreement 10

topic sentences 16-17tortuous and- torturous 62transitions 17transpire and happen 62(the) truth is . .. 60try to and try and 62type and kind of 62uninterested and disinter-

ested 44unique, misuse of 62utilize 63verbal and oral 63verbs

auxiliary verbs 20conditional verbs 20nouns used as 54position in sentence 29subject-verb agreement

9-11

verbs (cont)Writingwith 71-72

very 63voice (active and passive)

18-19which and that 59while, used for and, but,

although 63-64Whitman, Walt 69who and whom 11,who is and which was

24will and shall 58-wise, as a suffix 64with, subject-verb agreement

with 10Wolfe, Thomas 67-68worth while and worthwhile

64would, colloquial use

64-65

the elements ofstyle

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