William Strunk, Jr. The Elements of Style - GitHub Pages

1 WilliamStrunk, OF singularofnounswith s.. seriesofthreeormoretermswitha singleconjunction,usea commaaftereachtermexceptthelast.. commabeforeandorbutintroducinganindepend entclause.. comma.. sentencemustrefertothegrammaticalsubject .. line-ends, OF theparagraphtheunitofcomposition:onepara graphtoeachtopic.. rule,begineachparagraphwitha topicsentence;endit inconformitywiththebeginning.. voice.. form.. successionofloosesentences.. ,keeptoonetense.. sentenceat theend..28 IVAFEWMATTERS OF FORM31 VWORDS ANDEXPRESSIONS COMMONLYMISUSED35 VIWORDS OFTENMISSPELLED45iiiCONTENTSPREFACEA ssertingthatonemustfirstknowtherulestobr eakthem,thisclassicreferenceisa must-have forany studentandconscientiouswriter. Intendedforuseinwhichthepracticeofcompos itionis combinedwiththestudyofliterature,it aimstogive aimstolightenthetaskofinstructorandstude ntbyconcentratingattention(inChaptersII andIII)ona few essentials, smallportionofthefieldofEnglishstyle,but theexperienceofitswriterhasbeenthatoncep asttheessentials,studentsprofitmostbyind ividualinstructionbasedontheproblemsofth eirownwork,andthateachinstructorhashisow nbodyoftheory, whichhepreferstothatofferedbyany s colleaguesin theDepartmentofEnglishin CornellUniversityhave greatlyhelpedhimin :inconnec-tionwithChaptersII andIV, F.

2 HowardCollins,AuthorandPrinter(HenryFrow de);ChicagoUniversityPress,ManualofStyle ;T. ,CorrectComposition(TheCenturyCompany);H oraceHart,RulesforCompositorsandPrinters (OxfordUniver-sityPress);GeorgeMcLaneWoo d,ExtractsfromtheStyle-BookoftheGovernme ntPrintingOffice(UnitedStatesGeologicalS urvey);inconnectionwithChaptersIIIandV, SirArthurQuiller-Couch,TheArtofWriting(P utnams),especiallythechapter, In-terludeonJargon;GeorgeMcLaneWood,Sugg estionstoAuthors(UnitedStatesGeo-logical Survey);JohnLeslieHall,EnglishUsage(Scot t,ForesmanandCo.); , WorkmanshipinWords(Little,BrownandCo.). is doso,however, thereaderwillusuallyfindinthesentencesom ecompen-satingmerit,attainedat certainofdoingaswell,hewillprobablydobes ttofollow ,bytheirguidance,towriteplainEnglishadeq uateforeverydayuses,lethimlook,forthesec retsofstyle, OF singularofnounswith sFollow thisrulewhatever ,Charles s friendBurns s poemsthewitch s maliceThisis ,thepossessiveJesus ,andsuchformsasforconscience sake,forrighteousness sake.

3 ButsuchformsasAchilles heel,Moses laws, isis templearecommonlyreplacedbytheheelofAchi llesthelawsofMosesthetempleofIsisThepron ominalpossessiveshers,its,theirs,yours, andoneselfhave OF seriesofthreeormore termswitha singleconjunction,useacommaaftereachterm exceptthelastThuswrite,red,white,andblue honest,energetic,butheadstrongHeopenedth eletter, readit andmadea omitted,asBrown,Shipley andCompanyTheabbreviationetc.,evenif onlya singletermcomesbeforeit,is alwaysprecededbya country, unlessyouarepressedfortime,is totravel ;it isfrequentlyhardtodecidewhethera singleword,suchashowever, ora briefphrase,is oris theinterruptiontotheflow ofthesentenceis butslight, ,hemustnever omitonecommaandleave theother. SuchpunctuationasMarjorie s husband,ColonelNelsonpaidusa , relative clausesare,inaccordancewiththisrule,seto ff ,whichhadat firstbeenindifferent, ,whenNapoleonwasborn, , whereColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMa riner, is a few ,when, andwherearenon-restrictive;they donotlimittheapplicationofthewordsonwhic hthey depend,butadd,paren-thetically, acombinationoftwo statmentswhichmighthave NetherStowey is onlya relative clausesarenotsetoff thoseabove, thesentencecannotbesplitintotwo comma,andexceptat theendofa sentence, OF USAGES imilarinprincipletotheenclosingofparenth eticexpressionsbetweencommasis thesettingoff bycommasofphrasesordependentclausesprece dingorfollowingthemainclauseofa ,5,6,7,16, a parentheticexpressionis precededbya conjunction,placethefirstcommabeforethec onjunction, ,andunawarethatwehadlearnedofhistreacher y, greeteduswitha commabeforeandorbutintroducinganindepend entclauseTheearlyrecordsofthecityhave disappeared, , ,isolatedfromtheircontext, make completesensewhenthecommais reached, ,and, is ,it indicatesonlythata , therelationis sentencesmightberewritten:Astheearlyreco rdsofthecityhave disappeared, perilous,thereis.

4 Owingtothedisappearanceoftheearlyrecords ofthecity, , writermayerrbymakinghissentencestoounifo rmlycompactandperiodic,andanoccasionallo osesentencepreventsthestylefrombecomingt ooformalandgivesthereadera , loosesentencesofthetypefirstquotedarecom monineasy, writershouldbecarefulnottoconstructtooma ny ofhissentencesafterthispattern(seeRule14 ).Two-partsentencesofwhichthesecondmembe ris introducedbyas(inthesenseofbecause),for, or,nor, andwhile(inthesenseofandatthesametime) likewiserequirea a dependentclause,oranintroductoryphrasere quiringtobesetoff bya comma,precedesthesecondindependentclause ,nocommais ,butif wearepreparedtoactpromptly, thereis , commaIf two ormoreclauses,grammaticallycompleteandno tjoinedbya conjunction,aretoforma singlecompoundsentence,thepropermarkofpu nctuationis a s romancesareentertaining;they is nearlyhalfpastfive; is ofcourseequallycorrecttowritetheabove astwo sentenceseach, s a conjunctionis inserted,thepropermarkis a comma(Rule4).Stevenson s romancesareentertaining,forthey OF USAGEIt is nearlyhalfpastfive, thesecondclauseis precededbyanadverb,suchasaccordingly,bes ides,so,then,therefore, orthus, andnotbya conjunction,thesemicolonis hadnever beenintheplacebefore;soI ,however, it isbest,inwriting,toavoidusingsointhisman ner;thereisdangerthatthewriterwhousesit atallmayuseit ,usuallyserviceable,is toomitthewordso, andbeginthefirstclausewithas:AsI hadnever beenin theplacebefore,I theclausesareveryshort,andarealike inform,a commais usuallypermissible:Manproposes, ,thebridgefell, , metthemona A manwhohadtraveledallovertheworld,andlive dinhalfa ,thefirstperiodshouldbereplacedbya comma,andthefol-lowingwordbegunwitha is permissibletomake anemphaticwordorexpressionserve thepurposeofa sen-tenceandtopunctuateit ,however, becertainthattheemphasisis warranted,andthathewillnotbesuspectedofa ,4,5,and6 coverthemostimportantprinciplesinthepunc tuationofordinarysentences.

5 They sentencemustrefertothegrammaticalsubject Walkingslowlydowntheroad,hesaw a womanaccom-paniedbytwo , thewriterwishestomake it refertothewoman,hemustrecastthesentence: Hesaw a woman,accompaniedbytwo children, conjunctionorbya preposition,nounsinapposition,adjectives ,andadjective phrasescomeunderthesameruleif they ,hisfriendsmethimat (or, Onhisar-rival)inChicago,hisfriendsmethim at , , , , , , OF dilapidatedcondition,I ,inaccordancewiththeirformationandpronun ciationIf thereis roomattheendofa lineforoneormoresyllablesofa word,butnotforthewholeword,dividetheword ,unlessthisinvolvescuttingoff onlya singleletter, orcuttingoff onlytwo lettersofa :know-ledge(notknowl-edge)Shake-speare(n otShakes-peare)de-scribe(notdes-cribe)at mo-sphere(notatmos-phere) onthevowel: edi-ble(noted-ible)propo-sitionordi-nary espe-cialreli-giousoppo-nentsregu-larcla ssi-fi-ca-tion(threedivi-sionspossible) ,unlessthey comeattheendofthesimpleformoftheword:Ape n-ninesCincin-natirefer-ringtell-ingThet reatmentofconsonantsincombinationis bestshownfromexamples:11for-tunepic-ture presump-tuousillus-trationsub-stan-tial( eitherdivision)indus-tryinstruc-tionsug- ges-tionincen-diaryThestudentwilldowellt oexaminethesyllable-divisionina OF USAGEC hapterIIIELEMENTARYPRINCIPLES theparagraphtheunitofcomposition:onepara graphtoeachtopicIf thesubjectonwhichyouarewritingis ofslightextent,orif youintendto treatit verybriefly, theremaybenoneedofsubdividingit briefdescription,abriefsummaryofa literarywork,a briefaccountofa singleincident,a narrative merelyoutlininganaction,thesettingfortho fa singleidea,any oneoftheseis bestwrittenina ,it shouldbeexaminedtoseewhethersubdivisionw illnotimprove , however, a subjectrequiressubdivisionintotopics,eac hofwhichshouldbemadethesubjectofa paragraphbyitselfis,ofcourse,toaidtherea der.

6 Thebeginningofeachparagraphis a signaltohimthata new ,ashortnoticeofa bookorpoemmightconsistofa OF COMPOSITIONA reportona poem,writtenfora classinliterature, ; , paragraphC wouldindicatetheactualorimaginedcircumst ancesofthepoem(thesituation),ifthesecall forexplanation, thepoemis a narrative inthethirdpersonthroughout,paragraphC needcontainnomorethana aremadeprominent,orwouldindicatewhatpoin tsinthenarrative novel subjects,thewriterwouldprobablyfindit rule, , ,eachspeech,evenif onlya singleword,is a paragraphbyitself;thatis,anew paragraphbeginswitheachchangeofspeaker. Theapplicationofthisrule,when15dialoguea ndnarrative arecombined, rule,begineachparagraphwitha topicsentence;endit inconformitywiththebeginningAgain,theobj ectis toaidthereader. Thepracticehererecommendedenableshimtodi scover thepurposeofeachparagraphashebeginsto readit,andto ,themostgenerallyusefulkindofparagraph,p articularlyinexpositionandargument,is ornearthebeginning; ; digression,orwithanunimportantdetail,is theparagraphformspartofa largercomposition,itsrelationtowhatprece des,oritsfunctionasa partofthewhole, merewordorphrase(again;therefore;forthes amereason) ,however, it is morethanonesuchsentenceis required,it is generallybettertosetapartthetransitional sentencesasa s purpose,hemay, asindicatedabove, inotherforms,bydefiningitsterms,bydenyin gtheconverse,bygivingillustrationsorspec ificinstances;hemayes-tablishit byproofs;orhemaydevelopit longparagraph, Now, tobeproperlyenjoyed,a Ifyougoina company, oreveninpairs,itisnolongera walkingtourinanythingbutname;it is somethingelseandmoreinthenatureofa OF COMPOSITION3 Awalkingtourshouldbegoneuponalone,becaus efree-domis oftheessence.

7 Becauseyoushouldbeabletostopandgoon,andf ollowthiswayorthat,asthefreaktakesyou;an dbecauseyoumusthaveyourownpace,andneithe rtrotalongsidea championwalker,norminceintimewitha Thetopicsentencerepeated,inabridgedform, andsup-portedbythreereasons;themeaningof thethird( youmusthaveyourownpace ) A fourthreason, Youshouldbeasa pipeforany Thesamereason, Icannotseethewit, saysHazlitt, ofwalkingandtalkingat thesametime. 7 WhenI aminthecountry, Iwishtovegetatelike thecoun-try, whichis Thereshouldbenocackleofvoicesatyourelbow , tojaronthemeditative Repetition,inparaphrase, , thatbeginsinasortofdazzleandsluggishness ofthebrain,andendsin a , Finalstatementofthefourthreason,inlangua geamplifiedandheightenedto forma verydif-ferentconceptionofhistorygrew Historiansthencametobe-lieve thattheirtaskwasnotsomuchtopainta pictureastosolve a problem;toexplainorillustratethesuccessi ve phasesofnationalgrowth,prosperity, Themeaningofthetopicsen-tencemadeclearer ; Thehistoryofmorals,ofin-dustry, ofintellect,andofart;thechangesthattake placeinmannersorbeliefs;thedomi-nantidea sthatprevailedin suc-cessive periods;therise,fall,andmodificationofpo liticalconstitutions.

8 Inaword, They soughtrathertowritea historyofpeoplesthana They lookedespeciallyin They undertooktostudyinthepastthephysiologyof na-tions,andhopedbyapply-ingtheexperimen talmethodona , OF COMPOSITIONI nnarrationanddescriptiontheparagraphsome timesbeginswitha concise,compre-hensive pageswerefilledwitha ,if toooftenused,wouldbecomea thoughtI ,andthey , however, areoftenwithouteventhissem-blanceofa rhetoricalpause, voiceTheactive voiceis usuallymoredirectandvigorousthanthepassi ve:I lessdirect,lessbold, thewritertriestomakeit moreconcisebyomitting byme, MyfirstvisittoBostonwillalwaysberemember ed,19it becomesindefinite:is it thewriter, orsomepersonundisclosed,ortheworldat large,thatwillalwaysrememberthisvisit?Th isruledoesnot,ofcourse,meanthatthewriter shouldentirelydiscardthepassivevoice,whi chis paragraphonthedramatistsoftheRestoration ;thesecond,ina ,asintheseexamples,determinewhichvoiceis voice,however, truenotonlyinnarrative principallyconcernedwithaction,butinwrit ingofany a tamesentenceofdescriptionorexpositioncan bemadelivelyandemphaticbysubstitutinga transitive intheactive voiceforsomesuchperfunctoryexpressionast hereis, rule,avoidmakingonepassive wasforbiddentoexportgold(Theexportofgold wasprohib-ited).

9 OF , beforecorrection,thewordproperlyrelatedt othesecondpassive is passive constructiona nounwhichex-pressestheentireaction, , Theexportofgoldwasprohibited, inwhichthepredicate wasprohibited expressessomethingnotimpliedin export. formMake ,colorless,hesitating, meansofdenialorinantithesis,neverasa veryadmirablecharacter,nordoesBiancarema inlonginmemoryasanimportantcharacterinSh akespeare s disagreeable, ,beforecorrection,is ,consequently, is simplya guessat thewriter s Consciouslyorun-consciously, thereaderis dissatisfiedwithbeingtoldonlywhatis not; ,asa rule,it is bettertoexpressa negative inpositive attentiontoignoreddidnothave muchconfi-denceindistrustedTheantithesis ofnegative andpositive is strong:Notcharity, lovedCaesarless, sentenceshouldcontainnounnecessarywords, a para-graphnounnecessarysentences,forthes amereasonthata drawingshouldhave nounnecessarylinesanda allhissentencesshort,orthatheavoidalldet ailandtreathissubjectsonlyinoutline, expressionsincommonuseviolatethisprincip le.

10 Thequestionastowhetherwhether(thequestio nwhether)thereis nodoubtbutthatnodoubt(doubtless) OF COMPOSITION heis a manwhoheina hastymannerhastilythisis a subjectwhichthissubjectHisstoryis a whichit (because)inspiteofthefactthatthough(alth ough)callyourattentiontothefactthatremin dyou(notifyyou)I wasunawareofthefactthatI wasunawarethat(didnotknow)thefactthatheh adnotsucceededhisfailurethefactthatI hadarrivedmyarrivalSeealsoundercase,char acter,nature, ,which was, andthelike , whoisa memberofthesamefirmHisbrother, a memberofthesamefirmTrafalgar, whichwasNelson slastbattleTrafalgar, Nelson s lastbattleAspositive statementis moreconcisethannegative, andtheactive voicemoreconcisethanthepassive, many thepresentationofa singlecomplex idea,stepbystep,ina , (55words.)Encouragedbyhiswife,Mac-bethac hievedhisambitionandrealizedthepredictio nofthewitchesbymurderingDuncanandbecomin gkingofScotlandinhisplace.(26words.) successionofloosesentencesThisrulerefers especiallytoloosesentencesofa particulartype,thoseconsistingoftwo co-ordinateclauses,thesecondintroducedby a (seeunderRule4),a wholeparagraphofsentencesofthiskind,usin gasconnectivesand,but, andlessfrequently,who,which,when,where, andwhile, theselastinnon-restrictive senses(seeunderRule3).