The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.docx

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.docx

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TheElementsofStylebyWilliamStrunkJr

TheElementsofStyle

WilliamStrunk,Jr.（ProfessorofEnglish,CornellUniversity）

Assertingthatonemustfirstknowtherulestobreakthem,thisclassicreferencebookisamust-haveforanystudentandconscientiouswriter.Intendedforuseinwhichthepracticeofcompositioniscombinedwiththestudyofliterature,itgivesinbriefspacetheprincipalrequirementsofplainEnglishstyleandconcentratesattentionontherulesofusageandprinciplesofcompositionmostcommonlyviolated.

I.INTRODUCTORY

ThisbookisintendedforuseinEnglishcoursesinwhichthepracticeofcompositioniscombinedwiththestudyofliterature.ItaimstogiveinbriefspacetheprincipalrequirementsofplainEnglishstyle.Itaimstolightenthetaskofinstructorandstudentbyconcentratingattention（inChaptersIIandIII）onafewessentials,therulesofusageandprinciplesofcompositionmostcommonlyviolated.Thenumbersofthesectionsmaybeusedasreferencesincorrectingmanuscript.

ThebookcoversonlyasmallportionofthefieldofEnglishstyle,buttheexperienceofitswriterhasbeenthatoncepasttheessentials,studentsprofitmostbyindividualinstructionbasedontheproblemsoftheirownwork,andthateachinstructorhashisownbodyoftheory,whichhepreferstothatofferedbyanytextbook.

Thewriter'scolleaguesintheDepartmentofEnglishinCornellUniversityhavegreatlyhelpedhiminthepreparationofhismanuscript.Mr.GeorgeMcLaneWoodhaskindlyconsentedtotheinclusionunderRule11ofsomematerialfromhisSuggestionstoAuthors.

Thefollowingbooksarerecommendedforreferenceorfurtherstudy:

inconnectionwithChaptersIIandIV,F.HowardCollins,AuthorandPrinter（HenryFrowde）;ChicagoUniversityPress,ManualofStyle;T.L.DeVinneCorrectComposition（TheCenturyCompany）;HoraceHart,RulesforCompositorsandPrinters（OxfordUniversityPress）;GeorgeMcLaneWood,ExtractsfromtheStyle-BookoftheGovernmentPrintingOffice（UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey）;inconnectionwithChaptersIIIandV,SirArthurQuiller-Couch,TheArtofWriting（Putnams）,especiallythechapter,InterludeonJargon;GeorgeMcLaneWood,SuggestionstoAuthors（UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey）;JohnLeslieHall,EnglishUsage（Scott,ForesmanandCo.）;JamesP.Kelly,WorkmanshipinWords（Little,BrownandCo.）.

Itisanoldobservationthatthebestwriterssometimesdisregardtherulesofrhetoric.Whentheydoso,however,thereaderwillusuallyfindinthesentencesomecompensatingmerit,attainedatthecostoftheviolation.Unlessheiscertainofdoingaswell,hewillprobablydobesttofollowtherules.Afterhehaslearned,bytheirguidance,towriteplainEnglishadequateforeverydayuses,lethimlook,forthesecretsofstyle,tothestudyofthemastersofliterature.

WilliamStrunk,Jr.（1869–1946）.TheElementsofStyle.1918.

II.ELEMENTARYRULESOFUSAGE

1.Formthepossessivesingularofnounswith's.

Followthisrulewhateverthefinalconsonant.Thuswrite,

Charles'sfriend

Burns'spoems

thewitch'smalice

ThisistheusageoftheUnitedStatesGovernmentPrintingOfficeandoftheOxfordUniversityPress.

Exceptionsarethepossessivesofancientpropernamesin-esand-is,thepossessiveJesus',andsuchformsasforconscience'sake,forrighteousness'sake.ButsuchformsasAchilles'heel,Moses'laws,Isis'templearecommonlyreplacedby

theheelofAchilles

thelawsofMoses

thetempleofIsis

Thepronominalpossessiveshers,its,theirs,yours,andoneselfhavenoapostrophe.

2.Inaseriesofthreeormoretermswithasingleconjunction,useacommaaftereachtermexceptthelast.

Thuswrite,

red,white,andblue

honest,energetic,butheadstrong

Heopenedtheletter,readit,andmadeanoteofitscontents.

ThisisalsotheusageoftheGovernmentPrintingOfficeandoftheOxfordUniversityPress.

Inthenamesofbusinessfirmsthelastcommaisomitted,as

Brown,ShipleyandCompany

Theabbreviationetc.,evenifonlyasingletermcomesbeforeit,isalwaysprecededbyacomma.

3.Encloseparentheticexpressionsbetweencommas.

Thebestwaytoseeacountry,unlessyouarepressedfortime,istotravelonfoot.

Thisruleisdifficulttoapply;itisfrequentlyhardtodecidewhetherasingleword,suchashowever,orabriefphrase,isorisnotparenthetic.Iftheinterruptiontotheflowofthesentenceisbutslight,thewritermaysafelyomitthecommas.Butwhethertheinterruptionbeslightorconsiderable,hemustneveromitonecommaandleavetheother.Suchpunctuationas

Marjorie'shusband,ColonelNelsonpaidusavisityesterday,

or

Mybrotheryouwillbepleasedtohear,isnowinperfecthealth,

isindefensible.

Non-restrictiverelativeclausesare,inaccordancewiththisrule,setoffbycommas.

Theaudience,whichhadatfirstbeenindifferent,becamemoreandmoreinterested.

Similarclausesintroducedbywhereandwhenaresimilarlypunctuated.

In1769,whenNapoleonwasborn,CorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.

NetherStowey,whereColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMariner,isafewmilesfromBridgewater.

Inthesesentencestheclausesintroducedbywhich,when,andwherearenon-restrictive;theydonotlimittheapplicationofthewordsonwhichtheydepend,butadd,parenthetically,statementssupplementingthoseintheprincipalclauses.Eachsentenceisacombinationoftwostatmentswhichmighthavebeenmadeindependently.

Theaudiencewasatfirstindifferent.Lateritbecamemoreandmoreinterested.

Napoleonwasbornin1769.AtthattimeCorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.

ColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMarineratNetherStowey.NetherStoweyisonlyafewmilesfromBridgewater.

Restrictiverelativeclausesarenotsetoffbycommas.

Thecandidatewhobestmeetstheserequirementswillobtaintheplace.

Inthissentencetherelativeclauserestrictstheapplicationofthewordcandidatetoasingleperson.Unlikethoseabove,thesentencecannotbesplitintotwoindependentstatements.

Theabbreviationsetc.andjr.arealwaysprecededbyacomma,andexceptattheendofasentence,followedbyone.

Similarinprincipletotheenclosingofparentheticexpressionsbetweencommasisthesettingoffbycommasofphrasesordependentclausesprecedingorfollowingthemainclauseofasentence.ThesentencesquotedinthissectionandunderRules4,5,6,7,16,and18shouldaffordsufficientguidance.

Ifaparentheticexpressionisprecededbyaconjunction,placethefirstcommabeforetheconjunction,notafterit.

Hesawuscoming,andunawarethatwehadlearnedofhistreachery,greeteduswithasmile.

4.Placeacommabeforeandorbutintroducinganindependentclause.

Theearlyrecordsofthecityhavedisappeared,andthestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.

Thesituationisperilous,butthereisstillonechanceofescape.

Sentencesofthistype,isolatedfromtheircontext,mayseemtobeinneedofrewriting.Astheymakecompletesensewhenthecommaisreached,thesecondclausehastheappearanceofanafter-thought.Further,and,istheleastspecificofconnectives.Usedbetweenindependentclauses,itindicatesonlythatarelationexistsbetweenthemwithoutdefiningthatrelation.Intheexampleabove,therelationisthatofcauseandresult.Thetwosentencesmightberewritten:

Astheearlyrecordsofthecityhavedisappeared,thestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.

Althoughthesituationisperilous,thereisstillonechanceofescape.

Orthesubordinateclausesmightbereplacedbyphrases:

Owingtothedisappearanceoftheearlyrecordsofthecity,thestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.

Inthisperiloussituation,thereisstillonechanceofescape.

Butawritermayerrbymakinghissentencestoouniformlycompactandperiodic,andanoccasionalloosesentencepreventsthestylefrombecomingtooformalandgivesthereaderacertainrelief.Consequently,loosesentencesofthetypefirstquotedarecommonineasy,unstudiedwriting.Butawritershouldbecarefulnottoconstructtoomanyofhissentencesafterthispattern（seeRule14）.

Two-partsentencesofwhichthesecondmemberisintroducedbyas（inthesenseofbecause）,for,or,nor,andwhile（inthesenseofandatthesametime）likewiserequireacommabeforetheconjunction.

Ifadependentclause,oranintroductoryphraserequiringtobesetoffbyacomma,precedesthesecondindependentclause,nocommaisneededaftertheconjunction.

Thesituationisperilous,butifwearepreparedtoactpromptly,thereisstillonechanceofescape.

Fortwo-partsentencesconnectedbyanadverb,seethenextsection.

5.Donotjoinindependentclausesbyacomma.

Iftwoormoreclauses,grammaticallycompleteandnotjoinedbyaconjunction,aretoformasinglecompoundsentence,thepropermarkofpunctuationisasemicolon.

Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining;theyarefullofexcitingadventures.

Itisnearlyhalfpastfive;wecannotreachtownbeforedark.

Itisofcourseequallycorrecttowritetheaboveastwosentenceseach,replacingthesemicolonsbyperiods.

Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining.Theyarefullofexcitingadventures.

Itisnearlyhalfpastfive.Wecannotreachtownbeforedark.

Ifaconjunctionisinserted,thepropermarkisacomma（Rule4）.

Stevenson'sromancesareentertaining,fortheyarefullofexcitingadventures.

Itisnearlyhalfpastfive,andwecannotreachtownbeforeda