Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

GRAMMAR Overdoing this type of sentence construction can make writing look clumsy or unsubtle, however, so use it with discretion. If there is an alternative wording that would allow your points to come through just as clearly and elegantly, you should go with it instead. But do not avoid putting a conjunction up front simply out of principle. ENDING A SENTENCE WITH A PREPOSITION Prepositions are the words that define the relationships between other words: Please put the skeleton in the closet; I'll meet you at the drugstore after the concert; we went across the country; she liked her salad with hot sauce on it. Many prepositions have to do with time, space or position. A persistent myth is that a preposition may never come at the end of a sentence. For example, many students are taught that sentences such as It's a subject I haven't thought about and You have to remember where he's coming from should be worded as It's a subject about which I haven't thought and You have to remember from where he's coming. Again, the origins of this custom lie in Latin, in which a preposition cannot come after its target word. In English, however, the effect of ordering words this way is often to turn a phrasing that sounds natural and spontaneous into something tortured. As with splitting infinitives, you may, as a general rule, prefer to avoid ending sentences in prepositions simply because of your readers' expectations. And indeed, sentences that follow the stricture sometimes do sound more elegant. For example: There are a couple of issues I'm willing to be more flexible on. REVISED: There are a couple of issues on which I'm willing to be more flexible. It's astonishing that there are people this news comes as a surprise to. REVISED: It's astonishing that there are people to whom this news comes as a surprise. There are some questions there are no easy answers for. REVISED: There are some questions for which there are no easy answers. 263
GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT This is a matter I'd urge you to make your own decision on. REVISED: This is a matter on which I'd urge you to make your own decision. If the rewording would sound awkward, however, definitely leave the preposition at the end. Moving it would not "correct" your sentence; it would worsen it. 264
Page 2 and 3:
The WRITER'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE to pun
Page 4 and 5:
C R E D T S American Psychological
Page 6 and 7:
The En Dash 162 2-Em and 3-Em Dashe
Page 8 and 9:
Readers may wish to know when to sa
Page 10 and 11:
P A R T 0 N E Spelling In this age
Page 12 and 13:
Misspellings COMMONLY :MISPELLED WO
Page 14 and 15:
SPELLING Haemorrhage and manoeuvre
Page 16 and 17:
SPELLING may spell these words the
Page 18 and 19:
SPELLING Did you spot the errors in
Page 20 and 21:
The car comes with duel airbags. Th
Page 22 and 23:
SPELLING it doesn't, the ending wil
Page 24 and 25:
SPELLING Philbert knew he would hav
Page 26 and 27:
SPELLING effect these might have on
Page 28 and 29:
SPELLING EIAE, OE For words origina
Page 30 and 31:
SPELLING alternate spellings is the
Page 32 and 33:
Hyphenation I worked with [William
Page 34 and 35:
a dead on guess/a dead pan manner d
Page 36 and 37:
SPELLING If one part of a compound
Page 38 and 39:
SPELLING tively) unique constructio
Page 40 and 41:
SPELLING With a fraction that inclu
Page 42 and 43:
Frequently Misused Words Homonyms (
Page 44 and 45:
PROBLEM WORDS common usages for eac
Page 46 and 47:
PROBLEM WORDS Parents are assured t
Page 48 and 49:
PROBLEM WORDS things that make a re
Page 50 and 51:
PROBLEM WORDS fairness, some words
Page 52 and 53:
ight of way passerby rights of way
Page 54 and 55:
SOME WORDS OF ITALIAN ORIGIN THAT E
Page 56 and 57:
PROBLEM WORDS HEBREW WORDS ADD IM (
Page 58 and 59:
COUNTER- DE- DIS- DYS- E- Opposite
Page 60 and 61:
PROBLEM WORDS construction (uncommu
Page 62 and 63:
P A R T T H R E E Punctuation The w
Page 64 and 65:
Basic Sentence Structure In order t
Page 66 and 67:
The storekeeper/looked at the money
Page 68 and 69:
SENTENCE FRAGl\1ENT PUNCTUATION A s
Page 70 and 71:
PUNCTUATION The commas in the follo
Page 72 and 73:
In Part II of the exam, answer ques
Page 74 and 75:
PUNCTUATION Exception If both the i
Page 76 and 77:
PUNCTUATION If no comma appeared af
Page 78 and 79:
PUNCTUATION She waited impatiently
Page 80 and 81:
PUNCTUATION SETTING OFF PARENTHETIC
Page 82 and 83:
PUNCTUATION Exception If a parenthe
Page 84 and 85:
PUNCTUATION Zelda apparently has on
Page 86 and 87:
For example, compare the following
Page 88 and 89:
PUNCTUATION Ensure that the power s
Page 90 and 91:
PUNCTUATION The panel consisted of
Page 92 and 93:
She wore a pale green dress. [pale
Page 94 and 95:
PUNCTUATION Do not set a quoted ele
Page 96 and 97:
Semicolon (;) It was her prose that
Page 98 and 99:
PUNCTUATION Put semicolons between
Page 100 and 101:
PUNCTUATION USE SEMICOLONS IF COMMA
Page 102 and 103:
PUNCTUATION this disk; and the revi
Page 104 and 105:
PUNCTUATION intentions, but on its
Page 106 and 107:
Colon(:) The colon acts as a signal
Page 108 and 109:
PUNCTUATION Only one thing would sa
Page 110 and 111:
PUNCTUATION reconcile the last sent
Page 112 and 113:
PUNCTUATION Aside from the impact o
Page 114 and 115:
PUNCTUATION • With regard to capi
Page 116 and 117:
DON)T INCLUDE A PERIOD FORA GRAMMAT
Page 118 and 119:
PUNCTUATION If you are not obliged
Page 120 and 121:
PUNCTUATION GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES Opti
Page 122 and 123:
Here are the topics that will be co
Page 124 and 125:
PUNCTUATION Of course St John River
Page 126 and 127:
PUNCTUATION Muriel said, "Once I wa
Page 128 and 129:
INDICATING UNCERTAINTY PUNCTUATION
Page 130 and 131:
'Are you guilty?' said Winston. PUN
Page 132 and 133:
DRAWING ATTENTION TO A POINT PUNCTU
Page 134 and 135:
Hyphen(-) This section looks at the
Page 136 and 137:
No a-do i-vy i-dea tax-i a-bout e-n
Page 138 and 139:
Consider the following sets of word
Page 140 and 141:
PUNCTUATION This sentence is fine i
Page 142 and 143:
PUNCTUATION DO NOT USE A HYPHEN WHE
Page 144 and 145:
The salesman was fast-talking. The
Page 146 and 147:
PUNCTUATION 'So he is, to be sure,'
Page 148 and 149:
Slash(/) The slash (also known as t
Page 150 and 151:
PUNCTUATION The tent offers suitabl
Page 152 and 153:
PUNCTUATION Dalgliesh said: " 'Now
Page 154 and 155:
• Working in digressions • Maki
Page 156 and 157:
PUNCTUATION if you ask me, but that
Page 158 and 159:
PUNCTUATION BETTER: A validity coef
Page 160 and 161:
PUNCTUATION • It is permissible t
Page 162 and 163:
Dashes Dashes come in several sizes
Page 164 and 165:
PUNCTUATION Several of the neighbor
Page 166 and 167:
PUNCTUATION but I am sure that you
Page 168 and 169:
And when I found the door was shut,
Page 170 and 171:
"How was I supposed to-" she sputte
Page 172 and 173:
PUNCTUATION the discussions of the
Page 174 and 175:
PUNCTUATION a quote. Another use is
Page 176 and 177:
PUNCTUATION or editorial comment, i
Page 178 and 179:
PUNCTUATION words italics mine, ita
Page 180 and 181:
PUNCTUATION By Mrs Hurst and Miss B
Page 182 and 183:
"Aces drawn after a deuce are high?
Page 184 and 185:
PUNCTUATION 'Oh, but I think,' said
Page 186 and 187:
PUNCTUATION it would look as if the
Page 188 and 189:
it in quotation marks to alert the
Page 190 and 191:
PUNCTUATION 6s and the closing ones
Page 192 and 193:
PUNCTUATION Perhaps it would be bet
Page 194 and 195:
ORIGINAL QuoTATION: Dear Theo, PUNC
Page 196 and 197:
PUNCTUATION 'No, dear. Not Homer, t
Page 198 and 199:
PUNCTUATION came to his room, inser
Page 200 and 201:
Apostrophe(') The apostrophe often
Page 202 and 203:
PUNCTUATION In other cases, the con
Page 204 and 205:
the people's choice the alumni's lo
Page 206 and 207:
Achilles' heel Euripides' plays Gra
Page 208 and 209:
\ PUNCTUATION of the term itself. W
Page 210 and 211:
P A R T F 0 U R Grammar The very me
Page 212 and 213:
Agreement Between Subject and Verb
Page 214 and 215:
Problem Category 1: The Subject, th
Page 216 and 217:
GRAMMAR but that would slightly alt
Page 218 and 219:
Pat, like the others, was determine
Page 220 and 221:
DISTRACTING PREDICATE NOUNS GRAMMAR
Page 222 and 223: the components are included my cous
Page 224 and 225: Headquarters~ waiting for an answer
Page 226 and 227: GRAMMAR A generation ago, no one in
Page 228 and 229: GRAMMAR realize that there is more
Page 230 and 231: GRAMMAR that constitute a multimedi
Page 232 and 233: Achieving Parallel Structure The ve
Page 234 and 235: GRAMMAR The bankruptcy proceedings
Page 236 and 237: GRAMMAR It may be necessary to eith
Page 238 and 239: GRAMMAR action will follow; for exa
Page 240 and 241: GRAMMAR Rebecca seizing life with h
Page 242 and 243: GRAMMAR Dangling modifiers occur wh
Page 244 and 245: GRAMMAR The suspect's condition was
Page 246 and 247: The following sentences contain squ
Page 248 and 249: GRAMMAR that represents the entity
Page 250 and 251: GRAMMAR should be obvious that you
Page 252 and 253: GRAMMAR 4. Old King Cole was a merr
Page 254 and 255: GRAMMAR WHEN DO YOU USE WHO AND WHE
Page 256 and 257: GRAMMAR of spider; hence, it is not
Page 258 and 259: GRAMMAR • Its is the possessive o
Page 260 and 261: GRAMMAR Although the termjree-jorma
Page 262 and 263: AGREEMENT BETWEEN PRONOUN AND ANTEC
Page 264 and 265: GRAMMAR • Collective nouns are th
Page 266 and 267: GRAMMAR person plural. Many readers
Page 268 and 269: Bugbears and Betes Noires: Some Gra
Page 270 and 271: GRAMMAR Virtually every modern styl
Page 274 and 275: P A R Y F I V E Style A sentence or
Page 276 and 277: Ann's Conscience, which up till thi
Page 278 and 279: STYLE • Question marks and exclam
Page 280 and 281: STYLE In some cases, if a person or
Page 282 and 283: STYLE with a consonant sound, prece
Page 284 and 285: ALLCAPSANDSMALLCAPS STYLE If your w
Page 286 and 287: Italics Italic type serves to make
Page 288 and 289: Come the crucial seventh, the Filmm
Page 290 and 291: use, to take them down into the mar
Page 292 and 293: STYLE all. If you are expected to u
Page 294 and 295: STYLE woman with a pretty figure ..
Page 296 and 297: STYLE PASSIVE: The letter received
Page 298 and 299: STYLE car is traded in every jour y
Page 300 and 301: STYLE not unintentionally distract
Page 302 and 303: STYLE BETIER: The following are sug
Page 304 and 305: STYLE Would any writer describe a p
Page 306 and 307: STYLE Many modern readers would not
Page 308 and 309: STYLE The clinician can play an imp
Page 310 and 311: STYLE Obviously you cannot use this
Page 312 and 313: Writing With Finesse BEN . ... But
Page 314 and 315: STYLE ensure randorrmess), and calc
Page 316 and 317: inwardleaning heads, smoking steadi
Page 318 and 319: STYLE behind altering them can be d
Page 320 and 321: STYLE of these types of help while
Page 322 and 323:
STYLE First paragraph: Introductory
Page 324 and 325:
STYLE all situations. Therefore, re
Page 326 and 327:
STYLE tation. Although it is prefer
Page 328 and 329:
STYLE the accent phonetically at al
Page 330 and 331:
During my first tournament, my moth
Page 332 and 333:
STYLE jump out at you: illogical co
Page 334 and 335:
sentence with, 262-263; subordinati
Page 336 and 337:
ending in y, 43-44, 197, 199-200; o
show all

Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?