The Handbook of Good English: Revised and Updated

Cover......Page 1
Copyright page......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
1  Grammar......Page 21
The Sentence......Page 23
1-1  Write in whole sentences, not in fragments.......Page 24
Sentences beginning with AND or some other conjunction......Page 25
1-2  Don\'t omit grammatically necessary words.......Page 26
Omission of words in compared items: false comparison......Page 27
Omission of verb forms......Page 28
Omission of relative pronouns......Page 30
Omission of a repeated modifier......Page 31
1-3  Don\'t omit words necessary to prevent ambiguity or momentary misreading.......Page 32
1-4  Omit redundant or otherwise unnecessary words and phrases—but with some discretion.......Page 33
1-5  If there are elements in a sentence that are parallel in meaning and in grammatical function, make them parallel in grammatical form.......Page 34
Items in a series not parallel......Page 35
Either . . . or, not only . . . but also: correlative items not parallel......Page 36
More than, as much as: adverbial comparisons not parallel......Page 38
But not, rather than: antithetical constructions not parallel......Page 39
Case of Nouns and Pronouns: Subjective, Objective, and Possessive......Page 40
Pronouns as part of their own clauses......Page 41
Pronouns in elliptical clauses......Page 43
Pronouns in apposition......Page 44
It\'s me or It\'s I? Pronouns as subject complements......Page 45
1-7  Put the subject of a gerund in the possessive case, if possible.......Page 46
When the possessive is impossible or bizarre......Page 48
Pronouns as part of compound objects......Page 49
A problem: who and whom, whoever and whomever......Page 50
1-9  Put the object of a preposition in the objective case.......Page 51
1-10  Make a subject and its verb agree in person.......Page 52
Simple confusion......Page 54
Subjects joined by AND......Page 55
Subjects joined by OR and NOR......Page 56
Subjects that look singular but may be plural......Page 57
Subjects and complements of different number......Page 59
Parenthetical subject between true subject and verb......Page 61
1-12  Make a pronoun and its antecedent agree in number, person, and gender.......Page 62
Disagreement in number......Page 63
Disagreement in person......Page 65
Disagreement in gender......Page 66
1-13  Don\'t let a pronoun have more than one likely antecedent.......Page 67
Verb Tenses: Past, Present, and Future......Page 68
Relative time......Page 69
The disappearing past perfect......Page 71
Past and past perfect in narrative......Page 72
Problems with subjunctive tenses......Page 73
1-15  Use the present participle and present infinitive to indicate time that is the same as.........Page 76
1-16  Don\'t use the present participle to indicate action just previous to the action of the main verb.......Page 77
Verb Moods: Indicative, Imperative, and Subjunctive......Page 78
1-17  Use the subjunctive forms I WERE and HE, SHE, or IT WERE.........Page 79
Incorrect uses of WERE in past-tense sentences......Page 80
WERE in future conditional clauses......Page 81
Dilemmas with WERE......Page 82
1-18  Don\'t be afraid to use the passive voice.......Page 83
The passive to emphasize the agent......Page 84
Modifiers......Page 85
1-19  Consider a possessive form to be a modifier, not a noun;.........Page 86
Adjectives and adjective chains......Page 87
Adverbs......Page 88
Participles and participial phrases......Page 91
Dependent clauses......Page 92
Dangling participles......Page 93
Permissible dangling participles......Page 94
Danglers other than participles......Page 95
Adverbs that should be adjectives......Page 97
2  Punctuation......Page 101
Sentence Structure......Page 103
Simple sentences......Page 104
Compound/complex sentences......Page 105
Parenthetical constructions......Page 106
Defining constructions......Page 108
Parenthetical and defining appositives......Page 109
Introductory constructions......Page 111
The goal: punctuation that reinforces structure......Page 113
Exceptions......Page 114
2-3  Do not separate two predicates with a comma unless the comma has a valid function.......Page 116
Valid commas between predicates......Page 117
2-4  Do not separate subject and verb, verb and object, or preposition and object with a comma.......Page 119
Exceptions......Page 120
2-5  Do not ordinarily put a comma between an adjective or adverb and a following word or phrase that it modifies.........Page 121
Parenthetical modifiers......Page 122
Sentence modifiers......Page 123
Complications in inverted sentences......Page 124
2-6  Use a comma before AND, OR, or NOR preceding the last of a series of three or more words or phrases.......Page 126
When AND, OR, or NOR occurs more than once in the series......Page 127
False series......Page 128
2-7  Don\'t automatically use commas to set off a negative element from a following positive element in not. . . but constructions.......Page 129
Confusion with not only . . . but......Page 130
2-8  Don\'t ordinarily put a comma after a conjunction just because what follows is.........Page 131
2-9  Don\'t use a comma to indicate an understood word unless the sentence requires it for clarity.......Page 133
2-10  Use commas to set off names and similar words in direct address.......Page 134
2-11  Use a comma, or some other mark of punctuation, before or after direct quotations.........Page 135
Other marks of punctuation......Page 136
When the attribution interrupts the quotation......Page 137
Exception: when quotations are noun phrases......Page 138
Semicolon......Page 141
Exception: the comma to emphasize......Page 142
2-13  Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses that are connected by however, thus, therefore, nevertheless.........Page 143
2-14  Use a semicolon to separate items in a series when some of the items already contain commas.......Page 144
Colon......Page 145
The colon before a list or other fragment......Page 146
The colon to introduce a grammatically complete sentence......Page 147
The colon to link a grammatically complete sentence......Page 148
2-16  Do not use a colon to introduce words that fit properly into the grammar of the sentence without the colon.......Page 150
2-17  Don\'t overuse the dash; consider using other marks of punctuation.......Page 151
Dashes for parenthetical constructions......Page 152
The dash to connect a phrase to the rest of a sentence......Page 153
Dashes to set off material within a quoted sentence that is not part of the quotation......Page 154
Dashes—dashes—dashes—......Page 155
Parentheses and Brackets......Page 156
When parentheses enclose an entire sentence......Page 157
When parentheses enclose more than one sentence within another sentence......Page 158
When there is parenthetical material within parenthetical material......Page 159
When parentheses are used with quotation marks......Page 160
2-19  Use brackets primarily within a quotation to enclose material that is not part of the quotation.......Page 161
Scholarly uses of brackets......Page 162
2-20  Use the question mark after direct questions but not after indirect questions.......Page 163
Exception: dialogue in fiction......Page 164
Other exceptions......Page 165
2-21  Position question marks properly when using them with other marks of punctuation.......Page 166
The question mark with the parenthesis......Page 167
The question mark with points of ellipsis......Page 168
2-22  Position exclamation points properly when using them with other marks of punctuation.......Page 169
The exclamation point with the parenthesis......Page 170
Quotation Marks......Page 171
Quotations as part of the writer\'s own sentence......Page 172
Direct quotations of more than one paragraph......Page 174
Indirect quotations and paraphrases......Page 175
Exceptions......Page 176
The quotation mark with the comma and the period......Page 177
The quotation mark with the semicolon and the dash......Page 178
Exceptions......Page 179
Exceptions......Page 180
Quotation marks following signed, marked, and similar words......Page 181
Quotation marks for words under discussion......Page 182
Quotation marks for unfamiliar terms......Page 183
Quotation marks for nicknames and epithets......Page 184
Quotation marks to indicate raised eyebrows......Page 185
2-27  Use three points to indicate ellipsis at the beginning or in the middle of a quoted sentence..........Page 186
Ellipsis at the beginning of a quoted sentence......Page 187
Ellipsis at the end of a quoted sentence......Page 188
Ellipsis of the end of one sentence and the beginning of another......Page 189
Ellipsis at the end or beginning of a paragraph or between paragraphs......Page 190
2-28  Use points of ellipsis sparingly to indicate pauses, and use them correctly.......Page 191
Apostrophe......Page 192
2-29  Form the possessive case of singular words, including words ending in s or z sounds.........Page 193
Singular and plural possessives......Page 194
Individual possession and joint possession......Page 195
Possessives of singular names that are plural in form......Page 196
Possessives with Jr. and Sr.......Page 197
Possessives in names of companies, organizations, and institutions......Page 198
Possessives of compounds and phrases......Page 199
Possessives combined with OF......Page 200
Contractions to indicate nonstandard speech......Page 201
Hyphen......Page 202
Exceptions......Page 205
2-32  Hyphenate almost all compounds that begin with all, self, and ex when it means former.........Page 207
2-33  Don\'t hyphenate most compounds ending in down, fold, less, like, over, wide, and wise; connect them solidly to the base word..........Page 208
Solid compound nouns......Page 209
Solid compound nouns that must be separated in context......Page 210
Compounds of nouns of equal value......Page 211
Compound nouns formed of gerund + adverb......Page 212
Compound nouns ending in ER or ING......Page 213
Multiword compound nouns......Page 214
Noun compounds in British English......Page 215
Adverbs that do not end in ly and can be mistaken for adjectives......Page 216
Adverbs that do not end in ly but cannot be mistaken for adjectives......Page 219
Adjectival compounds preceded by adverbs......Page 220
2-36  Hyphenate most adjectival compounds not covered in Rule 2-35.........Page 221
Adjective + participle and noun + participle adjectival compounds......Page 222
Participle + adjective, participle + adverb, noun + adjective, and adjective + adjective adjectival compounds......Page 223
Adjective + noun and noun + noun adjectival compounds......Page 224
Adjective + gerund and noun + gerund adjectival compounds......Page 227
Adjectival compounds that are prepositional phrases or are formed with participle + adverbial preposition or participle + prepositional phrase......Page 228
Adjectival compounds with capitalized words......Page 230
Suspended adjectival compounds......Page 231
2-37  Use hyphens properly with phrases containing numbers.......Page 232
Exceptions from standard rules......Page 233
Ranges of numbers......Page 234
Adjectival phrases with numbers......Page 235
Diagonal......Page 236
2-38  Use the diagonal only when it has clear advantages over alternatives; consider rephrasing to avoid using it.......Page 237
3  How to Style Written English: Miscellaneous Mechanics......Page 239
Exceptions......Page 242
Exception......Page 244
Exception......Page 245
When neither o\'clock nor A.M. or P.M. occurs with the time......Page 246
3-7  In an inclusive range of numbers, don\'t use the hyphen when the word TO or And is called for, and.........Page 247
3-8  When a date includes month, day, and year, use commas to set off the year; when.........Page 248
Abbreviations......Page 249
3-10  Don\'t use points with most abbreviations made up entirely of initials; do use points with most other abbreviations.......Page 250
3-11  If a comma occurs between a proper noun and an abbreviation, and the sentence continues.........Page 251
3-12  Learn to distinguish generic terms from proper nouns and adjectives formed from them.......Page 252
3-13  Capitalize formal titles of most specific offices and organizations, but in some cases.........Page 254
Modifications of Rule 3-14......Page 256
3-15  Don\'t capitalize doctor, madam or madame, sir, my lord, and similar forms of address unless they occur directly before a name.......Page 258
3-16  Capitalize mother, grandma, and other kinship terms for preceding generations when.........Page 259
Kinship terms for priests, nuns, and friars and others who are not kin......Page 260
3-17  Capitalize names of specific political divisions and subdivisions and the names of geographical regions and features.........Page 261
Generic terms in the plural with two or more proper names......Page 262
Geographical regions: some complications......Page 263
3-18  Never capitalize east, west, and similar terms when they indicate a direction rather than a region or location, and.........Page 264
3-19  Use italics for the names of newspapers and periodicals.......Page 265
Periodicals......Page 266
3-20  Use italics for the titles of books; independently published poems; plays and movies.........Page 267
Poems......Page 268
Musical compositions......Page 269
Titles ending in marks of punctuation......Page 271
Poems......Page 272
Songs and short compositions......Page 273
Titles used as possessives......Page 274
3-22  Capitalize the main words in a title and the first and last word, but do not capitalize a, the, to, or prepositions and conjunctions.........Page 275
3-23  Use italics for isolated foreign words if they are too uncommon to treat as English words, but.........Page 276
Plurals and possessives of foreign words......Page 278
4  Beyond the Sentence: Diction and Composition......Page 281
Occasion and Intent......Page 282
Pretending to be what we\'re not......Page 283
I: the perpendicular pronoun......Page 284
4-2  Remember who your listeners or readers are.......Page 285
4-3  Remember what you intend to express.......Page 286
Organization......Page 287
4-4  Decide on a beginning thought and an ending thought.......Page 288
4-5  Connect the beginning to the ending.......Page 289
Outlines......Page 290
Tone......Page 291
4-6  Avoid haughtiness; avoid chumminess.......Page 292
Anger......Page 293
Sorrow......Page 294
Progression of tone......Page 296
Comic relief, ridicule, and black humor......Page 297
Revision......Page 298
Missing links......Page 299
Bent links......Page 300
4-10  Check for rambling.......Page 301
4-11  Check for monotony.......Page 302
Monotonous sentence structure......Page 303
Too much abstract diction......Page 305
Too much figurative diction......Page 307
4-12  Check for clichés and awkward expressions.......Page 308
4-13  Check grammar, punctuation, and other mechanics.......Page 309
4-14  Practice delivering a speech at proper speed, or read a written work at normal reading speed.........Page 310
Glossary / Index......Page 313
A......Page 316
B......Page 330
C......Page 335
D......Page 345
E......Page 353
F......Page 358
G......Page 361
H......Page 365
I......Page 369
K......Page 378
L......Page 380
M......Page 386
N......Page 390
O......Page 392
P......Page 395
Q......Page 409
R......Page 410
S......Page 412
T......Page 425
U......Page 433
V......Page 437
W......Page 440
Y......Page 445
Z......Page 446
About the Author......Page 447