英语写作指南经典TheElementsofstyle.docx
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英语写作指南经典TheElementsofstyle.docx
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英语写作指南经典TheElementsofstyle
ElementaryRulesofUsage
1.Formthepossessivesingularofnounsbyadding 's.
Followthisrulewhateverthefinalconsonant.Thuswrite,
Charles'sfriend
Burns'spoems
thewitch'smalice
Exceptionsarethepossessivesofancientpropernamesendingin-esand-is,thepossessiveJesus',andsuchformsasforconscience'sake,forrighteousness'sake.ButsuchformsasMoses'Laws,Isis'templearecommonlyreplacedby
thelawsofMoses
thetempleofIsis
Thepronominalpossessiveshers,its,theirs,yours,andourshavenoapostrophe.Indefinitepronouns,however,usetheapostrophetoshowpossession.
one'srights
somebodyelse'sumbrella
Acommonerroristowriteit'sforits,orviceversa.Thefirstisacontraction,meaning"itis."Thesecondisapossessive.
It'sawisedogthatscratchesitsownfleas.
2.Inaseriesofthreeormoretermswithasingleconjunction,useacommaaftereachtermexceptthelast.
Thuswrite,
red,white,andbluegold,silver,orcopper
Heopenedtheletter,readit,andmadeanoteofitscontents.
Thiscommaisoftenreferredtoasthe"serial"comma.Inthenamesofbusinessfirmsthelastcommaisusuallyomitted.Followtheusageoftheindividualfirm.
Little,BrownandCompanyDonaldson,Lufkin&Jenrette
3.Encloseparentheticexpressionsbetweencommas.
Thebestwaytoseeacountry,unlessyouarepressedfortime,istotravelonfoot.
Thisruleisdifficulttoapply;itisfrequentlyhardtodecidewhetherasingleword,suchashowever,orabriefphraseisorisnotparenthetic.Iftheinterruptiontotheflowofthesentenceisbutslight,thecommasmaybesafelyomitted.Butwhethertheinterruptionisslightorconsiderable,neveromitonecommaandleavetheother.Thereisnodefenseforsuchpunctuationas
Marjorieshusband,ColonelNelsonpaidusavisityesterday.
or
Mybrotheryouwillbepleasedtohear,isnowinperfecthealth.
Datesusuallycontainparentheticwordsorfigures.Punctuateasfollows:
FebruarytoJuly,1992
April6,1986
Wednesday,November14,1990
Notethatitiscustomarytoomitthecommain
6April1988
Thelastformisanexcellentwaytowriteadate;thefiguresareseparatedbyawordandare,forthatreason,quicklygrasped.
Anameoratitleindirectaddressisparenthetic.
If,Sir,yourefuse,Icannotpredictwhatwillhappen.
Well,Susan,thisisafinemessyouarein.
Theabbreviationsetc.,i.e.,ande.g.,theabbreviationsforacademicdegrees,andtitlesthatfollowanameareparentheticandshouldbepunctuatedaccordingly.
Letters,packages,etc.,shouldgohere.
HoraceFulsome,Ph.D.,presided.
RachelSimonds,Attorney
TheReverendHarryLang,S.J.
Nocomma,however,shouldseparateanounfromarestrictivetermofidentification.
BillytheKid
ThenovelistJaneAusten
WilliamtheConqueror
ThepoetSappho
AlthoughJunior,withitsabbreviationJr.,hascommonlybeenregardedasparenthetic,logicsuggeststhatitis,infact,restrictiveandthereforenotinneedofacomma.
JamesWrightJr.
Nonrestrictiverelativeclausesareparenthetic,asaresimilarclausesintroducedbyconjunctionsindicatingtimeorplace.Commasarethereforeneeded.Anonrestrictiveclauseisonethatdoesnotservetoidentifyordefinetheantecedentnoun.
Theaudience,whichhadatfirstbeenindifferent,becamemoreandmoreinterested.
In1769,whenNapoleonwasborn,CorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.
NetherStowey,whereColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMariner,isafewmilesfromBridgewater.
Inthesesentences,theclausesintroducedbywhich,when,andwherearenonrestrictive;theydonotlimitordefine,theymerelyaddsomething.Inthefirstexample,theclauseintroducedbywhichdoesnotservetotellwhichofseveralpossibleaudiencesismeant;thereaderpresumablyknowsthatalready.Theclauseadds,parenthetically,astatementsupplementingthatinthemainclause.Eachofthethreesentencesisacombinationoftwostatementsthatmighthavebeenmadeindependently.
Theaudiencewasatfirstindifferent.Lateritbecamemoreandmoreinterested.
Napoleonwasbornin1769.AtthattimeCorsicahadbutrecentlybeenacquiredbyFrance.
ColeridgewroteTheRimeoftheAncientMarineratNetherStowey.NetherStoweyisafewmilesfromBridgewater.
Restrictiveclauses,bycontrast,arenotparentheticandarenotsetoffbycommas.Thus,
Peoplewholiveinglasshousesshouldn'tthrowstones.
Heretheclauseintroducedbywhodoesservetotellwhichpeoplearemeant;thesentence,unlikethesentencesabove,cannotbesplitintotwoindependentstatements.Thesameprincipleofcommauseappliestoparticipialphrasesandtoappositives.
Peoplesittingintherearcouldn'thear,(restrictive)
UncleBert,beingslightlydeaf,movedforward,(non-restrictive)
MycousinBobisatalentedharpist,(restrictive)
Ouroldestdaughter,Mary,sings,(nonrestrictive)
Whenthemainclauseofasentenceisprecededbyaphraseorasubordinateclause,useacommatosetofftheseelements.
Partlybyhardfighting,partlybydiplomaticskill,theyenlargedtheirdominionstotheeastandrosetoroyalrankwiththepossessionofSicily.
4.Placeacommabeforeaconjunctionintroducinganindependentclause.
Theearlyrecordsofthecityhavedisappeared,andthestoryofitsfirstyearscannolongerbereconstructed.
Thesituationisperilous,butthereisstillonechanceofescape.
Two-partsentencesofwhichthesecondmemberisintroducedbyas(inthesenseof"because"),for,or,nor,orwhile(inthesenseof"andatthesametime")likewiserequireacommabeforetheconjunction.
Ifadependentclause,oranintroductoryphraserequiringtobesetoffbyacomma,precedesthesecondindependentclause,nocommaisneededaftertheconjunction.
Thesituationisperilous,butifwearepreparedtoactpromptly,thereisstillonechanceofescape.
Whenthesubjectisthesameforbothclausesandisexpressedonlyonce,acommaisusefuliftheconnectiveisbut.Whentheconnectiveisand,thecommashouldbeomittediftherelationbetweenthetwostatementsiscloseorimmediate.
Ihaveheardthearguments,butamstillunconvinced.
Hehashadseveralyears'experienceandisthoroughlycompetent.
5.Donotjoinindependentclauseswithacomma.
Iftwoormoreclausesgrammaticallycompleteandnotjoinedbyaconjunctionaretoformasinglecompoundsentence,thepropermarkofpunctuationisasemicolon.
MaryShelley'sworksareentertaining;theyarefullofengagingideas.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive;wecannotreachtownbeforedark.
Itis,ofcourse,equallycorrecttowriteeachoftheseastwosentences,replacingthesemicolonswithperiods.
MaryShelley'sworksareentertaining.Theyarefullofengagingideas.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive.Wecannotreachtownbeforedark.
Ifaconjunctionisinserted,thepropermarkisacomma.(Rule4.)
MaryShelley'sworksareentertaining,fortheyarefullofengagingideas.
Itisnearlyhalfpastfive,andwecannotreachtownbeforedark.
Acomparisonofthethreeformsgivenabovewillshowclearlytheadvantageofthefirst.Itis,atleastintheexamplesgiven,betterthanthesecondformbecauseitsuggeststhecloserelationshipbetweenthetwostatementsinawaythattheseconddoesnotattempt,andbetterthanthethirdbecauseitisbrieferandthereforemoreforcible.Indeed,thissimplemethodofindicatingrelationshipbetweenstatementsisoneofthemostusefuldevicesofcomposition.Therelationship,asabove,iscommonlyoneofcauseandconsequence.
Notethatifthesecondclauseisprecededbyanadverb,suchasaccordingly,besides,then,therefore,orthus,andnotbyaconjunction,thesemicolonisstillrequired.
Ihadneverbeenintheplacebefore;besides,itwasdarkasatomb.
Anexceptiontothesemicolonruleisworthnotinghere.Acommaispreferablewhentheclausesareveryshortandalikeinform,orwhenthetoneofthesentenceiseasyandconversational.
Manproposes,Goddisposes.
Thegatesswungapart,thebridgefell,theportculliswasdrawnup.
Ihardlyknewhim,hewassochanged.
Heretoday,gonetomorrow.
6.Donotbreaksentencesintwo.
Inotherwords,donotuseperiodsforcommas.
ImetthemonaCunardlinermanyyearsago.CominghomefromLiverpooltoNewYork.
Shewasaninterestingtalker.Awomanwhohadtraveledallovertheworldandlivedinhalfadozencountries.
Inboththeseexamples,thefirstperiodshouldbereplacedbyacommaandthefollowingwordbegunwithasmallletter.
Itispermissibletomakeanemphaticwordorexpressionservethepurposeofasentenceandtopunctuateitaccordingly:
Againandagainhecalledout.Noreply.
Thewritermust,however,becertainthattheemphasisiswarranted,lestaclippedsentenceseemmerelyablunderinsyntaxorinpunctuation.Generallyspeaking,theplaceforbrokensentencesisindialogue,whenacharacterhappenstospeakinaclippedorfragmentaryway.
Rules3,4,5,and6coverthemostimportantprinciplesthatgovernpunctuation.Theyshouldbesothoroughlymasteredthattheirapplicationbecomessecondnature.
7.Useacolonafteranindependentclausetointroducealistofparticulars,anappositive,anamplification,oranillustrativequotation.
Acolontellsthereaderthatwhatfollowsiscloselyrelatedtotheprecedingclause.Thecolonhasmoreeffectthanthecomma,lesspowertoseparatethanthesemicolon,andmoreformalitythanthedash.Itusuallyfollowsanindependentclauseandshouldnotseparateaverbfromitscomplementoraprepositionfromitsobject.Theexamplesinthelefthandcolumn,below,arewrong;theyshouldberewrittenasintherighthandc
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