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Use "The Elements Style" by Strunk & White.
by nxzero 10y ago
Use "The Elements Style" by Strunk & White.
- WalterSear 10y agohttp://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/LandOfTheFree.pdf http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/LandOfTheFree.pdf http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497 http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/2549...
- curiousess 10y agoThat article for the Chronicle of Higher Education is so wrongheaded it's hilarious. ""Keep related words together" is further explained in these terms: "The subject of a sentence and the principal verb should not, as a rule, be separated by a phrase or clause that can be transferred to the beginning." That is a negative passive, containing an adjective, with the subject separated from the principal verb by a phrase ("as a rule") that could easily have been transferred to the beginning." Yes. That's the joke, dear Geoffrey. They are showing the violation to demonstrate its effect on a sentence. You have to be truly humorless if not willfully obtuse to read this as Strunk & White having no idea what they're talking about. Strunk & White is self-critiquing, which is part of what makes it great—it's not nearly so prescriptive as the author seems to think.
- klodolph 10y agoThat might be one of the most contentious entries. I personally think it is overrated, muddy, and generally mediocre as far as style guides go. There seem to be a lot of people who hate it as well as some people who love it. The only guides I dislike more are the MLA and APA guides.