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> William Safire's Rules for Writers: > Remember to [preserve the full] infinitive. > [Always use] the [active] voice. > [Always] put statements in the [posi
by eganist 6y ago
> William Safire's Rules for Writers:
> Remember to [preserve the full] infinitive.
> [Always use] the [active] voice.
> [Always] put statements in the [positive] form.
> Verbs have to agree with their subjects. (nobody9999 corrected this one already - was "has" in place of "have")
> Proofread carefully to see if you [leave] words out.
For those not in on the joke. Not sure if this would be how Safire would correct it, but I made an effort.
- nobody9999 6y agoI didn't "correct" anything. Those are all Safire's words and none of mine. Safire was using sarcasm through those examples to get his point across.
- eganist 6y agoThe original: https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/04/archives/on-language-the-fumblerules-of-grammar.html https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/04/archives/on-language-the-... > • Verbs has to agree with their subjects. But I saw what happened. Googling Safire's rules, the "helpful" top result via Google quoted a source that misquoted Safire, which I'm guessing is how it made it into your comment. So no worries.
- FemmeAndroid 6y agoThanks for this. I was stuck trying to figure out that line.
- nobody9999 6y agoThank you for the correction and the original link. It's much appreciated!
- criddell 6y ago> Proofread carefully to see if you [leave] words out. Shouldn't it be left rather than leave?
- eganist 6y agoGood catch, though the fix I don't think is quite right. "Proofread carefully to see if you [have left/are leaving] words out" probably should've been what I wrote. I invite a much more competent writer to fact-check me. "Proofread carefully to see if you [leave] words out." I believe is grammatically correct but a bit nonsensical as I'm no longer in the act of writing words when I'm proofreading. But again, I'm also possibly just embarrassing myself at this point.