基本语法
Highlights from Chapter 1 <<The Elements of Style>> by Strunk and White
1.
Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s.
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant.
Charles’s friend
Burns’s poems
the witch’s malice
A common error is to write it’s for its, or vice versa. The first is a contraction, meaning ” it is.” The second is a possessive.
2.
In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.
red, white, and blue
gold, silver, or copper
He opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents.
3.
Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.
Example:
The best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on loot.
1) Dates usually contain parenthetic words or figures. Punctuate as follows:
February to July, 1992
April 6, 1986
Wednesday, November 14, 1990
2) A name or a title in direct address is parenthetic.
Well , Susan, this is a fine mess you are in.
3) The abbreviations etc., i.e., and e.g. , the abbreviations for academic degrees, and titles that follow a name are parenthetic and should be punctuated accordingly.
Letters, packages, etc., should go here.
Joe Smith, Ph.D., presided.
4) No comma, however, should separate a noun from a restrictive term of identification.
Billy the Kid
The novelist Bob
The poet James
5) Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place. Commas are therefore needed.
The audience, which had at first been indifferent, became more and more interested.
6) Restrictive clauses, by contrast, are not parenthetic and are not set off by commas.
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
7) When the main clause of a sentence is preceded by a phrase or a subordinate clause, use a comma to set off these elements.
Partly by hard fighting, partly by diplomatic skill, they enlarged their dominions to the east and rose to royal rank with the possession of Sicily.
4.
1) Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.
Example: The early records of the city have disappeared, and the story of its first years can no longer be reconstructed.
2) Two-part sentences of which the second member is introduced by as, for, or, nor, or while require a comma before the conjunction.
3) When the subject is the same for both clauses and is expressed only once, a comma is useful if the connective is but, When the connective is and, the comma should be omitted if the relation between the two statements is close or immediate.
Example: I have heard the arguments, but am still unconvinced.
He has had several years’ experience and is thoroughly competent.
5.
Do not join independent clauses with a comma.
If two or more clauses grammatically complete and not joined by a conjunction are to form a single compound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is a semicolon.
Example: Susan’s works are entertaining; they are full of engaging ideas.
It is equally correct to write each of these as two sentences, replacing the semicolons with periods.
If a conjunction is inserted, the proper mark is a comma.
Example: Susan’s works are entertaining, for they are full of engaging ideas.
If the second clause is preceded by an adverb, such as accordingly besides, then, therefore, or thus, and not by a conjunction, the semicolon is still required.
Example: I had never been in the place before; besides, it was dark as a tomb.
6.
Do not break sentences in two (do not use periods for commas).
Example: I met them on a Cunard liner many years ago, coming home from Liverpool to New York.
7.
Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustration quotation.
A colon usually follows an independent clause and should not separate a verb from its complement or a preposition from its object.
No: Your dedicated whittler requires: a knife, a piece of wood, and a hack porch.
Yes: Your dedicated whittler requires three props: a knife, …
8.
Use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption and to announce a long appositive or summary.
A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, and less formal than a colon.
Example: His first thought on getting out of bed-if he had any thought at all-was to get back in.
9.
The number of the subject determines the number of the verb.
1) A common blunder is the use of a singular verb form in a relative clause following “one of … ” or a similar expression when the relative is the subject.
No: One of the ablest scientists who has attacked this problem
Yes: One of the ablest scientists who have attacked this problem
2) Use a singular verb form after “each”, “either”, “everyone”, “everybody”, “neither”, “nobody”, “someone”.
3) With “none”, use the singular verb when the word means “no one” or “not one.”
No: None of us are perfect.
Yes: None of us is perfect.
4) A plural verb is used when “none” suggests more than one thing or person.
Example: None are so fallible as those who are sure they’re right.
5) A compound subject formed of two or more nouns joined by “and” almost always requires a plural verb.
Example: The walrus and the carpenter were walking close at hand.
6) A singular subject remains singular even if other nouns are connected to it by “with”, “as well as”, “in addition to”, “except”, “together with”, and “no less than”.
Example: His speech as well as his manner is objectionable.
7) A linking verb agrees with the number of its subject.
Example: What is wanted is a few more pairs of hands.
8) Some nouns that appear to be plural are usually construed as singular and given a singular verb.
Example: Politics is an art, not a science.
10. Use the proper case of pronoun.
1) When “who” introduces a subordinate clause, its case depends on its function in that clause.
Example: James is the candidate who we think will win. [We think he will win.] James is the candidate whom we hope to elect. [We hope to elect him.]
2) A pronoun in a comparison is nominative if it is the subject of a stated or understood verb.
James writes better than I. (Than I write.)
3) Avoid ” understood” verbs by supplying them.
No: I think James admires Tom more than I.
Yes: I think James admires Tom more than I do.
No: James loves cake more than me.
Yes: James loves cake more than he loves me.
4) Use the simple personal pronoun as a subject.
No: James and myself stayed home.
Yes: James and I stayed home.
No: James and yourself brought the lunch.
Yes: James and you brought the lunch.
5) Gerunds usually require the possessive case.
Example: James objected to our driving on the icy roads.
6) A present participle as a verbal, on the other hand, takes the objective case.
Example: They heard him singing in the shower.
11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
Example: Walking down the road, he saw James accompanied by two children.
To make “walking” refer to James, rewrite:
He saw James, accompanied by two children, walking down the road.
Participial phrases preceded by a conjunction or a preposition, nouns in apposition, adjectives, and adjective phrases come under the same rule if they begin the sentence.
No: On arriving in NYC, his friends met him at the station.
Yes: On arriving in NYC, he was met at the…
No: Young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me.
Yes: Young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy.