The Elements of Style

About the Author

William Strunk Jr. (1869-1946) was an American professor of English at Cornell University and the author of Elements of Style. After his former student E.B. White revised and extended the book, The Elements of Style became an influential guide to writing in the English language, informally known as Stunk & White. Stunk taught English for 46 years at Cornell, becoming an expert in both classical and non-English literature. In 1918, Strunk privately published The Elements of Style for the use of his Cornell students, who gave it the nickname the little book. Strunk intended the guide to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention ... on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles and composition most commonly violated. The book, after being revised and expanded by E.B. White, sold more than 10 million copies. Strunk married and had 3 children.

Book Notes

The Elements of Style was Strunk's attempt to cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin. The Elements of Style proposes to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It concentrates on fundamentals.

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, no paragraph unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Some of this book contain rules that are a matter of individual preference rather than established rules of grammar.

Elementary Rules of Usage

1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in -es and -is. The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours have no apostrophe. Indefinite pronouns, however, use the apostrophe to show possession.
2. 1. Charles's friend
   2. Burns's poems
   3. laws of Moses
   4. temple of Isis
   5. ones rights
   6. somebody else's umbrella
2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last. This comma is often referred to as the serial comma. In the name of business firms the last comma is usually omitted.
3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas. If the interruption to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the commas may be safely omitted. 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.
4. 1. A parenthetical expression is a word, phrase, or clause that provides extra, non-essential information within a sentence, often set off by punctuation, like commas, parentheses, or dashes.
   2. The best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot.
   3. The best way to write a date: 6 April 1988 rather than something like April 6, 1988
   4. No comma should separate a noun from a restrictive form of identification:
   5. 1. Billy the Kid
      2. The poet Sappho
   5. Jr. is not parenthetic, as it is restrictive.
   6. Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place. Commas are therefore needed. A nonrestrictive clause is one that does not serve to define the antecedent noun.
   7. Restrictive clauses, by contrast, are not parenthetic and are not set off by commas:
   8. 1. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
   8. When the main clause of a sentence is preceded by a phrase or a subordinate clause, use a comma to set off these elements.
4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.
5. Do not join independent clauses with a comma. The proper mark of punctuation here is a semicolon.
6. 1. An exception to the semicolon rule: A comma is preferable when the clauses are very short and alike in form, or when the tone of the sentence is easy and conversational.
6. Do not break sentences in two. In other words, do not use periods for commas.
7. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation. A colon tells the reader what follows is closely related to the preceding clause. The colon has more effect than the comma, less power to separate than the semicolon, and more formality than the dash. It usually follows an independent clause and should not separate a verb from its complement or a preposition from its object.
8. 1. Join two independent clauses with a colon if the second interprets or amplifies the first. A colon may introduce a quotation that supports or contributes to the preceding clause.
   2. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or clarifies another noun or noun phrase, often placed beside it. Appositives can be essential (restrictive) or non-essential (restrictive).
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, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
9. 1. A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
9. The number of the subject determines the number of the verb.
10. Use the proper case of a pronoun. The personal pronouns, as well as the pronoun who, change form as they function as subject or object.
11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
12. 1. Walking slowly down the road, he saw a woman accompanied by two children.
    2. 1. The word walking refers to the subject of the sentence, not to the woman.

Elementary Principles of Composition

12. Choose a suitable design and hold it.
13. 1. A basic structural design underlies every kind of writing. Writing, to be effective, must follow closely the thoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the order in which those thoughts occur. In most cases, planning must be a deliberate prelude to writing. The first principle of writing is to foresee or determine the shape of what is to come and pursue that shape.
13. Make the paragraph the unit of composition.
14. 1. As long as it holds together, a paragraph may be of any length. A subject ordinarily requires division into topics, each of which should be dealt with in a paragraph. The object of treating each topic in a paragraph by itself is to aid the reader. The beginning of each paragraph is a signal that a new step in the development of the subject has been reached. As a rule, single sentences should not be printed as paragraphs, except in the case of sentences of transition, which indicate the relation between parts of exposition or argument.
    2. The opening sentence of a paragraph usually indicates by its subject the direction the paragraph is to take.
14. Use the active voice
15. 1. The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive. This rules does not mean that the writer should entirely discard the passive voice, which is frequently convenient and sometimes necessary. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some perfunctory expression as there is or could be heard. Note that brevity is a by-product of vigor.
15. Put statements in positive form:
16. 1. Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language. Use the word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion. The reader is dissatisfied with being told what is not; the reader wished to be told what is. As a rule, it is better to express even a negative in positive form. Placing negative and positive in opposition makes for a stronger structure. Negative works other than not are usually strong. Statements qualified with unnecessary auxiliaries or conditionals sound irresolute.
16. Use definite, specific, concrete language: Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract. The greatest writers - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare - are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures. All significant details should be given with accuracy and vigor so that readers can project themselves into the scene.
17. Omit needless words
18. 1. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. The fact that is an especially debilitating expression. It should be revised out of evert sentence in which it occurs. Who is, which was, and the like are often superfluous. A common way to fall into wordiness is to present a single complex idea, step by step, in a series of sentences that might to advantage be combined into one.
18. Avoid succession of loose sentences
19. 1. This rule refers especially to loose sentences of a particular type: those consisting of two clauses, the second introduced by a conjunction or relative. A writer may err by making sentences too compact and periodic. Replace loose sentences with simple sentences.
19. Express coordinate ideas in similar form.
20. 1. The principle, that of parallel construction, requires that expressions similar in content and function be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more readily the likeness of content and function. By this principle, an article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term.
20. Keep related words together
21. 1. The position of words in a sentence is the principal means of showing their relationship. Confusion and ambiguity result when words are badly placed. 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. Modifiers should come, if possible, next to the words they modify.
21. In summaries, keep to one tense
22. 1. In summarizing the action of a drama, use the present tense. In summarizing a poem, story, or novel, also use the present, though you may use the past if it seems more natural to do so. In the criticism or interpretation of literature, be careful to avoid dropping into summary.
22. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end.
23. 1. The proper place in the sentence for the word or group of words that the writer desires to make prominent is usually the end. Any element other than the subject becomes emphatic when placed first. To receive special emphasis, the subject of a sentence must take the position of the predicate.

A Few Matters of Form

• Colloquialisms: If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks.
• Exclamations: Do not attempt to emphasize simple statements by using a mark of exclamation.
• Hyphen: When two or more words are combined to form a compound adjective, a hyphen is usually required.
• Parentheses: A sentence containing an expression in parentheses is punctuated outside the last mark of parenthesis exactly as if the parenthetical expression were absent.
• Quotations: Formal quotations cited as documentary evidence are introduced by a colon and enclosed quotation marks. When a quotation is followed by an attributive phrase, the comma is enclosed with the quotation marks.

Words and Expressions Commonly Misused

• aggravate means to add to
• Allusion means an indirect reference
• As to whether: whether is sufficient
• Can should not be used as a substitute for may
• Avoid using certainly often
• Compare: To compare to is to point out or imply resemblances between objects regarded as essentially of a different order; to compare with is mainly to point out differences between objects regarded as essentially the same order.
• Contact: Do not contact people' get in touch with them, look them up, phone them, find them, or meet them.
• Disinterested means impartial; do not confuse with uninterested which means not interested in
• Due to: synonymous with attributable to
• Effect: As a noun, means result; as a verb, means to bring about, to accomplish (not to be confused with affect, which means to influence)
• Inflammable means easy to set on fire
• Gratuitous means unearned or unwanted
• However: Avoid starting a sentence with however when the meaning is nevertheless
• In regard to: Often wrongly written in regards to
• Irregardless should be regardless
• Less should not be misused for fewer

An Approach to Style

Style in an increment to writing. All writers, by the way they use the language, reveal something of their spirits, their habits, their capacities, and their biases. All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation - it is the Self escaping into the open. Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. Here are some suggestions and cautionary hints that may help the beginner find the way to a satisfactory style:

1. Place yourself in the background
2. Write in a way that comes naturally
3. Work from a suitable design
4. Write with nouns and verbs
5. Revise and rewrite
6. Do not overstate
7. Avoid the use of qualifiers
8. Do not affect a breezy manner
9. Use orthodox spelling
10. Do not explain too much
11. Do not construct awkward adverbs
12. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking
13. Avoid fancy words
14. Be clear
15. Do not interject opinion
16. Prefer the standard to the offbeat

Review

I liked this book. The last time I received actual writing advice was in high school, so it was probably a good idea to go over best practices again. Most of the advice in the book I had already received at one point or another.