英语写作指南经典TheElementsofstyleWord文档格式.docx

英语写作指南经典TheElementsofstyleWord文档格式.docx

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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.

sworksareentertaining.Theyarefullofengagingideas.

Itisnearlyhalfpastfive.Wecannotreachtownbeforedark.

Ifaconjunctionisinserted,thepropermarkisacomma.（Rule4.）

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