You want to know if it is still the case that charless is grammatically correct, as prescribed by strunk and white over fifty years ago. Strunk and white recommended this decades ago, and controversy continues to this day. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The rule is about apostrophes, but the rule is stated with an extra apostrophe so we are immediately confused. The bad luck that plagues odysseus odysseus s bad luck the strong tentacles of the octopus the. May 27, 2019 know how to use apostrophes for acronyms and years. Here, strunk introduces readers to the most basic grammar rules. The most important rule of style in strunk and whites elements of style is number, omit needless words. This brief quiz assesses student understanding of usage rule 1, regarding apostrophes for possession, from strunk and white s the elements of style. Inconsistency in strunk and white regarding serial comma. It was this recurring question, put to himself, that must have inspired white to revive and add to a textbook by an english professor of his, will strunk jr.
Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in es and is, the. With a singular noun, such as john, horse, new zealand, an apostrophe and an s are added at the end of the word to indicate ownership. 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. The plural form of most sh names is formed by adding s or occasionally es or. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the elements of style. The unexpected harmony and partnership of strunk and whites have fulfilled their central claim successfully, namely clarity of writing still comes from concision and precision. Classical or biblical names, such as moses, which take only an apostrophe. Form the possessive singular of nouns with s follow this rule whatever the.
Strunk notes there are exceptions, and that pronominal possessives, such as hers, its, theirs, have no apostrophe. Nov 09, 2017 i find strunk s description of apostrophe s to be concise and to the point. Ive edited professionally in quite a number of contexts, and the bestthoughtout style guides always follow strunk and white. As strunk and white remind us in the elements of style 4th ed.
The dog s leashes but if the apostrophe comes after the s, we understand that many dogs have a variety of leashes. B whites former professor composed this miniguide to editing content and the style of minimalism in writing, which he in turn published on a larger scale and added some of his own wisdom to. Here s how the original strunk and white stated the same rule. Contents preface iii i introductory 1 ii elementary rules of usage 3 1. Strunk and whites the elements of style receives frequent mention in articles about writing originating as a classroom study aid prepared by cornell english professor william strunk in 1918, this widelyused desk reference of english usage, form, and style continues to influence writers after a hundred years. This is professor strunk s advice regarding this rule. Correct them by adding an apostrophe or an apostrophe and s where needed. The apostrophe s s causes a great deal of unnecessary trouble. Paige so today, were gonna talk about apostrophes and plurals. In 1957 the style guide reached the attention of e. The dogs leashes if the noun ending in s is singular, most sources recommend adding both the apostrophe and an additional s. The style that many of us are accustomed tosimply adding an apostrophe after the s e.
The dogma often attributed to strunk is addressed in the forward by e. But strunk and white suggest that despite what turabian says, its probably better to say the laws of moses and the temple of isis than to say moses laws or isis temple strunk and white 1. Strunk and whites stepbystep manual of sentence construction. As the authors note, strong verbs will make your writing lively and emphatic. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. White have a vicelike grip on educated americans views about grammar and.
The apostrophe in contractions the most common use of apostrophes in english is for contractions, where a noun. But such forms as moses laws, isis temple are com monly replaced by. You want to know if it is still the case that charles s is grammatically correct, as prescribed by strunk and white over fifty years ago. William strunks elements of style arbortown properties. English department writing guide the university of buckingham. Note that contractions are often considered too informal for academic writing. But such forms as moses laws, isis temple are commonly replaced by. But just between you and me, you can use this shootfromthehip style in personal email. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after. It is the case that charless is still grammatically correct, because writing reflects speech and most native speakers still pronounce the s twice. It is the case that charles s is still grammatically correct, because writing reflects speech and most native speakers still pronounce the s twice.
A new approach to flannery oconnors short story can be found in the essay the uncanny theology of a good man is hard to find. However, it is readers s or readers duty to read everything, even style critically, and henceforth rather than considering their rules and principles as rigid laws. Form the possessive of all singular nouns, even those ending in. The most important rule of style in strunk and white s elements of style is number, omit needless words. White, writing in 1959, noted that typographical usage dictates the comma be inside the marks, though logically it. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Pdf find, read and cite all the research you need on. Start studying strunk and whites elements of style punctuation rules.
The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe. Simplified and illustrated for busy people kindle edition by strunk jr. Strunk and white subject is a crossword puzzle clue. The exception to this is singular nouns which end in the letter s.
You want to know if it is still the case that charless is grammatically correct, as prescribed by strunk and white over fifty years ago it is the case that charless is still grammatically correct, because writing reflects speech and most native speakers still pronounce the s twice that is not to say that charles is. With irregular plurals, we put the apostrophe before the letter s. Thus write, red, white, and blue honest, energetic, but headstrong he opened. I find strunks description of apostrophe s to be concise and to the point. It is one of the most influential and bestknown prescriptive treatments of english grammar and usage in the united states.
Jamess books a platypuss bill the fishs scales the students rights exercise. Know how to use apostrophes for acronyms and years. Choose from 171 different sets of strunk white flashcards on quizlet. Thus write, charles s friend burns s poems the witch s malice exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in es and is, the possessive jesus, and such forms as for conscience sake, for righteousness sake. However, it is readerss or readers duty to read everything, even style critically, and henceforth rather than considering their rules and principles as rigid laws. Thus write, charless friend burnss poems the witchs malice exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in es and is, the possessive jesus, and such forms as or conscience sake, for righteousness sake. Form the possessive case of a plural noun by adding an apostrophe after the final letter if it is an s or by adding s if the final letter is not an s. This public document was automatically mirrored from pdfy.
Strunk and whites elements of style punctuation rules. This reader wants to know why we write 1980s and not 1980s. The same logic goes for years instead of writing spandex was popular in the 1980s, use 1980s. We very rarely use the apostrophe to show plurals and only under special. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines. He explains, firstly, how to form possessive singulars of nouns an example given is charless friend. Many writers make the mistake of adding just an apostrophe to form the possessive of singular nouns ending in. The only practice i detest is using the apostrophe with x, as though x. White 18991985, a former student of strunks and today probably best.
Giving the power of the internet to distribute free items and the nature of people to go for the easy option it is likely that strunk and white the elements of style. In this video, we examine ten principles of good writing, including make the paragraph the unit of composition, and place the. This placement is traditional in the united states. Tenney later revised it for publication as the elements and practice of composition 1935.
What is the general rule for forming the possessive of singular nouns. Save considerably by purchasing the complete 11rule quiz set, which correlates with strunk and white s primar. The book is the element of style by william strunk, jr. So as to curtail my breach of the of the book, ill let you read the original text to pick up the books full wisdom, and to learn about the words and expressions that mess people up. Strunk and white subject is a crossword puzzle clue that we have spotted 7 times. The land of the free and the elements of style linguistics and.
The problem nearly always seems to stem from not understanding that the apostrophe has two very different and very important uses in english. Today were going to start talking about a different piece of punctuation and that piece of punctuation is the apostrophe it kind of looks like a comma, but its one that floats in the air heres the ground, heres the word ground, and if we say paiges dog atti were using the apostrophe, not. Learn strunk white with free interactive flashcards. A summary of the elements of style by strunk and white. The elements of style by strunk and white introduction. Hammurabis code, dickenss last novel, jamess cello. This style manual offers practical advice on improving wri.
Anthony trys to enjoy his tropical fish, but the aquarium glass is filthy with algae. Cornell university english professor william strunk jr. Thus write, charless friend burnss poems the witchs malice exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in es and is, the possessive jesus, and such forms as for conscience sake, for righteousness sake. The elements of style, by william strunka project gutenberg. The elements of style wikisource, the free online library. The first writer i watched at work was my stepfather, e. And they learn that the whole notion of possession is rather screwy and illdefined. Thus write, red, white, and blue honest, energetic, but headstrong he opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents. To show separate ownership, use separate apostrophes. Today were going to start talking about a different piece of punctuation and that piece of punctuation is the apostrophe it kind of looks like a comma, but it s one that floats in the air here s the ground, here s the word ground, and if we say paige s dog atti were using the apostrophe, not. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. Voiceover hello grammarians hello paige, voiceover hi, david.
In its place, the following sentence has been added. From strunk and white s the elements of style, chapter 2, lesson 2. In this video, we examine ten principles of good writing, including make the. Indefinite pronouns, however, use the apostrophe to show possession. English is, as gorgonzola points out below, less prescriptive, there is no situation where applying the rules above would be positively wrong, strunk and white notwitstanding. Johns coat, the horses tail, new zealands beautiful scenery. Pdf style, usage, grammar, and punctuation ch 4 researchgate.
The apostrophe probably causes more grief than all of the other punctuation marks put together. If you use these rules you will never be using the apostrophe incorrectly, since although u. According to the chicago manual of style and strunk and white s elements of style, you make a possessive out of common nouns ending in s by adding an apostrophe, regardless of whether theyre singluar or plural. He opened the letter, read it and made a note of its contents. Did you know that canadas head of government is called the prime minister. I understood that making text entities with nonletter characters into a plural form, you separate the s from the term with an apostrophe 1900s, jones, smiths, or bang. James s books a platypus s bill the fish s scales the student s rights exercise. The apostrophe is used to mark omitted letters in contractions. The unexpected harmony and partnership of strunk and white s have fulfilled their central claim successfully, namely clarity of writing still comes from concision and precision. The fourth edition of the elements of style 2000, published 54 years after strunk s death, omits his stylistic advice about masculine pronouns. Thus write, charles s friend burns s poems the witch s malice exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in es and is, the possessive jesus, and such forms as or conscience sake, for righteousness sake. We talked about this a little bit in our introduction to the apostrophe video.
But that s what the rule seems to suggest because it s so poorly stated. The elements of stylerules wikisource, the free online. This is professor strunks advice regarding this rule. Thus write, red, white, and blue honest, energetic, but headstrong. Save considerably by purchasing the complete 11rule quiz set, which correlates with strunk and whites primar. This is a very, very rare case, where we use an apostrophe to show that something is plural, and it almost never happens, but we will explain when it does.
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