The Elements of Style

The rules on writing to help everyone feel more confident in addressing a wider audience. It contains great examples to help us understand the application of each rule and how adopting the rules leads to better writing.

The Elements of Style - W. Strunk Jr. & E. B. White

Elementary Rules of Usage

1. (Peter’s. Charles’s) Use ‘s for possessive singular of nouns. Exceptions are ancient proper names and pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself.
2. (Apple, Banana, and Chiku) For series of terms with conjunction, use comma after the terms except for the last. etc. is always preceded by a comma.
3. (This dude, who was indifferent, became more interested) Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas. Applies to non-restrictive clauses introduced by which, when, where, who. Restrictive relative clauses do not require the commas. Example: The dude who is most interested will get the position.
4. (Something something happened, but another thing also happened) Place a comma before introducing an independent clause
5. (This dude is cool; he was a former ninja) Do not join independent clauses by a comma. Use a semicolon to form a compound sentence if necessary.
6. (This is. An apple) Do NOT break sentences in two
7. (Being in a dilapidated condition, the house was a bargain for me) Participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence MUST refer to the grammatical subject (the house). The counter example: Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house cheap. (I became dilapidated LOL).
8. Wrap words getting cut of at the end of line to the next line by dividing it according to formation (know-ledge), or on vowel (proposition), or on double letters (refer-ring) unless they form a simple word (tell-ing).

Elementary Principles of Composition

1. Paragraph is the unit of composition. One paragraph per topic. Single sentences should not be a paragraph. In dialogue, each speech is a paragraph by itself.
2. (To achieve this, must do that. Blah blah reasons. And so again emphasize that must do that to achieve this) Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning. In the body of the paragraph, you may include:

   • topic sentence clarified by denial of the contrary,
   • repeated topic sentence in abridged form,
   • topic sentence made clearer,
   • definition expanded,
   • definition explained by contrast,
   • and supporting reasons.

3. (I shall backup the database) Use active voice which is more direct and vigorous than the passive. The counter example: The task of database backup shall be undertaken by me (LOL at all those emails that you receive from your colleagues).
4. (His performance is not below average) Put statements in positive form. The right way: His performance is average.
5. (the question as to whether == whether) Omit needless words.
6. Avoid a succession of loose sentences. If you find a series of sentences monotonous (mechanical, symmetrical), mix them up with

   • simple sentences,
   • sentences of two clauses joined by semicolon,
   • periodic sentences of two clauses,
   • sentences, loose or periodic, of three clauses.

7. (Roses are red; violets are blue) Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form. The counter example: Roses are red. Blue violets. Same rule applies to correlative expressions: both-and / not-but / not only-but also / either-or / first-second-third / -and the like.
8. (Dude, in the middle of a quest, pulled a meme) Keep related words together. The right way: In the middle of a quest, dude pulled a meme.
9. Use a single tense in summaries, preferably present tense.

   • Regardless of choice, be consistent.
   • If present tense is chosen, antecedent action should be expressed by the perfect tense (e.g. this dude has completed something, instead of this dude completed something).
   • Past tense in indirect discourse remains past tense.
   • Make clear at the start of the summary that what follows are thoughts or expressions of the author to prevent repeating notification.

10. (Dude is the carry of his team, because he is good at lane farming) Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end. The right way: Because of his good lane farming skills, dude is the carry of his team. As a rule of thumb, put the punch at the end. This applies to words in a sentence, sentences in a paragraph, paragraphs in a composition.

Matters of Form

• Headings. Leave a line after. Succeeding pages can start on line 1.
• Numerals. Do not spell out dates or serial numbers.
• Parentheses. Sentence containing the parenthesis is punctuated on the outside, as if the inserted expression do not exist. Expressions in the parentheses has its own punctuations.
• Quotations.

  Use

  • Citing documentary evidence are introduced by a colon.
  • Quotes in apposition or the direct objects of verbs are introduced by a comma.

  Don’t use.

  • Quotes of entire line should begin on a fresh line, and centered, but NOT enclosed in quotation marks.
  • Quotes following keyword that do not need quotation marks.
  • Proverbial expressions and familiar phrases of literary origin, colloquialisms and slang do not require quotation marks.

• References. Abbreviate titles that occur frequently, giving full forms in an alphabetical list at the end. Give references in parenthesis or footnotes.
• Titles. Prefers italics with capitalized initials. Omit initial “A” or “The” if you placed the possessive before them (e.g. The Assassin’s Creed or Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed).

Words and Expressions Commonly Misused

• All right. Always two words. May be replaced with “Agreed” or “Go ahead”.
• As to whether. Replace with “Whether”.
• Case. Avoid. E.g. in many cases, or this is rarely the case; both (cases) are unnecessary. LOL.
• Certainly. Avoid.
• Character / Nature. Avoid. Often unnecessary.
• Claim. E.g. claimed to be. Not to substitute for “Declare”, “Maintain”, or “Charge”.
• Compare.

  • Compare to == imply resemblances between objects regarded as of different order.
  • Compare with == point out differences between objects regarded as of the same order.

• Dependable. A needless substitute for reliable, trustworthy.
• Due to. This is tricky. “Due to” should only be used to modify a noun and be preceded by a form of the verb “to be / is”.

  • Wrong example: The game was cancelled due to the rain.
  • “Due to” does not modify a noun or follows a form of the verb “to be / is”.
  • Correct sentence: The game was cancelled because of the rain.
  • Correct usage: The game’s cancellation was due to the rain.
  • If “due to” can be replaced with “attributable to”, “caused by”, or “resulting from”, then it is probably used correctly.

• Effect. Do not confuse with “Affect”. This term is vague and does not carry much meaning.
• Etc. Equivalent to “and the rest”, “and so forth”. Should only be used if one of these substitutes can be used in place. Should not be at the end of a list beginning with “such as”, “for example”, or any similar expression.
• Fact. Must be directly verifiable.
• Factor. Avoid.
• Feature. Avoid.
• Fix. Colloquial in America for arrange, prepare, mend. In writing, restrict it to its literary senses, fasten, make firm or immovable, etc.
• He is a man who. Avoid.
• However.

  • If used at the start of sentence or clause it means “in whatever way” or “to whatever extent”.
  • However you advise him, he will probably do as he likes.
  • If used at between related clauses it means “nevertheless”.

• Kind of / Sort of. Avoid in writing. Use “rather”, “something like”.
• Less / Fewer. Less refers to quantity. Fewer refers to number.

  • His worries are less than mine == His worries are not as great as mine.
  • His worries are fewer than mine == His worries are not as numerous as mine.

• Along this lines. Avoid.
• Literal / Literally. Often incorrectly abused to support exaggeration. Avoid. Use “Almost”.
• Lose out. Just use “lose”. The two words do not form idiomatic combinations, like “find out”.
• Near by. Avoid. Use “near”, “near at hand”, or “neighboring”.
• Oftentimes. Avoid. Use often.
• One of the most. Avoid. Does not carry much impact.
• People. this is a political term. Not to be confused with public. Not to be used with words of number, in place of persons.
• Phase. Means “stage of transition”. Not to be confused with “point”, “topic”, or “aspect”.
• Possess. Not to be used as mere substitute for “have” or “own”.
• Respective / Respectively. Often redundant and may usually be omitted.
• So. Avoid using it as an intensifier, “so good”, “so bad”, etc.
• State. Avoid substituting it for “say” or “remark”. Used to express fully or clearly.
• A member of the student body. Avoid. Needless.
• System. In non-technical writing, often used without need.
• Thanking you in advance. Avoid. Sounds like the next response letter of thank is not worth your effort.
• They. Do not use it as a plural pronoun when the antecedent is “each”, “each one”, “everybody”, “every one”, “anybody”, “any one”, “somebody”, “some one”.
• Very. Use sparingly.
• Viewpoint. Use “view” or “opinion” or “point of view”.
• While. Strictly used to describe “during the time that” something is occurring. Do not use it to substitute for “and”, “but”, and “although”. Connection can be replaced by a semicolon.
• Whom. Avoid. Often used incorrectly in place of “who” or “that”.
• Worth while. Avoid. Only applicable to actions. Do not follow with a noun.
• Would. Do not use in place of should. Can often be dropped when expressing habitual or repeated actions.

An Approach to 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 overwrite.
7. Do not overstate.
8. Avoid the use of qualifiers.
9. Do not affect a breezy manner.
10. Use orthodox spelling.
11. Do not explain too much.
12. Do not construct awkward adverbs.
13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.
14. Avoid fancy words.
15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.
16. Be clear.
17. Do not inject opinion.
18. Use figures of speech sparingly.
19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity.
20. Avoid foreign languages.
21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat.