The Century Handbook of Writing
Chapter 9
8. Some nights may seem still, yet there (is, are) always noises.
9. The exact meaning of such words as _inspiration_, _prophecy_, and _orthodox_ (puzzles, puzzle) laymen.
10. Hard roads (is, are) an important matter to all country people.
11. There (has, have) been many lives lost in Arctic exploration.
12. Personal gifts inspired by good will and directed by careful thought (is, are) the very best kind of charity.
13. In Lincoln's replies to Douglas there (is, are) no flights or oratory.
14. The conciseness of these lines (is, are) to be admired.
15. A constant stream of wagons and horses (was, were) passing as the circus was unloaded.
16. Nevertheless there (exists, exist) a certain class of students who are socially submerged.
17. She (doesn't, don't) care for olives.
18. "Current Events" (is, are) a very useful department of this magazine.
19. No people (lives, live) in that house.
20. The corporal, together with two other members of the patrol, (was, were) captured by the enemy.
=C. _Shall_ and _Will_, _Should_ and _Would_=
Determine the correct form of the verb.
1. Perhaps I (shall, will) be able to go.
2. I tell you, I (shall will) not allow that dog in the car.
3. It is odd what a person (shall, will) do in a time of excitement.
4. They have never seen anything like it, and probably they never (shall, will).
5. "Johnny, you (shall, will) not go!" Johnny knew that further begging was useless.
6. As we (shall, will) find by investigation, our coast fortifications are few.
7. I (shouldn't, wouldn't) do that for anything.
8. I (should, would) think you (should, would) enjoy your bicycle.
9. (Shall, will) you go driving with us?
10. Do you think it (shall, will) rain?
11. Where (shall, will) I hang my hat?
12. (Should, would) you go if I (should, would) ask you?
13. Rover (should, would) stay in the house all the time, if we (should, would) let him.
14. I promised that I (should, would) be at the station early, lest we (should, would) miss the train.
15. You (shall, will) have much trouble with that cold, I'm afraid.
=D. _Lie_, _lay_; _sit_, _set_; _rise_, _raise_=
Fix in mind the following principal parts:
I lie I lay I have lain I lay I laid I have laid I sit I sat I have sat I set I set I have set I rise I rose I have risen I raise I raised I have raised
_Lie_, _sit_, _rise_ are used intransitively; _lay_, _set_, _raise_ are used transitively. _Lay_, _set_, _raise_ are causatives; that is, _to lay_ means _to cause to lie_, etc.
Insert a correct form of the verb _lie_ or _lay_:
1. I ---- here and watch the clouds. My dog is ----ing at my feet.
2. In the evening I ---- aside all cares. I ---- down on the couch and read. Yesterday I ---- there an hour.
3. The children have ---- in bed until seven o'clock. John has ---- his coat on a chair. He ---- there asleep now.
4. ---- the shovel down. The garden is now ---- out in rows. ---- down and take a little rest.
5. Smoke ---- along the horizon. Snow was ----ing here yesterday. He is ----ing plans for the future.
Insert a correct form of the verb _sit_ or _set_:
6. Jerome ---- the box on the floor. Then he ---- on the box.
7. Four people are ----ing at the table. Who ---- the lamp there?
8. I had ---- there an hour. They had ---- the pitcher outside the door.
9. I often ---- up late. Last night I ---- up late. I must ----the alarm clock.
10. ---- the package down. ---- down and rest. While we are ----ing there the gardener is ----ing out the plants.
Insert a correct form of the verb _rise_ or _raise_:
11. ---- up and speak! ---- the window.
12. He quickly ---- his head. The cork had gone under, but now it ---- again to the surface.
13. During the night the bread ---- to the top of the pan.
14. The invalid slowly ---- himself in his bed.
15. The river has already ---- and overflowed its banks.
=E. Principal Parts of Verbs=
In the following sentences supply the correct form of the verb.
1. He ---- (past tense of _come_) to this country in 1887.
2. He has ---- (past participle of _eat_) breakfast and ---- (past participle of _go_) to the office.
3. Have you ---- (past participle of _ride_) far? I have ----(past participle of _drive_) ten miles.
4. I am sure it was Henry who ---- (past tense of _do_) it, for I ---- (past tense of _see_) him running away as fast as he could go.
5. The wind has ---- (past participle of _tear_) down the chimney and ---- (past participle of _blow_) down the tree.
6. After he ---- (past tense of _lie_) down, he remembered he had left his books ---- (present participle of _lie_) in the orchard.
7. He ---- (past tense of _throw_) the ball so hard that the window was ---- (past participle of _break_) into a hundred pieces.
8. The man ---- (past tense of _give_) warning before we had ---- (past participle of _go_) too far.
9. After we had ---- (past participle of _ride_) about ten miles we ---- (past tense of _come_) upon a stretch of hard road.
10. Where ---- (past tense of _be_) you? You ----n't (past tense of _be_) at home when I ---- (past tense of _ring_) the bell.
11. The harness was ---- (past participle of _break_ or _burst_) beyond repair. Who ---- (past tense of _break_) it?
12. I ---- (past tense of _take_) four shots at the rabbit, but every shot ---- (past tense of _go_) wild.
13. He has ---- (past participle of _swim_) across the harbor, and has ---- (past participle of _break_) the record.
14. I had ---- (past participle of _drink_) buttermilk for several weeks. I ---- (past tense of _begin_) to gain weight.
15. When we had ---- (past participle of _sit_) there an hour and ---- (past participle of _eat_) all we wanted, Jim ---- (past tense of _draw_) out his purse and ---- (past tense of _give_) the waiter a dollar.
=F. General=
Improve the grammar of the following sentences.
1. Those kind of lamps are ugly.
2. It don't interest me any more.
3. Nobody may enter the hall tonight without their admittance cards.
4. One does not need to strain their ears while at the movies.
5. Nearly all people eat too much, too fast, and too irregular.
6. Don't take this letter too serious.
7. He done the best he could with these kind of tools.
8. Every person with a cold was blowing their nose.
9. It would help considerable if you would speak to the manager about existing conditions.
10. If I were the mayor, I could not do as good as he does.
11. Talk polite to your customers.
12. It is important that a salesman has a good memory.
13. Each tube must be capable of withstanding a pressure of five hundred pounds per square inch before they are lowered into place.
14. She is as tall, if not taller, than he is.
15. He always has and always will say that.
16. He is one of the worst, if not the very worst, player on the team.
17. Final examinations require time and study that would not otherwise be done.
18. I feel badly. He talks rude. It smells fragrantly.
DICTION
=Wordiness=
=60. Avoid wordiness. Strike out words not essential to the thought.=
Roundabout impersonal construction: There are many interesting things which may be seen in New York. [12 words.]
Better: Many interesting things may be seen in New York. [9 words.]
Clause to be reduced to a phrase: The skeleton which stood in the office of Dr. Willard was terrifying to little Cecil. [15 words.]
Right: The skeleton in Dr. Willard's office was terrifying to little Cecil. [11 words.]
Clause and phrase each to be reduced to a word: Men who cared only for their individual interests were now in a state of discouragement. [15 words.]
Right: Selfish men were now discouraged. [5 words.]
Separate predication in excess: That day I was shocking wheat behind the binder. Shocking wheat behind the binder was my usual job in harvest. That day while I was working at this job, I found a nest full of partridge eggs. [37 words.]
Right: That day, while shocking wheat behind the binder, my usual job in harvest, I found a nest full of partridge eggs. [21 words.]
Ponderous scientific terms for simple ideas: Since, according to the physicists, the per cent of efficiency of a machine is equal to the amount of energy put in, divided by the amount of useful work performed, it naturally follows that in all human activities, unnecessary friction, since it lowers the amount of nervous energy, is going to lower the per cent of efficiency. While we may never reach an astonishing degree of efficiency by economizing nervous energy, nevertheless, if we consistently and perseveringly try to spare ourselves all unnecessary labor and exertion, we shall have an abundant supply of energy to direct into channels of usefulness. [100 words.]
Right: If we economize our strength, we can make our actions more efficient and useful. [14 words.]
Inflated writing: She was supreme in beauty among the daughters of Eve whom his ravished eyes had hitherto beheld. [17 words.]
Right: She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. [10 words.]
Note.--A special form of wordiness is tautology--the useless repetition of an idea in different words.
Gross tautology: He had an entire monopoly of the whole fruit trade. [This is like saying "black blackbird."]
Right: He had a monopoly of the fruit trade.
Tautological expressions:
this here where at return back ascend up repeat again biography of his life good benefits fellow playmates Hallowe'en evening important essentials indorse on the back connect up meet up with combined together perfectly all right utter absence of quite round absolutely annihilated still continue to absolutely new creation necessary requisite total effect of all this
Exercise:
1. The people who act the parts in a play want the people who witness the performance to applaud them.
2. There is an oily grass which is found on the prairie, and which is called mesquite grass, and it covers the prairie.
3. You wish to call the operator. You take the receiver from the hook. By taking the receiver from the hook you call the operator.
4. At last the employer of the men, and those who were employed by him, having compromised their difficulties, effected a settlement, and reached an amicable understanding agreeable to both parties.
5. The two merchants joined up their forces together in order to secure a monopoly of the entire trade of the village. There was one absolutely essential preliminary which they thought must necessarily precede everything else. It was that they should take all the old shop-worn articles and dispose of them by selling them as bargains at a reduced rate.
=Triteness=
=61. Avoid trite or hackneyed expressions.= Such expressions may be tags from everyday speech (_the worse for wear_, _had the time of my life_); or stale phrases from newspapers (_taken into custody_, _the officiating clergyman_); or humorous substitutions (_ferocious canine_, _paternal ancestor_); or forced synonyms (_gridiron heroes_, _the Hoosier metropolis_); or conventional fine writing (_reigns supreme_, _wind kissed the tree-tops_); or oft-repeated euphemisms (_limb_ for _leg_, _pass away_ for _die_); or overworked quotations from literature (_monarch of all I survey_, _footprints on the sands of time_).
List of trite expressions:
along these lines meets the eye feathered songsters a long-felt want the last sad rites launched into eternity last but not least doomed to disappointment at one fell swoop sadder but wiser did justice to a dinner a goodly number budding genius beggars description a dull thud silence broken only by wended their way abreast of the times trees stood like sentinels method in his madness sun-kissed meadows tired but happy hoping you are the same nipped in the bud the happy pair seething mass of humanity specimen of humanity with bated breath green with envy the proud possessor too full for utterance a pugilistic encounter conspicuous by its absence with whom they come in contact exception proves the rule favor with a selection as luck would have it more easily imagined than described where ignorance is bliss
Exercise:
1. Halleck returned from his trip considerably the worse for wear.
2. The baby whom she had promised to keep quiet proved to be a foeman worthy of her steel.
3. I first saw the light of day in New Orleans. It was in the Crescent City also that my dear mother passed away.
4. Americans come off second best in a vocalizing encounter with umlauted _u_, while Germans and Frenchmen wage sanguinary battles with our _th_.
5. The daily scramble for dear life to get aboard a trolley was like taking arms against a sea of troubles. Even standing room was conspicuous by its absence. Sheridan began to think along the line of getting to the office in some other way.
=The Exact Word=
=62. Find the exact word. Do not be content with a loose meaning. Seek the verb, the noun, the adjective, the adverb, or the phrase which expresses your thought with precision.= Such words as _said_, _proposition_, and _nice_ are often used too loosely. Observe the possible gain in definiteness by substitution.
For _said_ (verb): _declared_, _related_, _insisted_, _exclaimed_, _added_, _repeated_, _replied_, _admitted_, _commented_, _corrected_, _protested_, _explained_, _besought_, _interrupted_, _inquired_, _stammered_, _sighed_, _murmured_, or _thundered_.
For _proposition_ (noun): _transaction_, _undertaking_, _venture_, _recourse_, _suggestion_, _overture_, _proposal_, _proffer_, _convenience_, _difficulty_, _thesis_, or _doctrine_.
For _nice_ (adjective): _discriminating_, _precise_, _fastidious_, _dainty_, _neat_, _pretty_, _pleasant_, _fragrant_, _delicious_, _well-behaved_, _good_, or _moral_.
Inexact verb: He had not sufficiently _regarded_ the difficulties of the task [Use _considered_].
Inexact noun: Promptness is an _item_ which a manager should possess [Use _quality_].
Inexact adjective: He looked _awfully funny_ when I told him he had made a mistake [Use _surprised_].
Inexact phrasing throughout: Health is first in every line of activity. A man who has it does not hold it with enough respect, and make efforts enough to keep it.
Right: Health is indispensable to success in any work. Even those who have it do not realize its value.
Exercise:
1. He was proud of the honorable record he had gained.
2. He resolved that some day he would be a banker, and I shall tell you how he tried to do so.
3. Isn't the sunset grand? Isn't it nice to be out of doors?
4. The mystery as to which ones of the piano keys to play was hard for him to acquire.
5. If the package comes by freight, you must negotiate the proposition of getting it home; but if it comes by express, the delivery is done free.
=Concreteness=
=63. Concrete words are often more effective than vague, general, or abstract words.=
Not specific: She held herself aloof from her brothers' games and amusements.
Concrete: She never played soldier or sailed paper boats with her brothers.
No appeal to the senses: I liked to watch the servant girl as she moved about the kitchen, preparing our morning repast.
Concrete: I liked to watch Norah as she fried our crisp breakfast bacon and browned our buckwheat cakes.
Flat, not readily visualized: The first inhabitants overcame the barriers to settlement about a century ago.
Concrete: Rough backwoodsmen broke through the underbrush and swamp-land a century ago.
Exercise:
1. The scientist discovered a bird in a tree.
2. Our hostess set before us many good things to eat.
3. The sailor was carving queer figures on a piece of soft wood.
4. The night watchman heard something that made him suspicious.
5. I stood at the door of the shop to watch the astonishing things the blacksmith was doing.
=Sound=
=64. Avoid the frequent repetition of a sound, especially if it be harsh or unpleasant.=
Bad: He is an exceedingly orderly secretary.
Better: As a secretary he is very systematic. [Or] The secretary is very systematic.
Bad: Immediately the squirrel hid himself behind the hickory tree.
Better: Immediately the squirrel dodged behind the hickory tree.
Unfortunate rime: Bert did not dare to go home with wet hair.
Better: Bert did not dare to go home with his hair wet. [Or] Bert was afraid to go home with wet hair.
Exercise:
1. That Christmas happened to be unusually happy.
2. I fear we must sit near the rear of the room.
3. The Jackies went clambering and scurrying up the rigging.
4. The ship slips anchor while the idlers sip tea on the deck.
5. The third treasure-seeker heard a thud. His pick had struck an obstruction.
=Subtle Violations of Good Use: Faulty Idioms, Colloquialisms=
=65. Avoid subtle violations of good use, particularly (a) faulty idioms and (b) colloquialisms.=
=a. Make your expression conform to English idiom.= A faulty idiom is an expression which, though correct in grammar and general meaning, combines words in a manner contrary to usage. Idioms are established by custom, and cannot be explained by logical rules. "I enjoy to read" is wrong, not because the words offend logic or grammar, but merely because people do not instinctively make that combination of words. "I like to read" and "I enjoy reading" are good idioms.
=Faulty Idioms= =Correct Idioms=
in the city Toledo in the city of Toledo in the year of 1920 in the year 1920 I hope you a good time I wish you a good time the Rev. Hopkins the Reverend Mr. Hopkins possessed with ability possessed of ability stay to home stay at home different than different from independent from independent of in search for in search of
Observe that many idioms are concerned with prepositions. Make sure that a verb or adjective is accompanied by the right preposition. Study the following list of correct idioms:
accused of (a theft) accused by (a person) accord with (a person) agree with (a person) agree to (a proposal) agreeable to angry at (things or persons) angry with (a person) careful about (an affair) careful of (one's money) comply with convenient to (a person) convenient for (a purpose) correspond to (things) correspond with (persons) dissent from enamored of entrust to free from listen to part from (a person) part with (a thing) pleased with resolve on sympathize with take exception to
=b. Do not carry the standards of conversation into formal writing.= Colloquial usage is more free than literary usage. The colloquial sentence _That's the man I talked with_ becomes in writing _That is the man with whom I talked._ The colloquial sentence _It was a cold day but there wasn't any wind blowing_ is a loose string of words. Written discourse requires greater tension and more care in subordinating minor ideas: _The day, though cold, was still._ Contractions are proper in conversation, and in personal or informal writing. In formal writing they are not appropriate. And do not let such expressions as _He doesn't_, _We aren't_, _It's proved_, used in talk by careful speakers, mislead you into expressions like _He don't_, _We ain't_, _It's proven_, which violate even colloquial good use.
Exercise:
1. He confessed of his inability to comply to the demand.
2. Is he from Irish descent? Is humor characteristic with the Irish?
3. She was not to home, but I was reluctant against leaving.
4. He dissented to the opinion of the committee's majority, for his ideas were utterly different than theirs.
5. He got a few jobs as a carpenter that summer, but they didn't pay him much, and so he went to loafing around, and he's been at it ever since.
=Gross Violations of Good Use: Barbarisms, Improprieties, Slang=
=66. Avoid gross violations of good use, particularly (a) barbarisms, (b) improprieties, and (c) slang.=
=a. Barbarisms are distortions of words in good use, or coinages for which there is no need.= Examples: _to concertize_, _to burgle_ or _burglarize_, _to jell_, _alright_, _a-plenty_, _most_ (for _almost_), _performess_, _fake_, _pep_, _tasty_, _illy_, _complected_, _undoubtably_, _nowheres_, _soph_, _lab_, _gents_.
=b. Improprieties are words wrenched from one part of speech to another, or made to perform an unnatural service.= Examples: _to suspicion_, _to gesture_, _to suicide_, _a steal_, _a try_, _a go_, _an invite_, _the eats_, _humans_, _some_ or _real_ or _swell_ (as adverbs), _like_ (as a conjunction).
=c. Slang is speech consisting either of uncouth expressions of illiterate origin, or of legitimate expressions used in grotesque or irregular senses.= Though sometimes (witness eighteenth century _mob_, and nineteenth century _buncombe_) it satisfies a real need and becomes established in the language, in most instances it is short-lived (witness the thieves' talk in _Oliver Twist_, or passages from any comic opera song popular five years ago). Vicious types of slang are:
Expressions of vulgar origin (from criminal classes, the prize ring, the vaudeville circuit, etc.): _get pinched_, _down and out_, _took the count_, _bum hunch_, _nix on the comedy stuff_, _get across_.
Language strained or distorted for novel effect: _performed the feed act at a bang-up gastronomic emporium_, _bingled a tall drive that made the horsehide ramble out into center garden_.
Blanket expressions used as substitutes for thinking: _corking_, _stunning_, _ain't it fierce?_, _can you beat it?_, _going some_, _just so I get by with it_.
The use of the last-named type is most to be regretted. It leads to a mental habit of phonographic repetition, with no resort to independent thinking. If a man really desires to use slang, let him invent new expressions every day, and make them fit the specific occasion.
Exercise:
1. I disremember what sort of an outfit he wore.
2. Helen's as light-complected a girl as you'll run across, I calculate.
3. His ad brought a first-rate gent to hold down the job.
4. Thompson hasn't stability, or it seems like it. He ain't got no gumption. He's too easy enthused.
5. The grub was to of cost us two bits, but we didn't have the dough. We gets outside the food, and when the cashier ain't lookin', we runs out the door and beats it.
=Words Often Confused in Meaning=
=67. Do not confuse or interchange the meanings of the following words:=
=_Accept_ and _except_.= _Accept_ means _to receive_; _except_ as a verb means _to exclude_ and as a preposition means _with the exception of_.