IMPROVEYOURENGLISH

IMPROVEYOURENGLISH

THEESSENTIALGUIDETOENGLISHGRAMMAR,

PUNCTUATIONANDSPELLING

JEMetcalfeandCAstle

Constable&RobinsonLtd55–56RussellSquare

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FirstpublishedbyRightWay,animprintofConstable&Robinson,2013

Copyright©JEMetcalfeandCAstle2013

OriginallypublishedinthetitleCorrectEnglishin1995,materialhavingbeendrawnfromTheRightWaytoImproveYourEnglish,HowGoodisYourEnglish?andTheRightWaytoSpell.

Allrightsreserved.Thisbookissoldsubjecttotheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,belent,re-sold,hiredoutorotherwisecirculatedinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthanthatinwhichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionincludingthisconditionbeingimposedonthesubsequent

purchaser.

AcopyoftheBritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary

ISBN:978-0-7160-2345-6eISBN:978-0-7160-2346-3

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13579108642

Coverdesign:www.simonlevyassociates.co.uk

CONTENTS

TheEnglishLanguage

PART1:GRAMMARANDPUNCTUATION

IntroductionGrammarandPunctuationChecklist

1.PartsofSpeech

2.Verbs

3.Pronouns

4.TheSentenceandtheParagraph

5.Punctuation

6.CommonMistakes

7.OdditiesoftheLanguage

PART2:SPELLINGANDVOCABULARY

Introduction

8.WordFormation

9.SpellingRulesandConventions

10.NotesonSelectedWords

Index

THEENGLISHLANGUAGE

ThesupremacyofEnglishasaworldlanguageisarelicoftheagewhenGreatBritainwas an importantworld power. The inhabitants of the huge chunks ofterritorywhichinoldatlaseswerecolouredpinkenjoyedthebenefitsoflearningEnglish from explorers, travellers, missionaries and settlers. It is ratherremarkable that today, despite minor idiomatic and spelling differences,American custom, an infinity of verbal differences, and diverse politicalconstitutions, there is general consistency in written English throughout theworld.

Speech,ofcourse, is far, farolder thanwriting,and thedevelopmentof thewrittenlanguagefromthespokenindifferentpartsoftheworldisanabsorbingsubject. The symbols of language, formed to represent objects, actions orsyllables of speech, developed, in time, into characters which could becombinedtoformwords.ThefirstlanguagetobewrittenwasSumerian,whichbeganassimplepicturesandwhichcanbetracedasfarbackas3100BC.

TheCanaanitesaresaidtohavedevelopedthefirstalphabetinthemiddleofthesecondmillenniumBC.Theconvenienceofthismethodofwritingledtoitsadoption by other Semitic peoples and the ancient Greeks, and, while eachnation developed its own, the scripts were all based on Canaanite characters.TodaythereareHebrew,Greek,Cyrillic,ArabicandLatinalphabets,besidesthebewilderingly vast range of characters of theFarEast (China and Japan).TheLatinorRomanalphabet,nowthemostwidelyusedintheworld,isaderivativeofarchaicGreekscript.ThewordalphabetissonamedfromthefirsttwolettersoftheGreekalphabet,alphaandbeta,whichinturnwerenamedafterthefirsttwo signs of the Phoenician alphabet aleph and beth. Also derived from theGreek alphabet is Cyrillic script, used in Russia, Bulgaria and some Balkanstates,originallybymembersoftheOrthodoxChurch,andcalledafterStCyrilwhodiedinAD869.

With Julius Caesar’s incursions into Britain in 55 and 54 BC, the nativeBritons perhaps picked up a few Latin expressions andwords but, unlike theinvaders, they knew nothing about writing.What happened, then, to the only

“real” British languages which existed before the Romans came? Theselanguages, themselves derived from even older forms of speech, were theoriginal Celtic tongues, which, most remarkably, had little effect on thedevelopmentofEnglish.Todaytheysurvive inGaelic, Irish,Welsh,ManxandCornish,butnotinEnglish,despitethefactthatEnglishisamixtureofseverallanguages.

ItwasprobablynotuntilthebeginningoftherealRomanoccupation,aboutahundredyearsafterJuliusCaesar,thattheRomanalphabetwasintroducedintoBritain. For a few centuries writing was practised only by monks and otherscholars,beingchiefly forecclesiasticaland legaldocumentsand inLatin.Wereadsomuchtodaythatitisdifficulttoimagineatimewhenhardlyanybodydidanyreading.Forcenturiespeoplepassedtheirtimeinotherways;perhapstheyconversed farmore than they do now, and storieswould be told by travellingstorytellers and bards. Even kings and other leaders had to employ scribes.Monks busied themselves in writing original works or copying others inbeautifulmanuscript,but “ordinary”peopledidnotneed to read them,even iftheycould.

ThedevelopmentofEnglishtookplaceoveraverylongtime,duringwhichmostofthepeopleinBritainwerequitecontentwiththespokenlanguage,basedon thespeechof thesixth-centuryAnglo-Saxon invaders.Latinpersisted, laterinvaders from Scandinavia brought much of their language, and the NormanConquest of 1066 brought French. By the thirteenth century three languageswereinuse–Latinforscholars,ecclesiastics,philosophersandlawyers,Frenchforthearistocracy,andEnglishfortherest.

The schools began teaching English about 1300 and English was at lastpermissibleinthelawcourtsin1362.Graduallythevariouslanguagesmingled,andGeoffreyChaucer’sCanterburyTales, for example, probablywritten after1373,waswritten inanattractivemixtureofEnglishandFrench.ChaucerhasbeenaccusedofusingtoomanyFrenchwordsasanaffectation,butFrenchwascertainlymoreelegant,moremelodious,thanthewrittenandspokenEnglishofthe time. Chaucer was not alone in trying to improve the language, and thefollowingpassage,written in 1385, not only shows the awareness of sensitivepeople to the imperfections of English but is an example of the extraordinarywrittenlanguageoftheperiod:

“As it is knowehowmenymanerpeplebeeth in this lond; therebeethalso so many dyvers longages and tongs. NothelessWalsche men and

Scots thatbeethnoughtmedledwithothernations,holdethwelnyhhirfirstelongageandspeche;...buttheFlemyngesthatwonethinthewestsideofWales,havingleftherstrangespech,andspekethsexonlichenow.AlsoEnglishemen, they had from the bygynnynge thremaner speche:northerns, sowtherne, andmiddel speche in themiddelof the londe, asthey come of three maner of peple of Germania: notheless bycommyxtion and mellynge first with Danes, and afterwards withNormans, inmeny thecontrary longage isapayred [corrupted]. . . .Allthe longageof theNorthumbers, and speciallicheatYork, is so scharp,flitting and frotynge, and unschape, that we southerne men may thatlangageunetheunderstonde.”

The Canterbury Tales shows that in Chaucer’s time (c. 1345–1400) SouthernEnglish consisted of Anglo-Saxon and Old French. The philosophers andscientistsintroducedanumberofGreekandArabicwords,whilethemusiciansand artists gave us some Italian and Dutch. Later, explorers and their menbroughtwordsfromtheEast,fromIndia,ChinaandMalaya.

The English language is thus a hotch-potch of other languages, and thegradualchangeshavedivideditshistoryintothreechronologicalperiodsknownasOldEnglish,MiddleEnglishandModernEnglish.TheOldEnglishperiodisconsideredtohaveendedabout1150andtheMiddleEnglishperiodabout1500,since when Modern English has been enriched by countless influences andadditionsfrommanyotherlanguagestobecometheEnglishoftoday.

The “rules” of Modern English have evolved from the speakers of thelanguagethroughcustom,usageandlogic,evenifattimesthelogicappearstobecurious.Therehasbeenanurge, especially important in law, todistinguishbetweenshadesofmeaning.Therehasbeenawishtoavoidtiresomequeriesandexplanations between two persons in conversation. There has been anxiety toexpressmuchinlittle.Therehasbeen,aboveall,theunconscioushumandesirefororderliness,forthatcertainkindofdisciplinewhichhasembracedtheotherdesirablequalitiesofcommunicationinourlanguage–writingandreading.

Theinnovationwhichdidmorethananythingtoencouragetheuseofwriting,andeventually toencouragemorepeople to learntoread,wastheinventionofprintinginthemiddleofthefifteenthcentury.Latinwasstillthelanguageofthelearned,andmostoftheearlyprintedbookswereinLatin.Then,withtheinfluxofother languages,camethedevelopmentofwrittenEnglishwith itsconfusedvagariesofgrammarandspelling.Beforetheintroductionofprinting,oneortwo

monksintheirmanuscriptshadattemptedspellingreforms,butwhentheprinterscameonthescenetheyhadauthorsattheirmercy.Between1480and1660theyhad become accustomed to their own conventions, and ideas of “correct” and“incorrect” spelling were not considered. William Caxton and other earlyprinterstendedtoadopttheMiddleEnglishwordpatternsofthescribeswithout,however,anystandardisation.

Thegradualspreadofliteracyfromthesixteenthcentury,accompaniedbyasurgeinthepublicationofprintedmatter,ledanumberofscholarstoappreciatethatinconsistencywasanembarrassment.

As theEnglish-speakingworldbecamemoreorganised, as communicationsdeveloped, asmore people became educated, as trade intensified, as ability toread and write became essential, as competition grew, as people’s outlooksbroadened, as travel became practicable, it became evident that discipline andconsistency in the language were not only desirable but necessary. Writersrealised that theremust be no doubt aboutmeaning, and elimination of doubtcouldbemadepossiblebyobservingacertainconsistency.

Inconsistency, of course, is still with us, and it can baffle many people.Others, accustomed to British English, appear to resent, even occasionally beenraged by, American spelling, pronunciation, usage, phraseology, idiom andmeanings.Such emotion is unjustified, for theAmericanshavehadover threehundred years to develop their own kind of English. When we consider thehistoryofAmerica–atleastthehistorysincethearrivaloftheEuropeans–andthemixtureoftheracesthathavemadeit,weshouldbeflatteredthattheyhaveadoptedourlanguageandnoothernation’s.

TheEnglishintroducedintoVirginiain1607andintoMassachusettsin1620was the English of the seventeenth century, and naturally the subsequentevolution followed by the language in America differed somewhat from theevolution followed inBritain. It is surprising that after four centuries the twokindsofEnglishhavesomuchincommon,foritisonlyinthelasthundredandfifty years that the speed of communication has tended to neutralise thedifferences between the two.With the global increase ofAmerican influence,some parts of theworld have adoptedAmerican English simply because theyhaveknownnoother.

Onthesubjectofinconsistency,itmaybeentertainingtoquotefromaworkbyJohnHart.Publishedin1569,theworkborethelongtitleAnOrthographieconteyning thedueorderand reason,howe topaint thimageofmannes voice,mostliketothelifeornature.Hartwrote:

“But in the moderne and present maner of writing (aswell of certaineotherlanguagesasofourEnglish)thereissuchconfusionanddisorder,asitmaybeaccountedratherakindeofciphring,orsuchadarkekindeofwriting,asthebestandreadiestwitthateverhathbene,could,orthatisorshalbe,canormay,bytheonlygiftofreason,attainetothereadyandperfitereadingthereof,withoutalongandtediouslabour,forthatitisunfitandwrongshapenfortheproportionofthevoice.”

Aswellasa“kindeofwriting”and“perfite”readingmostofus,too,havetodoagreatdealof talking.Butspeech isdifferent fromwriting; it issoephemeralthat some minor errors of construction are often overlooked, and manyconversations,ifputintocoldprint,wouldshockbytheirapparentimmaturityoflanguage.Besidestheminorerrorsofconstructionthereareoftenothercommonerrorssuchas“BetweenyouandI”and“Heoughtto,didn’the?”

EnglishpronunciationvariesnotonlybetweenthedifferentEnglish-speakingcountries but also –most of all, in fact – between the different regions of theUnitedKingdom,and,withinreason,youcanpronouncewordsasyoupleaseaslongasyourpronunciationisacceptable.

Unlike pronunciation the grammar of a language is not very flexible, anddifferslittlefromonegenerationtoanother.Idiomsandusagearemoreflexible,changing not only from age to age but also from county to county. Thevocabulary of a language, however, is undergoing constant change. Wordschange in meaning, words in different parts of a country acquire differentmeanings,andnewwordsareintroducedfromyeartoyear.

What,then,isgoodEnglish?Theshortestanswertothisquestionisprobably“English which is grammatical and is spelt correctly.” It is by no means thecomplete answer, however, for a prose passage can be grammatically andorthographicallycorrectbut stultifiedbysuch faultsasweakness in thechoiceand order ofwords, usingmanymorewords than are necessary, going a longwayroundtosaysomething(circumlocution),usingwell-wornandoverworkedgroups of words (clichés), ambiguity, imprecision, “commercial English”, allforms of padding, and that strange obscurity which turns a rat-catcher into arodentoperative.

The prose writer should also be sparing in the use of foreign words andphrases.A foreignword or phrasemay be used if there is no exactly suitablewordorphraseinEnglish,or,occasionally,if iteffectsaneconomyinwriting.Buttheuseoftoomanyalienexpressionsmayoffendthereaderwhodoesnot

knowwhattheymean.Careshouldbetaken,too,withquotations.Timespentinchecking the exact words of a quoted author should not be grudged.Shakespeare’slinefromTheMerchantofVenice,“Allthatglistersisnotgold,”is often misquoted as “All is not gold that glitters,” and one year themisquotationevenappearedinaliteraryyearbook.

The grammar and vocabulary of the English language can form a mostengrossingstudy,anditishopedthatyourinterestinthemwillbestimulatedbythisbook.

AsRalphWaldoEmerson,inLettersandSocialAims,trulysaid:“Languageisacity,tothebuildingofwhicheveryhumanbeingbroughtastone.”

PART1

GRAMMARANDPUNCTUATION

INTRODUCTION

Grammaristhebasisofalanguage,theframeworkonwhichideasarehung,andthe loftiest imagery of thought can fall flat if ungrammatically expressed. Itexists in any language long before the language comes to be written, forgrammarandpunctuationare largelybasedon logicwhich in turn isbasedonfundamentallinguisticpremises.

Broadly,Englishgrammar isbasedon thegrammarsof the languages fromwhich English is derived. The earliest source was the old Anglo-Saxon, orGermanic,socalledfromtheAngli,aGermanictribewhichsettledinBritaininthefifthandsixthcenturies,anditisstrangethattheoriginallanguagesoftheseislandssurviveonlyintheCelticandCymrictongues,suchasGaelicandWelsh.

Scholars added Latin, and in the eleventh century the Danes broughtScandinavian.TheNormansintroducedagreatdealofFrenchtothelanguage;Greek and Arabic words were introduced by philosophers and scientists,musiciansandartistsgaveussomeItalianandDutch.LaterIndian,ChineseandMalayanwordswerebroughtbyEasternexplorers.

Since 1500 there have been changes in literary and conversational style,changes in usage, changes in themeaningsofwords, changes in spelling, andchangesintheorderofwords(“syntax”),butgrammarhashardlychangedatall.Thefundamental rulesnowobservedand toberespected, in fact,are therulesobservedbytheElizabethanwriters.

In discussing English grammarwe assume it to bemainly the grammar ofprose.Ingreatpoetryandingoodverse,however,itisremarkablehow,inspiteofscansion,rhyme,andtheorderofwordsandphrases,littleornogrammaticalfaultcanbefound,andrefugeistakenin“poeticlicence”infrequently.Poetryisnotmeant tobestrictlyanalysedbut, if it is, it isusuallyfoundtoconsistofaseriesofgrammatically-constructedsentences.

We may not be aspiring poets but we all have to do a certain amount ofwritingtoday,writingthatisnotintendedforpublication,andthesenotesareforthe guidance of those who know they are hazy about English and want toimprove,thosewhothinktheyarewritinggoodEnglishbutwouldbesurprised

attheirnumerousmistakes,andthosewhoareinterestedintheEnglishlanguageforitsownsake.

A person who is brought up to love books and respect authorship willnaturally takean interest in theway thingsarewritten,willgraduallycome torecognisegoodwriting,andwilltrytoinstiltheessentialqualitiesintohisownwriting,nomatterwhatsortofwritinghemaybedoing.

If we were to make a list of well-known writers – novelists, journalists,essayistsandothers–inwhoseworklittlegrammaticalfaultcouldbefound,thelistwouldbepleasinglylong.Buteventhosewhonormallywritegrammaticallyand tolerably well sometimesmakemistakes. Themost respected writers cannodoccasionally.Manypeoplewritetoohastily,andtheirwork,especiallyinthefieldsoflearning,science,industryandbusiness,issuchthatfewpeopleintheirordinarybusinesstaketimetoreviseanythingtheyhavewritten.Dictationisnotconducivetogoodwriting,andshouldberestrictedtothepreparationofafirstdraftwhichmustbepainstakinglyamendedbeforethefinalversionisproduced.

Many university graduates with excellent degrees tend to believe thatgrammar,punctuation,spellingandsyntaxdonotmatter.Indeed,empireshavebeenbuiltbythosewhodonotknowtheiradverbsfromtheiradjectivesortheir“principles” from their “principals”. But “good English” distinguishes theprofessional from the amateur, andmost of us cannot afford towrite “its” for“it’s”ortouseacolonwhereacommaisneeded.Messagesmaybetooeasilymisunderstoodifwegetthefundamentalswrong.

GRAMMARANDPUNCTUATIONCHECKLIST

1.PARTSOFSPEECHAdjectives

Articles.AdverbsConjunctions

“But”,Conjunctivephrases,“Since”,“for”,“as”,Startingsentences.InterjectionsNouns

Plurals,Possessives.Prepositions

Otherusesofprepositions,Theplacingofprepositions.PronounsVerbs

2.VERBSTheconditionalTheimperativeTheinfinitive

Omissionof“to”fromtheinfinitive,Thesplitinfinitive.Participles

Verbsendingin“t”or“d”.Past-tenseconstructionPresent-tenseconstruction“Shall”and“will”ThesubjunctiveTransitiveandintransitiveverbs

“Lay”and“lie”.

Theverb“tobe”“AmInot?”,Thecomplement,Ellipsiswith“tobe”and“tohave”,Singularandplural.

3.PRONOUNSDemonstrativepronouns

“All”,“Eitherandneither”,“None”,“Some”.Indefinitepronouns

“Every”,“It.Interrogativepronouns

“What”.PersonalpronounsPossessivepronounsRelativepronouns

“Which”and“that”,“Who”and“whom”,“Whose”.4.THESENTENCEANDTHEPARAGRAPHSentences

Theobjectofasentence,Subjectandpredicate.Subjectiveandobjectivepronouns.

Compoundsentences“Also”,Connectingthepartsofasentence,“Only”,Parenthesis,Syntax.

ParagraphsArrangementofideas,Misusesofthelanguage.

Numerals5.PUNCTUATIONTheapostrophe

Omittedletters,Possession.Brackets

Squarebrackets.

CapitallettersSmallcapitals.

ThecolonThecolonasalink,Thecolonwithquotations.

ThecommaCommasinenumeration,Enumerationofadjectives,Misuseofthecomma,Thecommawithnumerals,Parentheticaluseofcommas,Thecommawithquotations.

ThedashThedashasalink,Thedashasapause,Thedashinparenthesis.

TheexclamationmarkMisuseoftheexclamationmark.

ThefullstopThefullstopwithabbreviations.

ThehyphenCompoundwords,Thehyphenasagroupingagent,Theeffectofomittingthehyphen,Wordswithprefixes.

ItalicsMarksofomissionOthermeansofadjectivalgroupingThequestionmark

Misuseofthequestionmark.Quotationmarks

Quotationmarkswithfullstopsandcommas,Interruptedquotations,Misuseofquotationmarks,Quotationmarkswithotherpunctuationmarks,Quotationmarkswithparagraphs,Singleanddoublequotationmarks.

ThesemicolonThesemicoloningrouping,Misuseofthesemicolon,Thesemicoloninverse.

6.COMMONMISTAKESAdjectivesasadverbs(theuseof),“Allright”,“An”(themisuseof),Articles(omissionof),“Atabout”,“Attain”,“Aversefrom”,“Betweeneach”,“But,however”,“Centred”,“Chart”and“Charter”,“Christmas”,“Circumstances”,“Compare”,Conditionals(redundant),Confusedwords,“Differentfrom”,“Disinterested”and“uninterested”,“Dueto”,“Either”and“neither”,“Every”and“each”,“Extendedtour”,“Include”and“including”,“Lay”and“lie”,“Learn”for“teach”,“Loan”and“lend”,“Mootpoint”,“Oughtto”,“Parallelwith”,Participles(unattached),Pastparticiples(redundant),“Perpendicular”and“vertical”,“Persuade”and“convince”,“Promise”,“Reason”,“Righthere”,Sentences(unformed),Singularandplural(confusionof),Subjectandobject,“That”(themisuseof),“Thosekind”,“Timesgreaterthan”,“Tryand”,“Usedto”,“Verbalagreement”,Verbswithprepositions,“Who”and“whom”,“Whose”,Words(unrelated).

7.ODDITIESOFTHELANGUAGE

Adjectives(switched),“And/or”,“Asfrom”,“Asto”,“asregards”,“withregardto”,“Tobuild”,Clichés,CommercialEnglish,Ellipsisincomparisons,“Theformer”and“thelatter”,GreatBritain,Intruders,Latinabbreviations,“Little”and“alittle”,“Lostto”,“Messrs”,Plurals(problemsof),Possessiveproblems,“Scotch”,“Scottish”,“Scots”,Scottishusage.

1

PARTSOFSPEECH

TowriteandspeakcorrectEnglishyouhave toget rightback tofundamentalsandunderstandwhycertainthingsarerightandotherthingsarewrong.

Youmaybesurprisedtofindhowmuchmorethereisaboutpartsofspeechthanyourealisedinyourschooldaysanddiscoverfascinationofsomethingthatisusuallytakenforgranted.

NearlyeverywordintheEnglishlanguagecanbeclassifiedintoitskind,thedifferent kinds ofwords being known as “parts of speech”; the classificationshaving become crystallised through centuries of linguistic discipline. Thefollowing are theparts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns,conjunctions,prepositions,andinterjections.

Aswillbeseenlater,thevariouspartsofspeecharenotalwaysfirmlyfixedand unfortunately the classifications are not perfect. Most words are easy toclassify–thatis,youknowataglancewhichpartofspeechawordbelongsto–butsomewordscanbelongtotwoormorepartsofspeech.Itfrequentlyhappensthatawordcannotreadilybeclassifiedatall;forexample,itcanformpartofaphrase that, of little or nomeaning in itself, has become understandable onlythroughthecommonusageofyearsorcenturies.Suchuseofawordorphrase,constitutinganidiom,issaidtobeidiomatic.

Ofalleightpartsofspeech,themosttantalisingarepronouns.Althoughthereis no question about the principal pronouns, it must be admitted that thisclassificationhassomewhathazyboundariesandtherecanbemuchvaguenessaboutwordswhichlienearthefrontiers.

Before proceeding, however, let us, as an interesting exercise, consider asentenceandtrytoclassifyeachofitswords.

“Itfrequentlyhappensthatawordcannotreadilybeclassifiedatall.”

It:pronoun,buttheusehereisidiomatic.Frequently:adverb.Happens:verb.That:relativepronoun,buttheusehereisidiomatic.A:adjective;indefinitearticle.(Seepage22.)

Word:noun.Cannot...beclassified:verb(actuallyacombinationofverbs,or“compoundverb”).Readily:adverb.Atall:idiomatic.

Thusinthisonesentence,chosenatrandom,itisnotpossibletoclassifyfirmlyeverywordintoanappropriatepartofspeech,butforatrueunderstandingofthelanguagepartsofspeechmustbestudied.

Inthefollowingdescriptionsofpartsofspeechitwilloftenbenecessarytowander from the main stream of discussion to examine the curiosities ofindividualwords.

NOUNSNouns are just things, animate or inanimate, real or imaginary, visible orinvisible.Englishhastheadvantagethatinanimatethingsareofneutergender:thatis,theyarenotmasculineorfeminineastheyare,forexample,inFrench.Propernounsarenamesofpeople,places,oceans,ships,racehorses,streets,

and so forth. A proper noun (except in the case of a few peculiar surnames)alwaysstartswithacapitalletter.

PLURALS

MostpluralsinEnglishconsistofthesingularformwiththeadditionofsores,withorwithout somemodification.There are, however, several otherwaysofindicatingpluralityandfordetailsseePart2,page257.

Ofthepluralsofnounsandnameswhichthemselvesendwiths,manypeoplehave hazy ideas. Such nouns are lens, iris, and gas, and such proper nouns(names) areJones,Francis, andJenkins. Tomake suchwords plural, simplyadd-es.“TheJenkinseswentouttodinner”isperfectlycorrect.

Exceptions aremeans and news. We talk about “this means” and “thesemeans”,butnewsisalwaysregardedassingular.

POSSESSIVES

Ownership,ora“belonging to”, is signifiedbyapossessive,whichusually, inthecaseofasinglepossessor,isdenotedbythe“apostrophes”.

The singular cases are those like “The horse’s mouth”, and “One week’stime”. If a proper noun ends in s the rule is still applied, for example, “Mark

Jones’scar”.Whereownershiporthe“belongingto”issharedbytwoormorenouns,the

jointpossessionisusuallyindicatedby“sapostrophe”,asin“Thegirls’school”.Collectivenounsaretreatedassingular,andtheapostrophecomesbeforethe

s.Examplesare:“Thechildren’stoys”,and“Themen’swork”.Seepages120–122formoreexamples.

Thereisanimpliedpossessionin“Oneweek’stime”,thephrasemeaningthelength of time belonging to one week. Similarly we can have “Tomorrow’sweather”and“Intwoweeks’ time”or“Ahundredyears’ time”.Butrememberthattheapostrophemustnotbeusedifyouomittheword“time”andsimplysaysomethinglike“IntwoweeksIshallbetwenty-one.”

Mistakesareoftenmadewhenpeople’shomesarebeingwrittenabout.Whenyousay,“IwenttotheJohnstones’,”youmeanyouwenttothehomenotofMrJohnstoneorMrsJohnstonebutofbothJohnstones,sothat“theJohnstones’”isjust an abbreviation of “the Johnstones’ home”. It is equally simple if yourfriends’nameendsins,inwhichcaseyouwrite:“IwenttotheJoneses’,”or“IwenttotheInglises’.”

Inspiteofthesimplicityofthiskindofpossessive,mistakesappearinprintalmosteveryday,mistakesthatareevidenceofcloudythinking.

Aninterestinguseofthepossessiveisinreferencestothenamesoffirms.Ifyouwanttowritetotellsomeonewhereyouboughtyourcurtainsyoucansay:“I bought my curtains at Smith’s” or “. . . at Smiths’,” meaning, of course,Smith’sorSmiths’shop.IfthefirmisrunbyonemancalledSmithitiscorrecttowrite“Smith’s”,butifthefirmisbigenoughtobecontrolledbyafewoftheSmithfamilythen“Smiths’” iscorrect.IfyoudonotknowhowmanySmithsthereare,orhowbigthefirmis,youareonthesafesideifyouwrite“Smith’s”.

Some firms and organisations call themselves by the possessive form, forexample, “Sainsbury’s”, and others – “Morrisons”, for example – drop theapostrophe.

VERBSVerbs are the words that indicate action, a doing of something. Thus, in thesimplesentences,“Igo”,“Hehad”,“Shewillcome”,theverbsarego,hadandwillcome.

Whenitisdesiredtotalkorwriteaboutaverbinitsgeneralsense,itisusualto add the preposition to, and the form to eat (and so forth) is termed the

infinitive.Inonewayverbsare themost importantof thepartsof speech, for, asyou

willseeinChapter4,everytruesentencemustcontainaverb.Thereissomuchtoknowaboutverbsand theiruse, in fact, that theywill formthesubjectofaspecialchapter(Chapter2).

ADJECTIVESAdjectivesarewordsthatqualifynouns.Theydescribewhatkindsofthingstheyare,orwhich things theyare.Commonadjectivesarebig,pretty,sour,young,best.

Adjectivesincludepersonaltitles,suchasMr,Mrs,Miss,Ms,SirandLord,wherethenameimmediatelyfollows.In“TheDukeof...”,ontheotherhand,Dukeisanoun.

Adjectivesincludethoseofpossession:my,your,his,her,our,their.Forthesakeofemphasis,thepossessiveadjectiveissometimesfollowedbyown,asin“myownhat”,whenownalsobecomesanadjective.

These words can also be grouped under the classification of “possessivepronouns”,butastheyareselective,insayingwhosethingsaremeant,thewordsarealsoadjectives.Thealliedformsmine,yours,theirs,however,whichcannotprecede a noun, and which imply “my hat”, “your . . .”, or “their . . .”, aredefinitelypronouns.

Adjectives include such vague expressions as numerous, many,innumerable,few,no(meaningnotany),wheretheexpressiondirectlyprecedesthenoun.

Thereareexceptionalcases,ofcourse,wheretheadjectivefollowsthenoun,butsuchcasesareusuallyfoundonlyinspecialliteraryconstructions,inpoeticallanguage,andinoratory.ThebeginningofMilton’sLycidasisbutoneexample:

“Yetoncemore,Oyelaurels,andoncemoreYemyrtlesbrown,withivyneversere,Icometopluckyourberriesharshandcrude,AndwithforcedfingersrudeShatteryourleavesbeforethemellowingyear.”

Adjectives include colours, numerals, and nationalities. There is often somedifficulty in deciding whether to use a capitalF in such everyday things as“French chalk”, “Frenchwindow”, and “French polish”. It is often considered

that,astheFrenchoriginhasgotlostinthevortexofcommonEnglishusage,asmallfwilldo.ButasthewordFrenchdeservesacapitalinitsownright,itisaswelltouseitalways.

ARTICLES

Adjectivesincludethearticles:aandanarecalledthe“indefinitearticles”,whiletheadjectivethe,forobviousreasons,iscalledthe“definitearticle”.

Therehasbeenatendencytowriteandspeakof“anhotel”,asifthehweresilent,but ifyouwant towrite and speakgoodEnglishdonotbeafraidof “ahotel”.

Thinkofallthenounsyoucanstartingwithasounded(“aspirate”)h.Doyouprefixthemwithan?Ofcoursenot.Wheretheh issilent,asinhonour,hour,thearticleaniscorrect.

Anothertendencyistowrite“anuniquearticle”,insteadof“auniquearticle”,which most people actually say. This, too, is incomprehensible, for nobodywouldwriteabout“anunicorn”.

Theomissionofthedefinitearticletheatthebeginningofasentence,clauseor phrase occasionally occurs in newspapers and periodicals, but do not bemisledbythiscustomintothinkingitisgoodEnglish.

ADVERBSAdverbsqualifyverbsasadjectivesqualifynouns.Thus,whileaverbtellsyouaboutthedoingofsomething,anadverbtellsyouhowitisdone.Mostadverbsconsist of adjectives followed by the suffix -ly (see page 251), as in quickly,cleverly,cautiously,willingly.

Notalladverbsendin-ly.Howitselfisanadverb.Soiswell,asin“Hedoesitwell”.Fastandhardare twocommonexamples,and these, incidentally,arewordswhichcanbebothadverbsandadjectives.

Intheshortimperativesentence,“Runfast”,fastisanadverb.(“Imperative”impliesacommand,anorder.)Andyet,ifwesay“Wehadafastrun”,fastisanadjective. It is similarwithhardwhich is an adverb in “Hit himhard”but anadjectivein“Itookahardknock”.

The adverb hardly has a different meaning from the adverb hard. Hardlymeans “scarcely”, “nearly”, “not quite”, and is probably connected with thearchaic (old-fashioned) hard meaning “near”. “He lives hard by the church”usedtobecommonusage.

There are somewordswhich are classified as adverbs largely because theyarenearertoadverbsthantheyaretoanyotherpartofspeech.Examplesofsuch“adverbs” arewhere, there,whatever and however. In so far as these wordsqualify verbs – as in “You put it there”, and “I did it, however” – they areadverbs,butthepointisatechnicaloneandweneedspendnomoretimeonit.

Adverbscanalsoqualifyadjectivesas in“Youareextremelykind”;“It isaridiculouslysimpleproblem”.Theycanevenqualifyotheradverbs:“Hedid itremarkablyquickly”;“Howwellyoudraw!”

Adverbscanqualifyparticiples,asin“Iamgreatlypleased”.

PRONOUNSSomuchcanbewrittenaboutpronounsthat,likeverbs,theydemandachaptertothemselves,andourstudyofthemwillbefoundinChapter3.

CONJUNCTIONSAclause isacompletestatement, formingpartofasentence,whichcontainsaverb;itmay,infact,beashortsentence.Aphrase,ontheotherhand,doesnotincludeaverb(seepage71).

Very often a sentence is composed of two or more shorter sentences orclauseswhichmustbejoinedinsomeway.Considerthefollowing.

“Thenightwasdarkanditwascold.”“Thenightwascoldbuttherewasnofire.”“NeroplayedwhileRomeburned.”Eachclauseineachofthesesentencesisself-sufficient.Itcouldbewrittenon

itsown.Yet toavoid jerkiness inconstructionandensurea smoother flow thedifferent pairs of clauses are linked by the words and, but andwhile. Thesewordsareconjunctions.

Conjunctions,besides linkingpartsofasentence,alsoexpresssomethinginthemselves.

In our first example, the second clause, after and, simply continues theemotion evoked by the darkness of the night. The conjunction but, however,signifies a contrastbetween the twoclausesof the second sentence.The sameeffectcouldbeproducedbysaying:“Althoughthenightwascoldtherewasnofire.”Thereisamoredetaileddiscussionofbutlaterinthischapter.

Askilfully-appliedconjunction, then,notonlyservesitsprimarypurposeofjoining parts of a sentence together, but also pays a contribution – sometimes

quite an important contribution – to the general sense of the sentence. ThissubjectwillbedealtwithmorefullyinChapter4.Meanwhileitmaybeusefultolistthemorecommonconjunctionswhichare:and,but(oryet),while,although(orthough),because(oras,for,since),or,if.Thewordsinbracketsinthelistareusually,butnotnecessarily,alternativeforms.

STARTINGSENTENCES

InspiteofschooldayadmonitionsagainststartingasentencewithAndorBut,there is nothing pernicious in the practice provided it is kept under propercontrol. There is very good precedent, in fact, in the Old Testament, whereinnumerableversesstartwitheitherofthesetwowords.

When a sentence startswithBut, a contrastwith the preceding sentence isimplied.

AndandBut,however,aretheonlyconjunctionswithwhichyoucanstartasimplesentence.(Asimplesentenceisasentencewithoutasecondarysentenceorclause.)

Trystartingasimplesentencewithanyoftheotherconjunctionsintheabovelist.Youwillfinditisincompletewithoutanotherstatementtofolloworprecedeit.

“WhileJohnwasweedingthegarden.”“Althoughitwasraining.”“Since(As,Because)itwasWednesday.”“Oryoucanhavethisone.”“IfIwereyou.”(Not“IfIwasyou.”Seepage43,“TheSubjunctive”.)Without the conjunction at the beginning, each of these sentences makes

sense;butwiththeconjunction,itislefthangingintheair.Thus,apartfromandandbut,allconjunctionsrequireatleasttwoclausesto

belinkedtogether.SometimesyoumaycomeacrossOrusedatthebeginningofasentence,butoninspectionyouwillprobablyfindthattheprecedingsentencehasfinishedtooearly.

DonotbeconfusedifyoufindThoughorAlthoughusedatthebeginningofasentenceandapparentlywithoutasupportingsentence,asin:

“Thoughsick,hewasabletowork.”Thisreallymeans:“Hewasabletoworkthoughhewassick.”Inthefirstsentence,thewords“hewas”areunderstood.“Understood”parts

ofasentenceareverycommonin theEnglish language,but the trouble is thatsomepeoplelosetrackofwhatis“understood”.

CONJUNCTIVEPHRASES

Besides words of conjunction, there are also conjunctive phrases, such as“despite the fact that”, “owing to the fact that”, “for the reason that”, and “inadditiontowhich”.Thesearesomewhatclumsy,andcomeundertheheadingof“circumlocution”. Usually there is no reasonwhy such phrases should not bereplaced by single words. Thus, in the examples given, the first could bereplacedbyalthough,thesecondandthirdbyasorbecause,andthefourthbyand.

“BUT”

Intheuseofbutasaconjunctionitisessentialthatthetwoconnectedstatementsareincontrasttooneanother.Ihavegivenasanexample:“Thenightwascoldbuttherewasnofire.”

Thatisright;butoftenyouseebutusedwrongly,wherethereisnocontrastorwherethecontrastisalreadyexpressed.Considerthesentence:

“Hedidnotdie,butherecoveredandlivedtoaripeoldage.”Ifhedidnotdiehemusthaverecovered,sothatthereisnocontrastafterbut.

Thewordisthereforemisused.If,however,wesimplyreplacebutbyand, thesentenceisclumsy.Itwouldbebetter toreconstruct thesentenceandsay:“Hedidnotdie;herecoveredandlivedtoaripeoldage.”

Asimilarcaseis:“InvainItried,butIfailed.”If I tried invain it isobvious that I failed; therefore,either invainmustbe

droppedorbutmustbereplacedbyand.Youcanfallintoatraphereifyouarenotcareful.

But can also be used to indicate a contrast between opposingwords – forexample,betweentwoadjectives,twonouns,ortwoverbs.

Correctexamplesare:“Itisnothotbutcold.”“Itisnotadogbutacat.”“Heisnotcomingbutgoing.”Thisisthetrap.Althoughtheseexamplesarerightthefollowingexamplesare

wrong,becausebutneutralisesfactorswhicharealreadyopposed:“Itisnothotbutitiscold.”“Itisnotadogbutitisacat.”“Heisnotcomingbutheisgoing.”If youwant to repeat “it is” in each case, thebut should be replaced by a

semicolon.Theformerconstruction,however,ispreferable.

“But”As“Except”

The use of but to mean except is common. Consider the sentence: “Nobodyknowsbutme.”Isthisrightorwrong?

We must first decide whether but is intended as a preposition or aconjunction.Ifaprepositionisintended(seepage29), thentheobjectivemeiscorrect(seepage71).

If,however,aconjunctionisintended,thesentenceisprobablyashorteningof“Nobodyknows,butIknow,”andinthis,eventhoughthesentencedoesnotstrictlymakesense,Iisright.

If our assumption is correct, that the sentence is abbreviated, then I issubjective. There are other cases, nevertheless, where no assumption need bemadeasthereisnodoubtaboutthematter.

“TheboystoodontheburningdeckWhenceallbuthehadfled.”Thephrase“allbuthe”isthesubjectprecedingtheverb“hadfled”,andthe

use of he is correct. Think how discordant the line would sound if FeliciaHemanshadwritten(inCasablanca)“Whenceallbuthimhadfled.”

Thus, when we know definitely whether we are dealing with subject orobject,thereisnodoubtaboutthe“case”followingbut.Forexample:subjectivecase – “Everyone but I went home”; objective case – “They gave some toeveryonebutme.”

Butwhere doubt exists – and it often does – it is an idiomatic custom toassumethatbut(meaningexcept)isaprepositionandthereforefollowedbytheobjectivecase.

A rather odd use of but which might be mentioned here is in suchconstructionsas:“Whoknowsbutthattheoldmanwastheculpritafterall?”Insuch sentences that is sometimes replaced by what, but as the wholeconstructionisidiomaticitdoesnotmattermuch.

Thiskindof language is permissible if used sparingly in conversation. It isapttogetoutofcontrolwhenusedbythewoolly-minded,andwehearconfusedabsurditieslike:“Whoknowsbutwhattheoldmanwasnottheculpritafterall?”

“SINCE”,“FOR”,“AS”

The threewords since, for andas canmean the same as (or are synonymouswith)because,anditisinthisconnectionthattheyareusedasconjunctions.In

thefollowingsentenceallfourareofequalvalue:“Iwenthomebecause/since/for/asitwasobviousIwasneeded.”Thesethreewords,however,haveotherfunctions,too.Probably thecommonestapplicationofsince isasapreposition,as in:“He

hasnotbeenhomesinceChristmas.”For,too,iscommonestasapreposition.In “Commonest as a preposition”, what is this use of as? Here, it means

“accordingtothemannerof”.Inthisuseitfranklycannotbedesignatedasbeingamemberofanyparticularpartofspeech,anymorethanitcanbeclassifiedinsuchsentencesas:

“Itshoneasbrightlyasthesun.”“Heisashappyasaking.”Inthenextchapteryouwillcomeacrossthesubjunctivemoodofaverb,and

youareusingthesubjunctiveinsayingthingslike:“IfeltasifIweredreaming.”Thewordascanalsomeanlikeinthesenseofbeing“similarto”.“Heisasa

child”means thesameas“Heis likeachild”. It isusedasalso,or too, in thephrase“aswell”,wherethewordwellisequallymeaningless.“Iamcomingaswell.”

An extension of this idiom is provided by such constructions as: “Jim iscomingaswellasJack”,where“aswellas”means“inadditionto”.

Truly,asisatantalisinglittleword,butawordofgreatutility.

PREPOSITIONSA preposition is a word which expresses the relationship of one word withanother,usually(butnotalways)ofanoun,apronoun,oraparticiple(seepage36).

In the phrase “in the house”, in is a preposition used to express therelationshipofanounwithsomethingelse.Otherexamplesofprepositionswithnounsare:“nearthestream”,“withawill”,“byhookorbycrook”.

Examples of prepositions with pronouns are: “to you”, “from me”, “withthem”.

Examplesofprepositionswithpresent participles are: “without going”, “byliving”,“beyondwalking”.

Hereisalistofotherprepositions:

Nodoubtyouwillbeabletothinkofmanymore.It used to be thought ungrammatical to end a sentence (or a clause in a

sentence)with a preposition.The foundationof this incorrect beliefmayhavebeen the apparentmeaningof theword “preposition” itself, signifying“beforeposition”.

The word, however, is unfortunate, and to interpret it literally would betantamount to adjusting the language to suit its meaning – for, after all, thelanguageisolderthantheterm“preposition”.

THEPLACINGOFPREPOSITIONS

Theplacingof aprepositiondepends to someextenton the typeofwritingorspeechinwhichit is tobeused.It ispossible in informalEnglishtomovethepreposition to the endof the sentence. “There is the boy I gave the toffee to”soundsfreer,lesspedantic,than“ThereistheboytowhomIgavethetoffee.”

What is suitable for a casual remark, however, may not be suitable, forexample,forastatesman’sspeech.Considerthefollowing:

“Thefateofthisgreatnation,ofwhomitmightbesaidthatatnotimeintwothousandyearshassheattemptedtoshirkherresponsibilities, is todayhangingby a slender thread.There are countries towhom she has offered the hand offriendship.Therearecountriestowhomshehasgladlygiveneveryhelpintimeofwar.Thesethingsshallsurelynotgounregarded.Theworldisevergrowingsmaller, and the tremendous continents between which the mighty seas rollunceasingly are drawing ever closer together. It behoves us all, therefore, tostand together in brotherhood, so that, when the time comes, we shall not bewanting for support.Butwithwhat are our friends to support us?Never fear.Theyhavethespiritualresourcesofcenturies.”

Thereare severalprepositions in thatpassage,notoneofwhich falls at theend of a sentence or the end of a clause. The only sentence that might beimprovedbyashuntingoftheprepositionisthatcontainingwith:“Butwhatareourfriendstosupportuswith?”

Ending a sentence (or a clause in a sentence) with a preposition may notsoundelegant,andyoumaywishtoreconstructit:thatis,youcanrearrangethesentenceinsuchawaythattheuseofaprepositionisavoided.

Ifthesenseofasentenceorclause,however,demandsthataprepositionbeplacedattheend,andtheresultisharmonious,thenputtheprepositionthere.

Inphrasal verbs such as “look after” or “blow up” the preposition/adverbremainsafter theverb,so theformal typeofconstruction isnotpossible.“Thechildren I was looking after,” could not be rewritten “. . . after whom I waslooking”;norcould“whichbridgedidtheyblowup?”berearranged.

OTHERUSESOFPREPOSITIONS

Frequently a preposition can be used alone, without a noun, pronoun, orparticiple, but in all such cases the supporting word is understood. In thefollowingexamplestheunderstoodwordsareinbrackets:

“Isawthreeshipscomesailingby(theshore).”“Thereisamanoutside(thedoor).”“Iamgoingin(thehouse).”“Thedoctorhasgoneup(thestairs).”Alittlereflectionwillsuggestinnumerableexamplesofthistype.Occasionally a preposition is used as an adjective, as in “up train”, “down

train”,“insideberth”,“outsideseat”,“underdog”,and“pastpresident”.Whenusingtheprepositionto,rememberthatyoucangotoplaces,butnever

“goplaces”,unless theplace is “home”or“abroad”.Thus,youcan say“I amgoinghome”,butifyouwanttosay“myhome”youmustsay“Iamgoingtomyhome”andnot“Iamgoingmyhome.”

Youcansay“Iamgoingabroad”,butnot“IamgoingIndia.”Peopleoftensay“Iwrotehim”(whichiswrong),whentheymean“Iwrotetohim.”

Where a verb is precededby to, the “infinitive” of the verb is formed (seepage35).

INTERJECTIONSAnotherpartofspeechtobeconsideredistheinterjectionorexclamation.

An exclamation such as “Ah!” or an exclamatory phrase such as “Whatnonsense!”playsnopart in theconstructionof a sentence. It is avoluntaryorinvoluntary remark, and as an exclamation it takes the exclamation mark (!),which will be considered in Chapter 5 when the subject of punctuation is

reached.According to literatureofabygoneage,and topseudohistoricalnovels,our

ancestorswerein thehabitofsaying“Zounds!”,“ByJove!”and“Gadzooks!”.Thecommonestexclamationsofthepresentdayareperhaps“Ohdear!”,“Goodheavens!”,“Great!”,“Marvellous!”,“Splendid!”,“Oh!”,“Ugh!”,“Damn!”,andthevariousexpletives.

Quite often, “Alas!” is used parenthetically; that is, it can be put into asentenceinsuchawaythatabreakisformed.Itcanbeanoratoricalaid,asin:“Theparty’sprospects–alas!–havebeenruinedbytheirresponsibleactionofafewhotheads.”

Thereisacuriousexclamatoryuseof“Why!”.“Why!He’sdoneitagain”isanexample.Perhapsitisbecauseofthesoundofthewordthatsosatisfactorilyexpressessurprise,ortheshapeofthemouthinsayingit.

2

VERBS

Verbsarethepartsofspeechwhichdenoteaction,or“thedoingofsomething”.Thus, in the simple sentences, “I go”, “He had”, “She will come”, “I shallleave”,theverbsarego,had,willcomeandshallleave.

Themeaningoftenses–past,presentandfuture–iswellenoughknown.Intheaboveshortsentences,go isinthepresenttense,had in thepast tense,andbothwillcomeandshallleaveareinthefuturetense.Thischapterdealswithafewfeaturesaboutverbswhicharenotsowellknown,oraboutwhichtheremaybedoubt.

Inoneway,verbsare themost importantof thepartsofspeech, for,asyouwillseeinChapter4,averbisanessentialpartofatruesentence.

While there are three tenses of verbs – past, present and future – there arefour verb moods (or “modes”). These are the infinitive, the conditional, thesubjunctiveandtheimperative.

THEINFINITIVEA verb written or said by itself, when applied to nothing in particular, isunlimited,orinfinite,inscope,andthuswehavetheterminfinitive.

“I work”, “You work”, “He works”, “They work”, are all particularapplications of the act of working; but “to work” is the general function,unlimited in scope, and thus the infinitive mood of the verb. The use of theinfinitiveisnecessarytocompletecertainkindsofstatement,asinthefollowing:“Iamgoingtowork”,“Hemeanstoeathisbreakfast”,and“Theyhopetocatchthetrain”.

Intalkingorwritingaboutverbsingeneralitisusualtogivetheminfinitiveforms.Thuswerefertotheverbstoeat,tolive,tosleep,toopen.Inlanguagesother thanEnglish the preposition to is implied; thus, inFrench, the infinitiveforms of the four verbs above aremanger (to eat), vivre (to live),dormir (tosleep),andouvrir(toopen).

THESPLITINFINITIVE

The inclusion, or implication, of the little word to in the infinitives of otherlanguagesmaybetheoriginofthedictumthatinEnglishitisshockingto“split”theinfinitive–that is, toinsertawordorwordsbetween toand itsverb.Herearesomeexamplesofsplitinfinitives:

“Hestartedtoslowlywalkdowntheroad.”“Iwanttofurtherexamineyourproposals.”“Hewasforcedtounconsciouslyshieldhiseyesfromtheglare.”“Itwouldbebettertoignoretheletterthantobelatedlyandclumsilyproffer

yourapologies.”Onethingthatstrikesusaboutthesesentencesistheirawkwardness.Noneof

themsoundsright.Heretheyarewithoutthesplitinfinitives:“Hestartedtowalkslowlydowntheroad.”“Iwanttoexamineyourproposalsfurther.”“Hewasunconsciouslyforcedtoshieldhiseyesfromtheglare.”“It would be better to ignore the letter than belatedly and clumsily proffer

yourapologies.”(Thissentencehasbeenimprovedsimplybytheremovalofto.)Yet it is not entirely ongroundsof euphony (smoothness or agreeability of

sound)thatinfinitive-splittingiscondemned.Themostlikelyreason,aswehaveseen, is the fact that inmostWestern languages the infinitive form of a verb,beingonewordonly,cannotbesplit.

Our own language is English, however, and it seems unreasonable that therulesofEnglishgrammarshouldberigidlybasedontherulesofolderorforeigngrammars.

Many good newspapers have a rule against the split infinitive, and “copy”containingasplitinfinitiveisusuallyaltered.Buttherearetimeswhenitismoremelodious and less artificial to split an infinitive than to stick slavishly to therule.Considerthefollowingthreesentences:

“Weregretitisimpossibletolegallyauthorisetheterminationofthelease.”“Weregretitisimpossibletoauthoriselegallytheterminationofthelease.”“Weregretitisimpossiblelegallytoauthorisetheterminationofthelease.”Ithinkyouwillagreethatthefirstisthesmoothestandthethirdtheroughest.

Thethird,moreover,isambiguous,sincetheadverblegallycouldberelatedtoisimpossible;thatis,thesentencecouldmean“Weregretitislegallyimpossible....”

Theconclusionsabout thesplit infinitive, then,seemtobethese:avoidit ifyou can; if you find that avoiding it makes the sentence sound unnatural orambiguous, split it; but preferably remodel the sentence rather than split the

infinitive.

OMISSIONOF“TO”FROMTHEINFINITIVE

There are legitimate cases where, in the use of an infinitive, the word to isunderstoodbutnotexpressed– that is, it is implied.Anexample is:“Helpmecarrytheshopping.”

Theomissionof tobeforecarry is avery commonexampleof “ellipsis” (ashortening),especiallyinconjunctionwiththeverbtohelpandthereisnothingwrongwiththiskindofsentence.

PRESENT-TENSECONSTRUCTIONEnglish is a language inwhich there are two present-tense constructions. Thepresentcontinuousimpliesanactionhappeningnow:

“Iamworking.”“Itissnowing.”“What’s thebabydoing?He’s tearingupa£20note.” It isalsousedforan

actionhappeningaboutthistimebutnotnecessarilyatthemomentofspeaking:“IamreadingaplaybyShaw.”“SheisteachingFrenchandlearningSpanish.”Thesimplepresenttenseisusedmainlytoexpresshabitualactions:“Hesmokes.”“Dogsbark.”“Catsdrinkmilk.”“Hewrites”mightmeananything.“Hewritesnovels”signifiesacurrentbut

not necessarily continuous habit of the person discussed. But “He is writing”meansthatheiswritingatthismoment,oratthisparticulartime.

PAST-TENSECONSTRUCTIONThereare twocorrespondingconstructions in thepast tense–“Iwrote”and“Iwas writing”. For “I was writing” some other languages have an equivalentwhichtheFrenchcallthe“past-imperfect”.Theimperfectisaverysuitableterm,fortheconstructionismorevague,lessdefinite,thantheequivalentof“Iwrote”.

PARTICIPLESParticiplesarethoseformsofaverbending(forexample)in-ingand-ed.Thus,

in“Iamwaiting”,waitingisthepresentparticipleoftheverb“towait”,andin“Ihavewaited”waitedisthepastparticiple.

Presentparticiplesinvariablyendin-ing.Pastparticiples,ontheotherhand,havevariousendings,asinknown,been,gone,come, lost,but thecommonestending is -ed.Aparticiple isoftenusedasaverbaladjective, as in“the risingsun”and“thelostproperty”.

Thepastparticiple lost isanexampleofa-tending.Other-tendingsareinlearnt, dreamt, and leapt. It is true that these past participles are ofteninterchangedwith the simple past tense of the verbs – learned, dreamed andleaped–butyoumayprefertokeepthe-tendingsforthepastparticiples.Thus,you say, “I dreamed” and “I have dreamt”, the -ed ending, after all, beingcommontomostotherverbsintheirpast-tenseconstuctions.

Anunusualcaseofadualformisprovidedbypastandpassed.Botharepastparticiples of the verb “to pass”, butwhilepast is usedwith the verb “to be”passed isusedwith theverb“tohave”.The sentences“I ampastmiddleage”and“Ihavepassedmiddleage”arebothcorrect.

For a great many verbs the past tense is the same as the past participle,examples being: “I passed”, “I have passed”, “I loved”, “I have loved”, “Hedug”,“Hehasdug”,“Theyread”,“Theyhaveread”.

Beonyourguard,however,withthefollowingverbs–thesocalled“strong”verbs–inwhichthedominantvowelisi:

Infinitive Pasttense Pastparticiple

todrink drank have(has)drunk

tosink sank have(has)sunk

toswim swam have(has)swum

tosing sang have(has)sung

tobegin began have(has)begun

Fartoooftenyouheartheavowelusedinsteadoftheuvowelandtheuinsteadofthea.

VERBSENDINGIN“T”OR“D”

Verbswhichcancausedoubtincludethoseendingintord,forexample,bet,let,hit,sit,bid,forbid,pad,ridandbud.

The past-tense and part-participle forms of these verbs are maddeningly

inconsistent,andtheonlyguideto“correctness”isacceptedusage.Withregard tobet, it isusual tosay“Ibethimfivepounds” inaparticular

application, or “I have bet on a horse.” Yet, when speaking of betting in ageneral sense,we say such things as “They betted all day long.”These formssound more pleasant than “I betted him five pounds” and “They bet all daylong.”Ifthesecondsentenceisinthepresenttense,ofcourse,itistheonlywayofsayingit.

Thepasttenseandpastparticipleoflet,ontheotherhand,arealwayslet. Itwouldneveroccurtoanyonetosayanythingotherthan“Iletmyhouse”or“Ihave letmyhouse”, just asnoonewould thinkof saying“Ihittedhim”or “Ihavehittedhim.”

Thepasttenseandpastparticipleofbid,intheauction-roomsense,arebothbid,as in“Ibidhimtenpounds”or“Ihavebidhimtenpounds.” In theothersenseofbidandforbid,however,thepasttenseisbadeandforbadeandthepastparticiplebiddenandforbidden,asillustratedinthetwosentences:“Hismotherbade him come home” and “Smoking on the London Underground has beenforbidden.”

Pad,unlikebid,alwayschangesintopadded.“Thecatpaddedabouttheroomwhile I padded the cushions.” In the past, rid behaved similarly, as in thesentence:“Thecathasriddedthebarnofmice”and“Theweed-killerriddedthepathofweeds.”However, todaywegenerallysay“Thecathas rid thebarnofmice”and“Theweed-killerridthepathofweeds”,aswellas“Iwaswellridofhim.”Thepasttenseandpastparticipleofbud,nevertheless,arealwaysbudded.

Thepasttenseandpastparticipleofsitcanbesatorseated.Usageisstrange,for the following examples of accepted English show no apparent rule orregularity:

“Theyallsat.”“Isatdown.”“Wehavesatherelongenough.”“Isatonthechair.”“Iseated(sat)mybabyonthestool.”“Areyouallseated?”“Praybeseated.”Weoftenhear(forexample)ofa“deep-seatedcomplaint”.Strictly,theadverb

deeply should be used, but common licence permits otherwise. The pastparticiple seated is contained in the compound adjective, and deep-sat wouldsoundodd.

“SHALL”AND“WILL”There used to be much confusion over shall and will. Even people whosegrammar was almost faultless in other respects fell down in the use of thesewords.Generally,thefaultwastousewillforshallratherthanthereverse.

Theruleswere:Forplainfuturetense(thatis,merestatementofintention),thefirstperson(I

orwe)tookshall.Forexample,“Ishallgohome”ifIwassimplyaffirmingmyintentionofgoinghomeinthefuture.

Forplainfuturetense,thesecondperson(you)andthethirdperson(he,she,they,orapronoun)tookwill.Forexample,“Youwillgohome.”

“Iwill”,or“Wewill”,ontheotherhand,wasnotusedforaplainstatementofintention,butonlywhentherewasachoiceorvolition(exerciseofthewill).“Iwillgohome”meant that Ihad thechoiceofgoingornotgoing, that I reallywantedtogohome,thatIhadconsideredthepossibilityofnotgoinghomebutdiscardedtheidea.

Nowadays,however, it isaccepted thatwhenusing thefirstpersonwillandshallmaybeinterchanged:

“Ishall(will)be21onTuesday.”“ThistimetomorrowIshall(will)beinFrance.”“OfcourseIshall(will)writetoyou.”Whenusingother persons (you,he, they)will is still usually used unless a

threatorapromiseisimplied:“Youshallpayforthis!”“Theyshallgetthereward!”Ifafutureactionisindefinite,oronlycasuallyhintedat,orusedvaguelyin

anidiomaticmanner,shalliscustomaryasinthefollowingexamples:“When the nation has no more use for him, he shall be cast into the

wilderness.”“Johnshallalwaysbe the first toarrive.” (But thedefinite futurewouldbe:

“Johnwillbethefirsttoarrivetomorrow.”)“Perhapssometimethereshallbeworldpeace.”“Virtueshallnotgounrewarded.”“Nationshallriseagainstnation.”Inagreatmanysuchsentencesasthesetheuseofwillinsteadofshallgoes

unnoticed,andthereareinnumerableborderlinecaseswhereeitherwordwouldbejustified.

Thewordsshouldandwouldaretheconditionalforms(seepage42)ofshall

andwillandthesamerulesgivenaboveusedtoapplytothem.Thus,ifIsaid“Iwouldgohome”,itmeantthat,giventhechoiceofstaying

orgoinghome,Ishouldprefertogohome.Tosay,“Iwouldliketogohome”or“Iwouldprefertogohome”wasconsideredwrong;“Ishouldlike/prefertogohome” was the correct construction. Today, however, both sentences areaccepted.

Anotheruseofwouldisinsuchconstructionsasthefollowing:“Iwouldcallandfindnobodyin.”“Wewoulddecidetogoforapicnicwhenit’sraining.”Insuchcaseswouldisusuallyemphasised,theimplicationbeingthatitisthe

subject’smisfortunetohavemadeawrongchoice.Should,ofcourse,canalsoandverycommonlymean“oughtto”or“am[is,

are]obligedto”.Weoftenusethewordthatafterclausesincorporatingsuchverbsasdemand,

beanxiousandintend.Future tense inmostcasesof thiskind isexpressedbyshall,asinthefollowing:

“The chairman demands that everymember shall be in his place by seveno’clock.”

“Weareanxiousthatthisspecialoccasionshallbeextendedtoallapplicants.”“TheGovernment intends that all suchpersons shall benefit by this order.”

(Thiswouldbebetterexpressedas:“TheGovernmentintendsallsuchpersonstobenefit....”)

That-clausestakingwillarethoseincorporating,forexample,hope,fearandanticipate,wheretheoutcomeisindefinite.Examplesare:

“Itishopedthatmanymembersofthecompanywillbepresent.”“If he went out in this storm I fear that he would get lost.” (This is an

exampleoftheconditional.)“It is a difficult climb, and we do not anticipate that he will reach the

summit.”Again,ofcourse,thepronounInaturallytakesshall,asin“IhopethatIshall

passmyexamination.”Insomecasesthewordthatcanbeomitted,butintheomissionyoushould

besparing.Thus,althoughthesecondandthirdoftheseexamplescouldbereadquitesmoothlywithoutthat,thefirstwouldsoundincomplete(seepage58).

It is not usual to adopt shall orwill in a constructionwith expect. Normalconstructionsare,forexample,thefollowing:

“Englandexpectseverymantodohisduty.”

“Iexpectittobefinetomorrow.”“Theyexpecttobewelltreated.”Ifwewishtouseshallorwill,however,weshouldremember that theverb

expect takes shall only if the expectation is strict or peremptory.Shall wouldthusbeappliedonlyinthefirstoftheseexamples:

“Englandexpectsthateverymanshalldohisduty.”“Iexpectthatitwillbefinetomorrow.”“Theyexpectthattheywillbewelltreated.”

THECONDITIONAL“Theconditional”referredtoinprecedingpagesisnotatensebutamood,andwhereas in French, for example, there is a special form of verb for theconditional,inEnglishitisexpressedbytheadditionofshould,wouldorcouldtotheverb.

Simpleexamplesare:“Ifyoucamehomeyouwouldbewelcomed.”“IfIsaidsuchathingIshouldbeashamed.”“Hecoulddothejobifhehadthetools.”Thus,veryoften (butnot always), the conditional is accompaniedbyan if-

clause,statingthecondition.Inthethreesentencesjustgiven,theconditionsare:“Ifyoucamehome...”“IfIsaidsuchathing...”“Ifhehadthetools...”Itwillhavebeennoticedthat,whenusedconditionally,iftakesthepasttense

–came(notcome),said(notsay),had(nothas).The thing to avoid is the clumsy constructionwith a redundantconditional

andpastparticiple.Oftenyouhearthiskindofthing:“I should have thought that it would have been necessary to inform the

people.”If the speaker says, correctly, “Itwould have been necessary to inform the

people”,thatisonething.Ifhesays,alsocorrectly,“Ishouldhavethought”,thatisanotherthing.

But the compound statement requires only one conditional and one pastparticiple to give the meaning. The speaker’s opinion could be correctlyexpressed in one of two ways, either: “I should have thought that it was

necessary to inform the people”; or “I think it would have been necessary toinformthepeople.”(Thesecondsentencesoundsbetterwiththatomitted.)

THESUBJUNCTIVEThe subjunctive is a mood which, in English, is almost obsolete, but is stillperfectlylegitimatewhenusedintherightplace.InFrenchitisstillverymuchalive,liketheconditional.

The subjunctive is the form of a verb used for something thatmight havebeenimaginedbutdidnotactuallyoccur;forahypothesis,butnotforafact.Inmodern practice the effect of its use is confined to the verb to be. Thesubjunctive were can be used with if when dealing with a hypothetical orimaginerysituation.

A common example of this is “If I were you . . .” I could never be you;thereforetheuseofthesubjunctivewereislegitimate.

Inmostif-sentencesorclausesthesubjunctivecansafelybeusedaslongasthesentenceisnotconcernedwithfactorwithlikelypossibility.Thus,anothercorrectexampleofitsuseis:“IfIweregivenwingsIshouldflyaway.”

Inabygoneagewecouldhaveusedconstructionslike(forinstance)“Ifhistheorybecorrect...”(insteadof“iscorrect”).Histheorymightbecorrect.Wemay even know it is correct, and choose to start our sentence in an oratoricalway. Hence it may not be mere assumption, or hypothesis, that his theory iscorrect,anditwouldbepreferablebymodernstandardstouseis.

Ingeneral,theonlysubjunctivenowusedwithifiswereandnotbe,exceptperhaps inpoetryandfancifuloratory.Oneconstruction,withanunderstood ifomitted,haslastedsinceGay’sTheBeggar’sOpera(1727):

“HowhappycouldIbewitheither,Weret’otherdearcharmeraway!”

The subjunctivewere is used in a hypothetical or actual situation if the if isomitted.

This typeof sentence is in commonuse today; for example: “Were I to gohomeImightfindit”insteadof“IfIshouldgohome...”

Arecognisedmodernuseofbeisinsuchconstructionsas:“Thecommitteedecidedthatthemanbeaskedtoresign.”“Therewasasuggestionthatthepressnotbetold.”“Whetherthisbethecaseornot,Ishallrefusetolendhermoney.”

Afurthersurvivinguseofthesubjunctiveiswith“Iwish...”,asin:“Iwishtheexaminationwereover.”

Useasubjunctivebewiththoughoralthoughbutrefrainfromusingitiftheresultsoundsartificialorstilted.Itisbesttousethesubjunctivemoodsparingly,andonlyifyouaresureyouareusingitcorrectly.

THEIMPERATIVEThewordimperativedenotesurgency,anxiety,asin:“Itisabsolutelyimperativethatwecatchthenighttrain.”Itdeniestheexistenceofanychoiceoralternative.

Fromthereitiseasytoseehowtheimperativemoodarose.Commandsandorders aregiven in the imperativemoodof averb. “Comehere!” “Goaway!”“Hurry!” “Wait!” “Don’t worry!” “Stop!” All these are examples of theimperative.Usuallyanimperativewordorclauseisfollowedbyanexclamationmark,thisbeingoneofthefewcaseswhereanexclamationmarkisjustified.

Otherexamplesoftheimperativeare:“Let’sgo!”“Outofmyway!”(“Get”isunderstood.)“Don’tlet’sbeworriedbytheserumours.”“Let the earth be filled with the fruits of Thy goodness.” (An imperative

sentenceofsomelengthmaynotneedtheexclamationmark.)“Cry‘Havoc!’,andletslipthedogsofwar.”

TRANSITIVEANDINTRANSITIVEVERBS“Ihammerthenail.”

“Isleepinpeace.”Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetwoverbshammerandsleep?Briefly, the difference is that you can hammer something, but you cannot

sleepsomething.Sleep,asaverb,issufficientinitself.Theword“transitive”,likeallthoseother“trans-”words,isderivedfromthe

Latinprefixmeaning“across”,“over”,“beyond”or“through”,anda transitiveverbisonewhichdirectlyconnectsthesubjectofasentencewithitsobject. Ifthesubjectcandosomethingwiththeverbtotheobject,theverbistransitive.

Transitive verbs that suggest themselves are “hit”, “eat”, “read”, “spend”,“take”,“repair”,“write”,“organise”and“simplify”.Mosttransitiveverbscanattimesbeusedwithoutanobject.

Anintransitiveverb,ashasbeennoted,canexistbyitself,withoutanobject.

Thusthesimplesentence“Ilive”makessenseasitstands.Anintransitiveverbcan, however, connect the object with the subject through a preposition orthroughaphrase.“Ilive”canbeexpandedinto“Iliveinmyhouse”(throughthepreposition in)or into“I liveveryclose toa stream” (through thephraseverycloseto).

“LAY”AND“LIE”

Discussion of transitive and intransitive verbs gives a golden opportunity todiscusstheoftenill-treatedverbstolayandtolie.

Tolayistransitive.Thatis,youcanlaysomethingdown.Youcanlayabookonatable,andahencanlayanegg.

Tolie isintransitive–notonlyinthesenseoftellinganuntruth,butalsointhesenseof“torecline”,whichisourconcernhere.

Lieissufficientinitself,asinthefollowing:“Ilieonthebed.”“Thedogliesonthefloor.”“Shewenttoliedown.”Theseareallcorrectexamplesoftheuseoftheverbtolie.Mostpeople are fairlywell conversantwith thedifferencebetween lay and

lie, but some people very often use lay when they mean lie. They say, forinstance:

“Iwaslayingdownwhenthedoctorcalled.”“Mygrandmotherwentforalay-down.”Theoriginofthiserror–theuseoflayinsteadoflie–isnodoubtduetothe

factthatthepasttenseoflieislay,asin:“Ilayonthebed.”“Thedoglayonthefloor.”“Shewent to liedown” is still correct, for thepast tenseof the sentence is

conveyedbytheverbwent.Thepasttenseoflay,ontheotherhand,islaid,asin:“Ilaidthebookonthetable.”“Thehenlaidanegg.”So far, so good.But the difficulties to somepeople seem to increasewhen

pastparticiplesareinvolved.Thefollowingarecorrectexamplesoftheuseofthepastparticiples:

Tolay:

“Ihavelaidthebookonthetable.”“Thehenhaslaidanegg.”

Tolie:“Ihavelainonthebed.”“Thedoghaslainonthefloor.”

Itisimportanttorememberthatlainisneverusedwiththeverbtolay,andlaidisneverusedwiththeverbtolie.

Peoplegetthemselvesmoreandmoreconfused,eveninprint,whentheystartdealing with the compound verbs overlay, underlay, overlie and underlie.Frequentlysentenceslikethefollowingareheardorread:

“Thesandstonesareoverlaidbytheshales.”“Thecasewasunderlaidbythesecretthattheyweretwins.”“Having overlain the primer by the first undercoating, allow to dry

thoroughly.”“Theauthor thenbecameconvinced that the low-gradeoreoverlaid theold

workings.”The first three sentencesare examplesof thewrongpastparticiple, and the

fourthsentence(byascientist)isanexampleoftheuseofthewrongwordforthepasttense.

If in doubt about the correct form, first ask yourself your meaning. Themeaningsoftheabovesentencesare:

“Theshalesoverliethesandstones.”“Thesecretthattheyweretwinsunderlaythecase.”“Having laid the first undercoating over the primer, allow it to dry

thoroughly.”“. . . thelow-gradeorelayovertheoldworkings.”Now,youknowthatthe

pastparticipleof lay is laidand thepastparticipleof lie is lain.Then the firstthreesentences,corrected,shouldbe:

“Thesandstonesareoverlainbytheshales.”“Thecasewasunderlainbythesecretthattheyweretwins.”“Havingoverlaidtheprimer...”And you know that the past tense of lie is lay, so that the fourth sentence

shouldbe:“The author then became convinced that the low-grade ore overlay the old

workings.”

THEVERB“TOBE”There are a few anomalies (irregularities), and some special features, to beobservedabouttheverbtobe.

THECOMPLEMENT

Where the verb to be is accompanied by a pronoun forming the object of asentence or clause – the “complement” of the verb – the pronoun must besubjective. (Subject andobject are tobediscussed inChapter4.)Examples ofthewrongandrightuseofthecomplementare:

Wrong Right

“Thisishim[her].” “Thisishe[she].”

“Itwasme.” “ItwasI.”

“Iamhim[her].” “Iamhe[she].”

“Thepeopleyousawwereus.” “Thepeopleyousawwerewe.”

“Thosearethem.” “Thosearethey.”

Thefactthatthisruleisoftenbrokeninconversationisnoexcuseforbreakingitinwriting,unlessdialogueisbeingquoted.

SINGULARANDPLURAL

Thesubjectofasentencemaydifferinnumberfromitsobject;thatis,onemaybesingularwhentheotherisplural.

Theverb,then,takesthenumberofthesubject,asin:“Mywagesareonethingtobeconsidered.”“Onethingtobeconsideredismywages.”“Thesepagesaretheparttobeomitted.”“Theparttobeomittedisthesepages.”Collective nouns like “crew”, “family”, and “team” can take a singular or

pluralverb.“Ourteamisthebest”impliesasinglegrouporunit.“OurteamarewearingtheirnewT-shirts”meansanumberofindividuals.

Acompoundsubjectisasubjectcompoundedoftwoormorewordsofwhich,forourpresentpurposes,oneissingularandtheotherplural,asin“Oneofthesethings.”

The verb to be in this case takes the singular form. A correct example is:“One of these eggs is bad.” Occasionally, however, you hear the wrong

construction:“Oneoftheseeggsarebad.”

“AMINOT?”

Wecansay,perfectlycorrectly,“I’mnot”,buttheabbreviationfor“AmInot?”is usually “Aren’t I?” in British English. It is not strictly correct and is acolloquialismavoided inAmericanEnglish.Wecan say“Haven’t I?”, “Aren’twe?”, “Hasn’t he?” and “Isn’t she?” But when we want to abbreviate “Am Inot?”werealisewecannotdoiteasily.Perhapsthereissomethingtobesaidforthe usage, often heard amongst Scots, of “Amn’t I?”, at least it is perfectlygrammatical.

ELLIPSISWITH“TOBE”AND“TOHAVE”

Ellipsismeans“ashortening”,andalthoughingrammarit takesseveralforms,here,weareconcernedonlywithitseffectsontheverbstobeandtohave.

Insteadofsaying,“HewasleadingandIwasfollowing”,wecouldsay“Hewas leading and I following.” The omission of the secondwas constitutes anexampleofellipsis,asitis“understood”tobecoveredbythefirstwas.

Somuchisclear,andsuchellipsisformspartofeverydaywritingandspeech.It is often thought thatwhere one of the subjects is singular and the other

plural,eachverbmusttakeitsappropriatecase,asin:“TheywereleadingandIwasfollowing.”Thereisnothingwrongwiththis,butinshortsentences,wherethetwosubjectsareclosetogether–inthiscase,TheyandI–itispermissibletoomitthesecondverb.Thesentencewouldthenbecome:“TheywereleadingandIfollowing.”

Otherpermissibleexamplesare:“YouarefiftyandIsixty.”“HehasanumbrellaandIaraincoat.”In these examples, the two subjects are comparable; each statement would

stillmake sense if the subjectswere interchanged. But if the subjects are notcomparable,ellipsisofthiskindisnotpermissible.

Forinstance,considerthesentence:“Theroadwaslongandtheyhungry.”Withthesubjects interchangedthesentencedoesnotmakesense:obviously

theroadcouldnotbehungry,andthesubjectsarethereforenotcomparable.Thesentenceshouldread,then:“Theroadwaslongandtheywerehungry.”

Where the two subjects are some distance removed from each other thepractice should not be used. Think of the clumsiness of the following: “Theywere leading, and I,whohad just comeoutofhospital andwas feelingweak,

following.”Bythetimethereaderhasreachedthewordweakhehasmentallylosttouch

with the start of the sentence and the subject I. There is clearly somethinglacking;andallthatisnecessaryistheinsertionofwasbeforefollowing.

3

PRONOUNS

Ofallthepartsofspeechpronounsareperhapsthemostlooselyused.Strictly,apronounisawordtakingtheplaceofanounwhichhasalreadybeenreferredtoorisunderstood,butmanywordswhich,forthesakeofconveniencearecalledpronouns,donoteasilyfallintothisdefinition.

Pronouns are sometimes classified, accepted classifications being, forexample, personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns andinterrogativepronouns.Somepronounscanbelongtomore thanonekind,andthis is one reason why classifications should not be studied too rigidly. Theclassifications are convenient for description, however, and will be followedhere,but as longasyouknowapronounwhenyouhearor seeone itmatterslittlewhatsortofpronounitis.

PERSONALPRONOUNSPersonal pronouns – the easiest to recognise – can take the place of propernamesorofarticlednounsliketheman.

Subjectiveandobjectiveformsofthepersonalpronounsarethefollowing:

The differences between subject and object are explained in Chapter 4 andexamplesofcommonmistakesreceivespecialattentionlaterinthebook.

An idiomatic use of you, similar in application to the French “on”, is itssubstitutionforoneoranyone.Asthisuseofyousoundslesspedanticthanone,ithasbecomeacceptedEnglish.

Oneisfairlyformal:“Oneshouldn’tbelieveeverythingonereadsinthepapers.”“Onehastoshowone’spassatthegate.”

Caremustbetakennottousebothyouandoneinthesamesentenceorinthesamepassage.Oneofthedrawbacksofyouisthatonceonestartsapplyingtheidiomonecannotchangeovertooneuntiladecentintervalhaselapsed.

DEMONSTRATIVEPRONOUNSDemonstrativepronouns,asisfairlyobvious,havethedutyofdemonstrating,asinthefollowingsentences:

“Thisismyapple.”“Thatisherpeach.”“Theseareyourpears.”“Thosearehisplums.”Thepersonalpronountheycanalsobedemonstrative,asin“TheyarethepeopleIlike.”In each of the above sentences the demonstrative pronoun (printed inbold

italics) is the subject. The objective forms of thewords, however, (except forthey)arethesame,asin:

“Iwantthis.”“Youwantthat.”“Hewantsthese.”“Shewantsthose.”Inthecaseofthey,theobjectiveformisthesameasthesubjectiveformonly

iftheverbistheverb“tobe”.Thus,“Thosearethey”iscorrect,and“Thosearethem”iswrong.

Theuseof themasobjectiscorrectforallotherverbs,asin“Ihavethem”and“Youatethem.”

Them cannot be used as subject, and commonly heard sentences such as“ThemaretheonesIlike”oreven“Themis....”arenotcorrect.

Whenweusedemonstrativepronounsourreaderorlistenermustknowwhatwe are referring to. Apart from the simple examples already given, furtherexamples,ofatypeverywidelyused,arethefollowing:

“ThisdrawingsupersedesthatdatedAugust19th...”“Employeestowhomitappliesarethosewithrelevantexperience.”Besidesthis,that,theseandthose,however,thereareotherpronounswhich

deservetobeincludedinthedemonstrativeclass.Theseare:none,all,neither,either,some,any.

Except fornone, demonstrative pronouns can be used as adjectives before

nouns,assecondaryadjectivesbeforeadjectivesandnouns,andasadjectivesintheformofarticles.Thesubjectiveandobjectiveformsarethesame,examplesbeing:

“Iadorethoseroses.”“Thesefoolishthingsremindmeofyou.”“Lookatthispicture.”“Thathappymanhasn’tacareintheworld.Theuseofdemonstrativepronounsasadjectiveswith thewordone – as in

“this one” and, very colloquially, “these ones” – is unjustified, as the word“ones”isquitesuperfluous.Incidentally,theuseof“one”inthissensemakesitapronoun.

Considerthesentence:“Theseapplesaregood,butthosearebetter.”Theseisanadjectivedescribingtheapples.Thosecanbeeitherademonstrativepronoundemonstratingwhichapplesarereferredto,oranabbreviationof“thoseapples”,but,astheresultisthesamewhicheverwayyoulookatit,itdoesnotmatter.

Whatdoesmatter, however, is how you refer to kinds of things.Youmustnever say “those kind” of anything. Say “those kinds”, if you like, or “thesekinds”or“thiskind”or“thatkind”.Buttosay“thosekind”istoapplyapluraladjectivetoasingularnoun.

“NONE”

Thewordnonesometimespresentsdifficulties in thechoiceof theappropriateverb form. Should we say “None is” or “None are”, “None come” or “Nonecomes”?

Ifwehavebeentaughtthatnone(whichliterallymeans“notone”)isalwayssingular,then“Noneis”and“Nonecomes”arecorrect.Butthewordcanhaveapluralapplication,inwhichcase“Noneare”and“Nonecome”maybecorrect.

Myadviceindecidingwhethertosay“Noneis”or“Noneare”istoconsiderthecontext,considerthesense,considerthesound,andthenmakeupyourmind.You need not be ashamed of saying “None are” if the sense of the sentencesupportsitanditsoundsright,asin“Nonearecomingtonight.”

“EITHER”AND“NEITHER”

“Either solution is correct” comes easily to most people. But often we readsentences like “Neither Dickens nor Thackeray were panderers to the publictaste” insteadof“NeitherDickensnorThackeraywasapanderer to thepublictaste.”

Either and neither are very logical words, and the rule of application issimple.Youknowalready,ofcourse, thateither isusedwithorandneither isusedwithnor,butneitherseemstocausethemoreconfusioninthepublicmind.

If both the things under discussion are singular, neither takes the singularnumber of its following verb, as in: “Neither Roger nor John has enoughexperiencetotakeonthejob.”

Youcansay“neitherare”onlyifboththingsspokenaboutareplural,asin:“Neither men nor women are eligible” and “Neither birds nor fish aremammals.”Moreissaidabouteitherandneitheronpage133,Chapter6.

Difficulty arises when one of the things you are dealing with takes thesingular formof theverb and theother theplural.What shouldbe said in thefollowingcases?

“NeitheryounorIwas[were]there.”“Althoughitwasavineharvest,neithergrapesnorwinewere[was]muchin

abundance.”Thoughthegeneralruleisthatneither...nortakesasingularverb,whenthe

subjectsaredifferentpersonsor things,pluralverbsarenormal.Asthere isnorealsolutiontothisdifficulty,perhapsthewisecourseis toevadethedilemmabyadifferentconstructionandsay:

“Neitherofuswasthere”or“YouandIweren’tthere.”“Although itwasavineharvest, therewerenotmanygrapesand therewas

littlewine.”Ingeneralneither...norandeither...ormustrefertoonlytwopeopleor

things but this rule is often broken and youwill hearneither applied tomorethantwothings,orsetsof things,as in:“Neithermennorwomennorchildrenwereallowedtoleave.Eitherandneithercanalso,ofcourse,beusedwithotherpartsofspeechbesidesnouns,buttheyarethennolongerpronouns.

Withverb “Hecaneithercomeorgo.”

“Icouldneitherlaughnorcry.”

Withadverb “Doiteitherwillinglyorunwillingly.”

“Shewrappeditupneitherneatlynorcarefully.”

Withadjective “Iwillhaveeitherredorbluepaint.”

“Shewasneitherbeautifulnorugly.”

Withpreposition “Itisalongwayeithertoorfromschool.”

“Helookedneitheronnorunderthetable.”

“ALL”

Thoughtheusefullittlewordall isalsoanadjective,it isincludedhereamongthepronounsbyvirtueofitsuseinsuchconstructionsas:

“Heleftalltohisson.”“Ofthehundredcandidates,allpassed.”Asanadjectiveofnumber,alltakesaplural,asin“allmen”or“allthemen”,

andasinOrwell’sclassicdictum:“Allanimalsareequal,butsomeanimalsaremoreequalthanothers.”

Allcanbesingularinalimitedsense,asin“Iateallthejam”,wherejamissomethingthatcanbedivided,orin“Doyouwantallthetable?”Inthesecases,however,allprobablymeans“allthepartsof”,sothatitmightberegardedasapluralafterall.

“Afterall.”Whatdoes thatmean?This isoneof the innumerable idiomsofour language, although it is interesting to note that the French similarly say“Aprèstout.”Ineffect,itissimplyanabbreviationof“Afteralltheevidencehasbeenconsidered”,or“Afterallissaidanddone”.

Often you come across “all of” instead of just “all”. The word of isunnecessary,exceptin“allofit”and“allofthem”.

“SOME”

Weoftenuseconstructionslike:“Somemanorothersaid...”and“Hegaveittosomechildinthestreet.”

Thewordsomeheresignifiesthatwedonotknowwhichmanorwhichchildwas involved. Ifwe said “Theman . . .” or “. . .to the child”, our listener orreaderwouldknowatoncewhichmanorwhichchildwasmeant.

Tosay“Aman...”or“...toachild”couldmeanthatthelistenermightormightnotknowthemanor thechild.But theuseofsome in thissenseshowsdefinitely that thespeaker is ignorantof the identities.Thesameapplication isfoundinsomebodyandsomeone.

Someisalsousedasanadjectiveofindefinitenumber,examplesbeing“Youcantrustsomepeople”,“Idislikesomecolours”.

Itcanalsomean“aportion”asopposedto“all”,asin“someofthem”,“someofit”.Buthereofisnecessaryinallcases.Thus,whilewesay“allthetime”and“allthemeat”thecorrespondingconstructionswithsomeare“someofthetime”and“someofthemeat”.

Thereisalsoanidiomatic,colloquial,exclamatoryuseofsome.InWorldWar

II,whenHitlerspokeofwringingBritain’snecklikethatofachicken,Churchillremarked:“Somechicken;someneck!”

RELATIVEPRONOUNS“Thisistheboywhogaveittome.”

“Thepen,whichIlaidonthedesk,ismissing.”“Youcannotbitethehandthatfeedsyou.”“Theparents,whosechildrenwereinschool,gatheredoutsidethegates.”“Icarefullyexaminedthebook,thecoversofwhichappearedunmarked.”“Thepersonwhowasonthestairswasavisitor.”“ThepersonwhomIsawonthestairswasavisitor.”Intheabovesentences,thewordsinbolditalicsarecalledrelativepronouns,

aseachconnectsanountoaclause(orstatement)towhichitisrelated.The relative pronouns can be related not only to nouns but also to other

pronouns.Thefollowingareexamples:“I,whoamold...”“Giveittohimwhoneedsitmost.”“Thatwhichiswrongisuseless.”“I’llhaveanythatfits.”

“WHO”AND“WHOM”

Whomistheobjectiveformofwho,andbothareappliedonlytopersonalnounsandpronouns.(For“SubjectandObject”seepage127.)Youmustnotsaysuchthingsas“ThepersonwhoIsaw...”or“Whomisthenextspeaker?”

Who andwhom can cause confusion. In its simplest applications, however,thesubjectiveuseofwhoisusuallyclearlyunderstood,asinsuchsentencesas:

“Isawthemanwhodidit.”“Theladywhodealtwiththeenquiryisoutoftheoffice.”Inthesesentencesthereisnoroomforconfusionofthought,asthereoftenis

withtheuseofwhom(seepage128).Occasionally youmay seewho andwhom applied to animals: “The horse

whowontheStLeger...”,“ThedogwhomIenteredatCruft’s...”especiallyif we think of them as individuals. In spite of their being living creatures,nevertheless,animalsusuallytaketherelativepronounswhichandthat.

“WHOSE”

Therelativepersonalpronounofpossessioniswhose,thecorrectapplicationof

whichisusuallyunderstood,asinthefollowing:“Peoplewhoserentshavebeenraisedcanappeal.”“James,whosefatherwasapoet,decidedtostudyphysics.”Somepeopledisliketheuseofwhosewiththings,butthisisquitecommon:“HehasdoneitagainattheDuchess,inaplaywhosefulltitleis...”instead

of:“...inaplayofwhichthefulltitleis...”.

“WHICH”AND“THAT”

Thereisnodifferencebetweenwhichandthatintheiruseasrelativepronouns.“Thestonewhichthebuildersrefused...”canjustaswellbeexpressed:“Thestonethatthebuildersrefused...”.

Asarelativepronoun,whichusuallyreferstothings,notpeople:“Theapple,whichIgaveyou,isbad.”Which isoftenused in informingclauses. Indefiningclauses it is a formal

alternativetothat.“TheapplethatIgaveyouisbad.”Bothmean the same,butyoumayprefer the first simplybecause it sounds

slightly more musical. The choice between which and that, in fact, is ofteninfluencedsolelybythearrangementofthevowelsoundsandconsonants.

“The hat that Iwore at the party”may soundbetter than “The hatwhich Iworeattheparty.”

Inthisexample,however,andinthepreviousone,therelativepronouncouldbeomittedaltogether,thus:

“TheappleIgaveyouisbad.”“ThehatIworeattheparty...”“Thecar(which/that)Ihiredbrokedown.”Therelativepronouncanonlybeomittedincaseswhereitcanbesufficiently

“understood”.Theomissionoftherelativepronoun,incaseswherethesentenceisstillleft

intelligible, is one of those practices in English which can be accepted orrejectedonlybyconsiderationofthe“sound”oftheparticularpassage.

Butitisimportantthatthesentencebeleftintelligiblebytheomission.Intheprecedingparagraph,forinstance,therelativepronounwhichcouldnotpossiblyhavebeenomitted.

Therelativepronountobeomittedsometimescarriesasupportingverb,andthis, too, is likewise discarded. In the following passage the relative pronounsandthesupportingverbswhichcouldbeomittedareinsquarebrackets.

“The conference, [which is] held at Scarborough every summer, is arepresentative gathering of all the provincial institutes in the country. It isrefreshing to see thesehundredsofyoungpeople,whohaveallgivenup theirholidaysand[who]havejourneyedhereattheirownexpense,joiningtogetherina single common cause that has been justly described as ‘ennobling’. Thehealthy tan [which has been] given by the sun, the cool grace [which] theiroutlook has bred in them, and the individual freedom of thought thatdistinguishesthemfrommembersofrivalorganisations,makeyoufeelthatthefutureofthehumanraceisassured.”

Donotpayanyattention to thesenseof thepassage,which isoneof thoseempty pieces of prose it is easy towrite.Whether or not thewords in squarebracketsareincludedisamatterofpersonaljudgment.Onthewhole,economyin words is to be encouraged as long as the language is not debased, andfrequentlysucheconomyresultsinpowerandsmoothnessofrhythm.Butifonreadingoverthepassageyouareconvincedthattheinclusionofawhoorwhichorthat,withasupportingverbifnecessary,wouldimprovetheharmony,clarifythemeaning,orremoveanyambiguity,thenyoushouldcertainlyincludeit.

Sometimesforthesakeofemphasisthewordwhich,whenusedasarelativepronoun,isfollowedbyitsrelatednoun.“Hewasmarriedin1914,whichyearhewasalwaystorememberforotherreasons,too.”

Theinclusionofthenounyearafterwhichclearly indicates therelationshipbetween “1914” and the rest of the sentence. If you try to read or say thesentencewithoutyear,itsoundsstrangelyincomplete.

Otherexamplesare:“Geoffrey Dawson was an editor of The Times, which paper had been

foundedin1788.”“AstheauthorofPeterPan,whichplaywastohaveaphenomenalsuccess,

Barriewasundulymodest.”Fromadiscussionofwhichandthatintheircapacityasrelativepronouns,it

isbutashortsteptotheuseofthatwhenrelatedtoaverb.In very common use are the phrases “confirm that”, “believe that”, “learn

that”, “understand that”, “report that”, andmany others like them.Where thewordthatisunderstooditcanoccasionallybeomitted,asin:“Ibelieveyouhavearoomvacant.”

Sometimes theomissionof that soundsunbalancedandunformed,but suchconstructionsasthefollowingareoftenheardandseen:

“Ourcustomersreporttheyaresatisfiedwithourserviceineveryway.”

“Willyoupleaseconfirmthemanleftofhisownaccord?”“Welearntheapplicanthadbeenaconvict.”“Ourcorrespondentunderstandsthemajorityofthestrikershavereturnedto

work.”

INTERROGATIVEPRONOUNSInterrogativepronounsarethosewhichinterrogate,oraskquestions.

“Whoisthat?”“Whichistherightroad?”“Whatdidhesay?”In these sentences, who, which and what are the interrogative pronouns.

Whose, already mentioned as a personal possessive pronoun, can also be aninterrogativepronoun,asin:“Whosearethose?”

Whichandwhat,likethedemonstratives,canbeusedbeforenounsorbeforeadjectivesandnouns,examplesbeing:

“Whichroadistherightone?”“Whatmanisthat?”For practical purposes, the two words in this application are sometimes

interchangeable.Thus,wecouldsay:“Whatistherightroad?”Usually,however,thequestion

“Which . . . ?” signifies a choice from a definite number, and “What . . . ?”signifiesavaguedecisionfromanindefinitenumber.Illustrationsare:

“Ofthesegames,whichwouldyouliketoplay?”“Whatwouldyouliketoplay?”Exceptincaseslikethosegiven,whatcanneverbeusedforwhich.

“WHAT”

What is one of thosemany usefulwords in the English languagewhich haveseveralfunctions.Aswehaveseen,itisaninterrogativepronoun.

What is now generally accepted as that which. “What I do is my ownbusiness.”Thissoundsbetterthan:“ThatwhichIdoismyownbusiness.”

Lessgraciousexamplesofthisuseofwhatare:“Hegavehimwhatiscalledaknock-out.”“Imadewhatwasformeabigmistake.”Youhearconstructions like theseeveryday.Theyarenotveryelegant,and

areunnecessarilylong.Bothstatementscouldbeexpressedmorebrieflyandin

betterEnglish.Thequestion“What?”isshortfor“Whatdidyousay?”Ablunt“What?”in

polite speech is often looked upon as bad manners, and “Pardon” or “Begpardon” isusuallypreferred.Bothofwhich,of course, are short for themuchmorepleasant“Ibegyourpardon.”

Inthesentence“I’lltellyouwhat”,thewordwhatisthepreludetosomethingthatisvaguelyunderstood.Thus,thesentenceinfullmightbe“I’lltellyouwhatwillhappen”or“I’lltellyouwhatwe’lldo.”Inthisconnection,ofcourse,whatmeans“thatwhich”.

There isalso“Whatfor?”meaning“Why?”Here,however, thebodyof thesentence, although omitted, is understood between the speaker and theaddressed.Itmightbe:“Whatdidyouhithimfor?”or“Whatdidshegofor?”Thesetwoquestionscouldfollow“Ihithim”and“Shewent”.

Theold idiom“Givehimwhat-for” seems tohavegrown inusemerelybyconstantrepetitionbetweenonepersonandanother.

POSSESSIVEPRONOUNSPossessivepronounsareoftwokinds–thoseusedasadjectives,andthoseusedalone.

Ofthefirstkind,examplesaremy,thy,his,her,its,our,yourandtheir.Suchwords(excepthis)mustbefollowedbynounsorbywordsorphrasesactingasnouns,asin“Mygoings-outandcomings-in.”Theold-fashionedthyisincludedbecause(withthou)itisstillpartofthelanguage.

Caremustbe takennot toputanapostrophe-s in thepossessive its,and thereaderisreferredtopage65.

The second kind of possessive pronoun comprisesmine, thine, his, hers,ours,yoursandtheirs.Thesewordsaresometimescalled“absolute”possessivesastheycanstandalone,examplesbeing:

“Thishatismine.”“Thosebooksaretheirs.”“Wasithers?”Thereisnoapostropheinthes-endingsofthesewords,butoccasionallyyou

will see an apostrophe so misused. Either and neither, however, both havepossessiveforms,andbothtaketheapostrophe(either’s,neither’s).

Formerlymine and thinewere used formy and thy before vowels and theaspirateh.The translatorsof theBiblewerecapableexponentsof it; consider,

forexample,suchpoeticalproseasthis:“Iwillliftupmineeyesuntothehills,fromwhencecomethmyhelp.”“So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to

understanding...”“Rejoicenotwhenthineenemyfalleth,andletnotthineheartbegladwhen

hestumbleth.”Shakespeare,too,followedtheadjectivaluseofmineandthine:“Bidmediscourse,Iwillenchantthineear...”“...hefurnishedmeFrommineownlibrarywithvolumesthatIprizeabovemydukedom.”“ShallInottakemineeaseinmineinnbutIshallhavemypocketpicked?”

INDEFINITEPRONOUNSSomepronounscannoteasilybeclassifiedaspersonal,demonstrative, relative,interrogativeorpossessive.

If apronouncannotbeputneatly into anyof thesepigeonholes, andyet isunmistakablyapronoun, itcanbe labelledan indefinitepronoun.This termisalsoappliedtoapronounifthereisdoubtorvaguenessaboutthenounforwhichitissubstituted.

Some of the pronouns already discussed are in some ways indefinitepronouns.Examplesareall,none,some,either,neitherandany,discussedwithdemonstrativepronounsbutwhichmightalsobecalledindefinite.

Apart from these, the indefinite pronouns include thewords enough, eachandother,whicharealsoadjectives,andaught,naughtandelse,whichcannotbeusedasadjectives.Indefinitepronounsmightalsoincludeevery,andcertainlymustincludeit.

“EVERY”

Every is here called a pronoun, as it used to be a pronoun rather than anadjective.Originallyitwasanabbreviationof“ever-each”.Shakespeareuseditasasimplepronounandnotasanadjective–“Everyofyourwishes”–andyettodayitsuseisentirelyadjectival.

The most important thing to remember about every is that it is a singularword. It ismost curious thatwhile everyone naturally and correctly says “Puteverythinginitsplace”heprobablyalsosays“Everyonehastobeintheirseats

byseveno’clock.”Thesenselessfeatureof thisconstruction is that,althoughthesingularityof

everyoneisacknowledgedbytheuseofhas,thereisthemisuseofthepersonalpossessivepluralpronountheir.

Lewis Carroll made the Duchess say: “If everybody minded their ownbusiness, theworldwould go round a deal faster than it does.”The author ofAlice,however,wasquoting,andisnottobeaccusedofcarelessnessinhimself.

Thedifficultywiththewordseveryone,everybodyandnobodyisinusinganaccompanyingpronountocoverbothsexes.Thecorrectconstructionwouldbe:“Everyonehastobeinhisorherseat. . .”or“Ifeverybodymindedhisorherownbusiness...”

Ifthatsoundsclumsytoyou,whynotusehisalone?Invariousaspectsoflawandmedicinethemasculinepersonalpronounsareunderstoodtoapplytobothgenders. If, then, you dislike the “his or her” construction, you could say:“Everybodyshouldmindhisownbusiness.”Therearesoundprecedentsforthispracticeinotherlanguages.

“IT”

Averyhardworkedlittlewordisit.Initsnormaluseitisanimpersonalpronoun(asopposedtoapersonalpronoun):“ThedoorwasopenwhenIpassedthefirsttime,butwhenIpassedthesecondtimeitwasshut.”

Apartfromthis,however,ithasmanyotherapplications.Oftenthegoverningnounisunderstood,asin“Giveitup”,whenitistheproblemorthebattle.

Nobodycanexplainthesignificanceofitin“Itfrequentlyhappens...”Butin“Itisarainyday”itmeans“theday”,foritwouldsoundoddtosay“Thedayisarainyday.”Wecannotsaywhatitis,however,in“Itisraining”.

Itdefiesusthere.Italmostdefiesusinsuchsentencesas“Let’sroughit”and“It’suptoyou”,buthereweknowthatittakestheplaceofsomevaguesubjector object which is unknown. (Subject and object are discussed in the nextchapter.)

It also enables us to avoid unrelated participles, for example, study thesentence:“Itbeingassumedthatthebridgeisfinishedintime,thefirsttrainwillcross the river in August.” If we were slipshod grammarians we should say,absurdly:“Assumingthatthebridgeisfinishedintime,thefirsttrain...”

To conclude this chapter, it is worth repeating one important piece ofinstructionaboutit.It’sisshortfor“Itis”,asin“It’ssunny”.Thepossessiveofitisits,asin“itscolour”,“itssize”.

4

THESENTENCEANDTHEPARAGRAPH

If grammar is the basis of language, the sentence is the basis of grammar. Apassageoftrueproseiscomposedofaseriesofsentences,eachsentencebeingconnectedinsomewayorotherwiththeprecedingsentence.Thewholeseriesofsentences should show thewriter’s train of thought in that particular passage.When the writer wants to switch to another train of thought he may, forconvenience,andforlucidity,startafreshparagraph.

SENTENCESAsentenceshouldbeacompletestatement.Tomakesense,itmustconsistof,atleast,asubjectandaverb.Astringofwordsbetweentwofullstopsisthusnotnecessarily a sentence. “I live”, though a simple statement, is a completestatementandaperfectlygoodsentence.Toooftenwereadincoherentpassageslikethis:

“Janewantedadog.Arealdog.Nomatterwhatkindofdog.Justadog.Adogthatwouldbeherown.”

Inthatcollectionofwordsthereisonlyonesentence–“Janewantedadog.”Occasionallyyoumayreadbusiness letters thatstart like this:“Referring to

yourletterofthe16thNovember.”Afterthefullstopthereaderisleftgropinginmid-air, for thesewordsobviouslydonotmakeasentence.After“November”thereshouldbeacomma, followedbyapropernounorapronounattached tothepresentparticiple“referring”.

Thus,suchasentencemightbethefollowing:“Referringtoyourletterofthe16thNovember,Iamsurprisedtolearnthattheaccountisstillunpaid.”

But evenwhen there is an attempt to complete the sentence, the comma issometimesfollowedbyanounorpronounwhichisnotattached,andcouldnotpossiblybeattached, to theparticiple.Weall read“sentences” like thisalmosteverydayofourlives:“Referringtoyourletterofthe16thNovember,thehorsewassoldlastMonday.”Literally,thismeansthatwhilethehorsewasbeingsoldtheanimalwasreferringtotheletter.

Thecommonmisuseofparticiples,however, isa subjectdiscussed inmore

detailinChapter6.Whileonthesubjectofso-calledsentenceswhicharenotsentences,hereare

someactualexamplesfromnewspapers.“. . . were the stars at Guildhall Art Gallery yesterday afternoon. Invisible

starsexceptfortheearlyarrivals.”“IwroteonMondaythatthePlanningCommitteehadagreedinprincipletoa

plaque costing between £5,000 and £10,000. This in addition to a memorialalreadyinPrincesshay.”

“Canada seems the right place to hold such a celebration– theHereford isstill comfortably themost popular beef breed of theNewWorld. This thoughthatScotsinterloper,theAberdeenAngus,issteadilyimprovingitsposition.”

OnecuttingisfromaSundaypaper,inwhichareviewerdescribesaJapanesenovel“translated intoeasybutnotveryelegantEnglishbyanAmerican.”Thereviewer’sownEnglishisnotveryelegant,either,for later in thesamereviewshewrites:

“Butsomepeoplelike...tothinkoftheInquisitionasamedievalbogygoodfor a shiver and not the beastly mechanism that creaked its way into thenineteenthcentury.Towhomthebookmayberecommended.”

It is easy to find grammatical faults in trade circulars. This extract from ajoinery catalogue is a typical example of the kind of writing that should beavoidedintradepublications:

“Deliverycanbegiven immediately fromstockofall . . . illustrated in thiscatalogue. All External Joinery being supplied primed all round with high-qualityredpaint.”

Asitstands,thesecondpartofthepassageisnotasentence,butreplacementof “being”by “is”wouldmake it correct. Incidentally, theunnecessaryuseofcapitals in“External Joinery” isa typicalexampleof the indiscriminateuseofcapitalsinsometradepublications.

SUBJECTANDPREDICATE

Some of us probably remember how at school we were taught to divide asentenceinto“subjectandpredicate”,andthisdivisionisquiteusefulaslongasitisunderstood.

Thesubjectofasentenceisthepersonorthingthestatementisabout.Inoursimplesentence,“I live”, thepronoun“I” is thesubject.Generally, thesubjectcomesbeforetheverb,butsometimes,forthesakeofaspecialeffect,theorderis reversed. “Came the dawn” is a familiar example of this inversion, as it is

called,andinthiscase“thedawn”isthesubject.The predicate is the part of the sentence following the subject, andmust

containtheverb.Althoughtheworditselfhasseveralmeanings,whichyoucanfindout fromanyEnglishdictionary, itsderivation, from theLatinpraedicare(to proclaim) immediately gives its meaning as applied to grammar. It is thepredicatewhichproclaimswhatthesentenceisabout.

Inthesentence,“Ilive”,itisthepredicate“live”whichgivesmeaningtothestatement and completes the sentence. But this is a very short, if effective,sentence,andmoreoftenweuseorreadsentenceswhicharenotonlylongerbutalsomorecomplex.

Forthemoment,however,letusavoidcomplexityandconsidersuchlongersimplesentencesasthefollowing.

(a)“Iliveinahouse.”(b)“Hegaveapound.”(c)“Thetreegrowsnearthestream.”(d)“Shelovesbooks.”Divisionofthesesentencesintosubjectandpredicategives:

Subject Predicate

(a)“I live[verb]inahouse.”

(b)“He gave[verb]apound.”

(c)“Thetree grows[verb]nearthestream.”

(d)“She loves[verb]books.”

Further examination of these sentences shows the presence of two kinds ofpredicate,thedifferencebeingdeterminedbythekindofverb.Verbsofthe(b)and(d)kindaretransitivewhileverbsofthe(a)and(c)kindareintransitive(seepage 45). It is worth remembering, nevertheless, that even though a complexsentencemayconsistofseveralsub-sentences,eachofthesub-sentencescanbedividedintosubjectandpredicate.

THEOBJECTOFASENTENCE

Itmaybeclearbynowwhatismeantbytheterm“theobjectofasentence”.Theobjectisthepartofasentenceaffectedbythesubjectthroughatransitiveverb.

Inthesimplesentence,“Ieatbread”,breadistheobject.Inexamples(b)and(d)above,theobjectsareapoundandbooks.

It isnotessentialforeverysentencetohaveanobject.“Ieat”isaperfectlygoodsentenceonitsown,withoutanobject.

Anintransitiveverb,ofcourse,cannotbefollowedbyanobject.Examplesofintransitiveverbsaresleep, lie,stand,sit,walk,swim,come,go,run, liveandfly.(Thereisatransitiveformofruninthesenseofrunninganorganisation.)Aconstruction like “Walk a mile” or “Swim the river” does not make its verbtransitive,forthesubjectisnotreallydoinganythingtothemileortheriver.

Someverbscanbeeithertransitiveorintransitive.Inourexample(c),wherethereisnoobject,growsisintransitive.In“Thegardenergrowscucumbers”,theverbistransitive,withcucumbersastheobject.

Theobjectofasentenceneednotfollowthetransitiveverb.Inthesentence,“PalehandsIloved”,theobjectishands,forthisisanotherkindofinversion.

SUBJECTIVEANDOBJECTIVEPRONOUNS

The subjective formsof the personal pronouns are oftenwrongly used for theobject,andyouhearmisconstructionslike:

“HetookMotherandIforarideinthecar.”“ThemanagermetmyfriendandIatthestation.”InbothsentencesI shouldbeme.Peoplewhoarenot sureof theirEnglish

sometimes try togetover thedifficultybyusingmyself:“Thosepresentat themeetingincludedthemayor,hiswifeandmyself.”

Aprepositionisalwaysfollowedbytheobjectiveformofapersonalpronoun,so that “Between you and me” is correct. The following should make youshudder:

“BetweenyouandI...”“Comeandsitbesidewegirls.”Misuse of the subjective forms of the personal pronouns is one of the

commonest mistakes in English. Less common is the misuse of the objectiveforms, and the misuse of them (“Them’s the best”) is often due to regionalpeculiaritiesofdialect.

Remember,however,thepeculiaritiesoftheverbtobedescribedinChapter2onpage48,andthat“ItisI”isstrangelycorrect.

COMPOUNDSENTENCESAclauseisashortcompletesentenceformingpartofalongersentence.Itmust,therefore, contain a subject and a verb. A phrase is a group of words not

containingaverb,andwhichmayormaynotformpartofaclauseorsentence.Fartoooftentheterm“phrase”iswronglyusedforaclause.(Seepage23.)

A compound sentence is composed of two or more clauses suitablyconnected.Hereisanexample:

“JohnwentforawalkandmetBob,whowasshoppingforhismother.”This is composedof the following sentences, each ofwhich is complete in

itself:“Johnwentforawalk.JohnmetBob.Bobwasshoppingforhismother.”Thesentencesformingapassageofproseshouldbeneithertooshortnortoo

long,unlessthewriterisaimingatsomespecialeffect.Inabookofinstruction,for example, short sentencesmay be advisable. Sentenceswhich are too shortsoundjerkyandare irritatingto thereaderor listener.Sentenceswhichare toolongsooncausethereaderorlistenertoclamourforarest,andthemainmatterofthesentencemaybeforgotten.

The ideal length for a sentence is that which makes the reader or listeneraware of smoothness of flow, and gives him time to collect his thoughts atsuitable intervals. The consistently short sentences in some of the popularnewspapers are similar in form to the short sentences found in very youngchildren’s reading-books, and writing for adults in this manner is not to beencouraged.At theotherextremeare long, involvedsentenceswhichcoulddowith much pruning and revision – sentences containing elaborate parenthesesand collections of clauses and phrases – and these are not to be encouraged,either.

This is not to imply that all the sentences in a prose passage should be ofequallength.Thatwouldbedull,evenifitcouldbeachieved.Thewriter’saimshouldbe toconveyhismeaningnotmerelybyastringof factsandopinions,butassmoothlyandrhythmically–asmusically,ifyoulike–ashecanwithinhiscapabilities.

Inthejudgingofsuitablelengthsforsentencesthereisnothinglikeconstantpractice.Whenyouhavewrittenapassageofprose,readitoverasthoughyouwere hearing it read. Consider each sentence not in itself but as part of thepassage. Then adjust it, putting in a conjunction here and a parenthesis there,removinganandand insertinga fullstop, replacingacommabyasemicolon.Do not be too lazy to write it all over again – remember that striving forperfectionisoneofthethingsthatdistinguishtheartistfromthecraftsman.

It isagood idea, if timeallows, to reviseyourwritingafteramonth’s rest.Youmaythenbeabletonoticedefectsyouneversawbefore.

CONNECTINGTHEPARTSOFASENTENCE

The separate clauses in a sentence can be connected by conjunctions, which,besides linkingpartsof a sentence, alsoexpress something in themselves.Thechoiceofconjunctionsdependsonthewriter’sorthespeaker’smeaning.

Forexercise,letustrytorewritethefollowinggroupofjerkysentences.“Ileftthehouse.Ithoughtitwashalf-pasteight.Itwasawetmorning.Itwas

warm.Fewpeoplewereabout.Icouldnotunderstandthis.Icaughtabus.Thebuswashalf-empty.Thebustookmetothestation.Mytrainwasusuallyattheplatform. Thismorning it wasn’t. I looked at the station clock. I realisedmymistake.Ihadgotupanhourtooearly.”

That passage sounds most depressing as it stands, but its style is notuncommon.Wecouldrewriteitlikethis:

“I thought it was half-past eight when I left the house one wet but warmmorning, and could not understandwhy so fewpeoplewere about. I caught ahalf-emptybuswhichtookmetothestation,andalthoughmytrainwasusuallyattheplatform,thismorningitwasn’t.OnlookingatthestationclockIrealisedmymistake.Ihadgotupanhourtooearly.”

The second version is easier and more pleasant to read than the series ofunconnectedstatementsofthefirstversion.Therearefourteensentencesinthepassage,whichwehaverewritteninfoursentences.

Wehaveusedafewconjunctions–and,although,but.Wehaveusedsomerelative pronouns –when andwhich. The fifth and sixth sentences have beenreplacedbytheclause“. . .andcouldnotunderstandwhysofewpeoplewereabout.” The use of the present participle “On looking . . .” telescopes twosentencesintoone.

PARENTHESIS

Aparenthesisisaword,clause,sentenceorphraseinsertedinasentencethatisgrammatically completewithout it.A simple example is in the sentence: “Theparty’sprospects–alas!–havebeenruinedbytheirresponsibleactionsofafewhotheads.”

Theword“alas!” is theparenthesis. In thisexampleit isseparatedfromtherest of the sentence by two dashes, which themselves are called parentheses.Parenthesis can also be indicated by brackets or by commas. Besides roundbracketstherearesquarebracketswhichalsohavetheiruse(seepage119).

Awholesentence,orevenawholeparagraph,cansometimeswithadvantagebeplacedinparenthesesinthemidstofapassageofprose.

Besides itsuse for the interpolationof something,however,parenthesiscanbeameansof linkingpartsofasentence,andwhenskilfullyapplied itcanbeeffective,thus:

“The state of the country at that time– there hadbeen sixmajor industrialstrikes in two years – was parlous. Repeated demands for higher wages,demands which without exception were meekly accepted, had resulted inundisguised inflation. Tax-dodging was on the increase, and the corruptprosperedwhilethehoneststruggledalonginvain.Theeconomyofthecountrywasatalowebb,andexportsfortheyearinquestion(worth£100,000,000fiveyearsbefore)haddwindledbyover50percent.”

In that passage there are three examples of parenthesis – that between thedashes(“therehad...twoyears”),thatbetweencommas(“demandswhich...meeklyaccepted”),andthatbetweenbrackets(“worth...before”).

It should be stressed that a parenthesis should not be so long as to beunwieldy. You will sometimes see atrocious examples, consisting of wholeauxiliarypassagescompletewithfullstops,semicolonsandcommas,placedinbracketsorbetweendashes.Toavoidsuchawkwardness,youneedonlytheuseofalittlecareandsomerewriting.

SYNTAX

There may be several grammatical ways in English of arranging the clauses,phrases,andwordsinasentencetoresult inthesamemeaning.Thesubjectofarrangement isknownassyntax, and ideally thearrangement tochoose is thatwhich reads themost smoothly and rhythmicallywhile clearly expressing thesense.InthisrespectEnglishisfairlyflexible.

Althoughitisnottruethatalmostanysentencecanberearranged,itiseasytopickoutsentencesthathaveanumberofpossibilities.Considerthefollowing.

“Thechildren’spartywillasusualbeheldinthechurchhallonBoxingDay.”“InthechurchhallonBoxingDaywillbeheldtheusualpartyforchildren.”“OnBoxingDay,inthechurchhall,theusualpartyforchildrenwillbeheld.”“TheusualBoxingDaychildren’spartywillbeheldinthechurchhall.”Otherarrangementsmaysuggest themselves toyou.Thesesentencesareall

variationsof the same theme, andallgive thecorrectmeaning though the lastsentenceprobablysoundsthemostpleasant.

If alternative formsofordergive confusingor ambiguous results, those arethe forms to avoid. For instance, could we have said “the usual children’sparty”?We could, but only at the cost of ambiguity. This construction could

implythatthesamechildrenwerealwaysinvitedtotheparty,andsoweavoidtheambiguitybysaying“theusualpartyforchildren”or“theusualBoxingDaychildren’sparty.”

“ONLY”

Aword frequently used in thewrong place is only. Every day you hear suchsentencesas:“Ionlyarrivedherethreehoursago.”Thespeakermeansthatuptothepresenthisstayhasbeenshort,andthewordonlyreferstothreehours, sothatthesentenceshouldbe:“Iarrivedhereonlythreehoursago.”

Onlyarrived,strictly,isabelittlementoftheactofarriving,asifarrivingwasofno importance. In thisparticularsentence, fortunately, this isclearlynot thespeaker’smeaning,andhencenoambiguityresultsfromthemisplacingofonly.But inother sentences therecouldeasilybeambiguity, as, for example, in thefollowing.Thecorrectconstructionsareinbrackets.

“Ionlyoffered fivepounds for itandshe looked insulted.” (“Iofferedonlyfivepounds...”)

“Bobonlylivesinthehouse.”(“OnlyBoblives...”)“Childrenwillonlybeadmittedifaccompaniedbyadults.”(“Childrenwillbe

admittedonlyif...”)“Therewillonlybeastrikeinthefactoryifthemendonotgetapayrise.”

(“Therewillbeastrikeinthefactoryonlyif...”)“Ionlyranawaywhenhebecameaggressive.”(“Iranawayonlywhen...”)“Ionlybelievehalfofwhathesays.”(“Ibelieveonlyhalf...”)

“ALSO”

Awordwhich can easily be used ambiguously isalso.Consider the sentence,“Theyalsoservewhoonlystandandwait”,fromMilton’sOnhisBlindness.

Onlyisusedcorrectly,butalsomaybeassociatedwiththeyorwithserve.Ifit is associatedwith they, there is an implication that other people are servingmoreactively,butthattheywhoonlystandandwaitareserving,too.

Ifalso isassociatedwiththeverbserve, thesentencemeansthatwhile theyarestandingandwaitingtheyarealsoserving.

Inspeech,ahintastothemeaningcouldbegivenbyaccentuation,sothatifthe firstmeaningwas intended stress could be laid on they, and if the secondmeaningwasintendedstresscouldbelaidonserve.WearesurethatMiltonhadthefirstmeaninginmind.

Another example of the ambiguity ofalso is in this passage: “Wewent to

Devon and met my aunt and uncle, who had been to Cornwall. During ourholidaywealsowent toCornwall,andthentoDorset.”AlsocanbeassociatedwithweorwithCornwall.

Nowconsidertheuseofalsoinsuchasentenceasthefollowing:“Igaveheranapple,apear,anorange,andalsoapeach.”

Youmightthinkthatalsoafterandisunnecessary.Soitis,ifthespeakerissimply enumerating the fruits he gave. But if the speaker’s intention is toemphasisehisgenerosity,and to imply that therecipienthasdoneverywell togetthefirstthreefruits,thenalsoafterandmaybejustified.

Atothertimesalsoisevenusedinplaceofand,asin:“WeboughtallkindsofChristmaspresents–toys,books,games,alsothingstowear.”Alsohereisnotonlywrongbutclumsy.

PARAGRAPHSApassageofproseisdividedintoparagraphs,asweallknow,thefirstsentenceofanewparagraphbeingstartedonafresh lineandusually“inset”slightly towarnthereaderthatanewparagraphisabouttobegin.

Generally,thestartofanewparagraphshouldindicateadeviation,orabreak,inthesequenceofthoughtsandideas.

Thearrangementofsentencesinparagraphsisalsoconvenient,givesamorepleasingappearancethanasolidblockofprose,andtendstomakereadingeasy.

How long should paragraphs be? To this enquiry, no ready answer can begiven,formuchdependsonthekindofproseinquestion.

Inworksof instructionoredification it ishelpful tokeep theparagraphsasshort as possible without spoiling the flow of ideas or the appearance of thepage,asistheaimofthisbook.

It is conventional to start a new paragraph at the start of quoted speech,especiallyinfictionalwriting,evenifthespeechconsistsonlyofanexclamationlike“Ah!”

In non-fictionalworks paragraphs should not bemade too long even if theflowofideasiscontinuous.Awholepageofunbrokentypecanlookforbidding,andifthereisnonaturalbreakordeviationitisbettertomakeanartificialone.Twoorthreeparagraphsonapageofmanuscript,typescriptorprintlookbetterthanapageofscrappyparagraphsandbetterthannoparagraphsatall.

Oneofthemosteffectivewaysofpreventingstodginessistovarythelengthofyourparagraphs.Impactcanbeaddedtoasimplepointbyputtingitinavery

shortparagraph.What of letters? A typed business letter should consist of relatively short

paragraphs,astherecipientwillprobablyhavedozensofsuchletterstoreadinadayandthesendershouldtrytomakehistaskeasy.

The arrangement and tone of a personal letter depend on to whom it iswritten;thus,youcouldsaythesamethingstoBinaverydifferentwayfromthemannerandarrangementinwhichyoucouldsaythemtoA,eventotheextentofmakingyourparagraphslongerorshorter.

ARRANGEMENTOFIDEAS

Anideaissomethingthatoccurstoone–athought,amentalimage,anotion,aconception, a supposition, a plan, a view, an intention, or just an opinion.Anideathatcomesintoone’sheadmaybetheresultofaprecedingidea,andmaygiverisetoonefollowing.

Inwriting,or in speechof some length, ideas shouldbe expressed in someorder.Thatis,donottrytowriteorsayanythingjustasitcomestoyourmind.Marshallyourideas,puttheminorder,andbeselective.

Inalongimpromptuspeechitisnotaseasytodothisasinwriting,orinaprepared speech, and some speakers, experienced in the art, are better atarrangementofideasthanothers.Statesmen’srepliesinParliament,andjudicialspeechesincourt,areoftenwonderfulexamplesofunpreparedspeechatitsbest.

I assume that you are neither a statesmen nor a legal light, and that yourspeech is confined to ordinary conversation at its various levels. No doubt,however,youoftenhavetowrite,andinwritingyouhavethechanceofplanningandrevisiondeniedtoreadyspeakers.Usethechance,andmakethemostofit:marshallyourideas,put theminthelogicalorder(or themost logical),andbeselective.

Being selective means that you should not be afraid of throwing out asentence,aclause,oraphrase,aslongasthesenseremainsandthepassagecandowithoutit.Economyinwords,infact,isanessentialvirtueingoodwriting,and,likethearrangementofideas,canonlybeachievedwithpractice.

Insomekindsofwritingyoucanspreadyourself–inanovel,forinstance,orinalettertoanintimatefriend.Inashortstoryoranessay,ontheotherhand,youaremorerestricted,butrestrictedonlyinonefield.Whenyouarerestrictedinnineortenfieldsitisnoteasy,foritmeansthatoneachtopicallinessentialwritinghastoberuthlesslycutout.

Trytoleadthereaderfromoneideatothenext.Ifthereistobeacontrast,or

achangeofmood,buildup to itwithall the resources– facts,deductionsandtheories–atyourcommand.Ifaconclusionistobedrawn,trytoinfluencethereadertoseeitasyouseeit.

This is all very general advice, and to gain appreciation of the niceties ofexpositionthereisnothinglikeconstantreadingandpractice.

MISUSESOFTHELANGUAGECircumlocution

Avoid“circumlocutions”–thatis,thingssaidinaroundaboutway.Forexample,“most of” is preferable to “themajor part of”, and “the poor” is preferable to“thelower-incomegroups”.Thenotice,“Pleasedepositunwantedarticlesinthereceptacle provided”, if written by a language-conscious person would read:“Please throw rubbish into the bin”. Interpolated clauses and phrases like “Itcannotbedeniedthat”and“intheactof”cantakeupvaluablespace.

UseofAdjectives

Avoidunnecessaryadjectives,asin“ariddesert”,“silverymoon”,“slipperyice”.You might just as reasonably talk of “wet water”. Prose that is ridden withunnecessaryadjectivesquicklylosesthereader.

Nevertheless,youshouldmakefulluseofhelpfulorexplanatoryadjectives.There are numerous adjectiveswhich, skilfully used, can savehalf a dozenormorewordsofdescription.

Thereisnothingtopreventyou,also,fromusingcompoundadjectives,unlesstheyareclumsy.ForthesakeofeconomyIshouldpermit“face-savingaction”,“ninety-year-oldMrs Smith”, “the newly-married couple”, “the public-spiritedcouncil”. Here “language-conscious person” is used. Shakespeare had his“lilyliver’dloon”.

By “clumsy” is meant such laboured constructions as “operation-famoussurgeon”, “sea-encircled island”, “risen-from-the-foam Venus”, “greatly-to-be-admired heroine”, “universally-acclaimed book”. The use of such heavyadjectivesisnottobeencouraged.

You will notice that compound adjectives are made up of two or morehyphenatedwords.ThispracticeisdealtwithmorefullyinChapter5.

UseofParenthesis

Makeuseofsmoothparentheticalphrases,clausesandminorsentencesinsuchawaythatideas,statementsandexplanationscanbeslippedintomajorsentences.Smoothness is important; the parenthesis should be so unobtrusive as to be

hardlynoticeable.

Digressions

Ifyourwritingisconfinedtoadefiniteamountofspace,keepdigressionstoaminimum.Digressions–not“padding”–maybeperfectlyjustifiedifyouhaveroomforthemandtheyarerelevanttoyoursubject.Toooften,unfortunately,awriter inserts a digression out of vanity or egoism. Sometimes a digressioncomesperilouslyclosetopadding.

Padding

Avoidpaddingabsolutely.Ofall thesinsofspeechandwritingit isoneof themost recognisable,even though itmaybequitegrammatical. Itcan takemanyformsandyouhaveonlytopickupanewspaperandreadsomedrearyspeechtofindit.

Paddingis theviceofusingstringsofwords,sentencesandparagraphsandsayingabsolutelynothing,oratanyratenothingofvalue.Itisaveryeasyvicetoacquire,butwritersandspeakerscanonly“foolsomeofthepeoplesomeofthetime”.

NUMERALSIfasentencestartswithanumberthenumbermustbewritteninwords,unlessthenumberisadate.Thus:

“Fiftyyearsagotherewerefewercarsontheroads.”“Twenty-threesacksofcornwerestolenfromthewarehouselastnight.”“1564wastheyearofShakespeare’sbirth.”Ifanumberisquoted inspeechitshouldalsobewritteninwords,asinthe

followingexamples:“‘Sir,’Isaid,‘Ihavetoreportthearrivalofahundredandtwenty-twocases

ofstores.’”“When I asked his date of birth he replied, The twenty-ninth of February,

nineteensixty-eight.’”

5

PUNCTUATION

Punctuationliterallymeanspointing(Latin,punctus,apoint),andingrammaritis the name given to the division of statements, or collections of words, intosentences,clauses,phrases,questions,quotationsandexclamations.

Speechispunctuatedbypausesofdifferent length,by thespeaker’s toneofvoice, by inflection, by emphasis, by facial expression, and, in the case ofquestions,bytheorderofwords.Inwriting,however,thereistheadvantageofaseries ofpunctuationmarks,markswhich aremore thanmere conventions as,used intelligently, they can give meaning to prose or verse and preventmisunderstanding.

Punctuationcanbe regardedasguidance to the reader, so theuseofcapitallettersand,inprinting,theuseofitalicsareincludedinthissection.

ThepunctuationmarksinEnglishconsistofthefollowing:

Fullstop. Singlequotationmarks‘’

Comma, Doublequotationmarks“”

Semicolon; Hyphen-

Colon: Dash–

Questionmark? Roundbrackets()

Exclamationmark! Squarebrackets[]

Therearealsotheapostrophe(’)andmarksofomission(...).

THEFULLSTOPEverybodyknows that the full stop is usedat the endof a sentence. It shouldindicate, in fact, that the sentence has come to a stop.Yet too oftenwe comeacrosslettersthatstartlikethis:“Referringtoyourletterofthe12thFebruary.”Thiscollectionofwordsisnotasentence,andafterthefullstopthereaderisleftfloundering.

After“February”thereshouldbeacomma,followedbythenounorpronounattachedtothepresentparticiple“Referring”.Acorrectconstructionwouldthusconsistofsomethinglikethis:“Referringtoyourletterofthe12thFebruary,weregret to say that thework has not yet been done.”An incorrect constructionwouldbe: “Referring toyour letterof the12thFebruary, theworkhasnotyetbeendone.”Thismeans,quiteabsurdly,thattheworkhasbeenreferringtoyourletter.

THEFULLSTOPWITHABBREVIATIONS

Asiscommonlyknown,thefullstopissometimesusedtodenoteabbreviations.Itisimpossibletomakehardandfastrulesontheuseoromissionofafullstopinagivenabbreviation,sothebestrecommendationistoavoidambiguityandbeconsistent. The modern trend in the UK is now towards an “open” style forabbreviationsinwhichtherearefewfullstops.

Itisusualtoallowthefullstoponlytodenotethoseabbreviationswhicharepartsofwords,andnot thoseabbreviationsinwhichthefirstandlastlettersofwords are given (contractions). Thus, exponents of this practice allow, forexample,Mr,Mrs,Col(Colonel),Dr,Revd,St(SaintorStreet),andRd(Road).Typical abbreviationswhere a full stop is used are Jan., Sept.,Mon., Yorks.,Prof.,Gen.,Capt.,approx.andCo.

Forinitialsofcapital letters thatstandfororganisations thefullstopisverymuchtheexceptionratherthantherule.BBCisnowwidelyaccepted,asareEU,PLO,KGBandsoon.TheformsADandBCarerarelyseenwithfullstopsthesedays and regularly appear in print in small capitals (see page 125).Academicqualifications such as BA or DD and the designations MP or PC (PrivyCouncillor)areusuallywrittenwithoutfullstops.

Lowercaseinitialstendtokeeptheirfullstops,notablyi.e.,e.g.,a.m.,p.m.,q.v.and the like.Theabbreviationplc (public limitedcompany)hasneverhadfullstops.Percentisanabbreviationofpercentumandsoformerlyneededthefullstop,butnowadaysisusuallyseenwithoutit.

Incidentally, if an abbreviation comes at the endof a sentence there shouldlogicallybetwofullstops–thefirstfortheabbreviationandthesecondtomarktheendofthesentence.Inpractice,nevertheless,itisconventionaltomakeonefullstopdoforthetwo.

THECOMMA

The comma is a very useful littlemark. Less abrupt than the full stop, it canmarktheendofaclauseoraphrasewithinasentenceandgiveahintthatthereissomethingtofollow.

While the correct use of the comma is fairly well understood, there is atendencyeithertousetoomanycommasornotenough.Herearetwoexamples,oneofeachfailing:

Toomanycommas

“It was a fine day, and the sun was hot. As I walked through the meadow,towards the river, I heard the cuckoo, whose call followed me wherever Iwalked, but who seemed intent on eluding me. For an instant I spied him,perchedontopofatallelm,butwhenheknewthathewasspotted,heflewoffagain.Ireachedthewater’sedge,andtookoffmyshoesandsocks.”

There is no misuse of commas in this passage, but there is an effect ofjerkiness.Thepassagewouldbesmoother,easier toread, if itwasrewritteninthisway:

“Itwas a fine day, and the sunwas hot.As Iwalked through themeadowtowardstheriverIheardthecuckoo,whosecallfollowedmewhereverIwalkedbutwhoseemedintentoneludingme.ForaninstantIspiedhimperchedontopofatallelm,butwhenheknewthathewasspottedheflewoffagain.Ireachedthewater’sedgeandtookoffmyshoesandsocks.”

Notenoughcommas

“TheMemberforMoortownintheCommonstodayinanamendmentproposedthatthedutyonimportedsealing-waxberaisedbysixpercentasfromJanuary1toconformwiththeinflatedcostofproductioninCommonwealthcountries.

“TheMemberforSunvillesupportingtheamendmentsaidthatasadirectorofasealing-waxcompanyinthiscountryhethoughtthateveryeffortshouldbemade tostopoverseascompetition.ThePresidentof theBoardofTrade inhisreplysaidtherewasnoevidenceofanyadverseeffectonthesealing-waxmarketof competitive imports, and although he had not been informed of anycomplaints from the trade he was appointing a special subcommittee toinvestigatethewholequestion.”

Initsmadrushalong,thispassageisjustasirritatingasthepreviouspassagewhich suffered from an excess of commas. The reader is left breathless. Thefollowingcalmerversionshowsthatonlyafewcommasarenecessary:

“The Member for Moortown, in the Commons today, in an amendment,

proposedthatthedutyonimportedsealing-waxberaisedbysixpercentasfromJanuary 1, to conformwith the inflated cost of production in Commonwealthcountries.

“TheMemberforSunville,supportingtheamendment,saidthatasadirectorofasealing-waxcompanyinthiscountryhethoughtthateveryeffortshouldbemadetostopoverseascompetition.ThePresidentoftheBoardofTrade,inhisreply, said there was no evidence of any adverse effect on the sealing-waxmarketofcompetitive imports,and,althoughhehadnotbeen informedofanycomplaints from the trade, he was appointing a special subcommittee toinvestigatethewholequestion.”

Legal documents, of course, are notorious for their lack of commas. Thisfailingissaidtohaveoriginatedinthedaysofoldwhenscrivenerswerepaidonpieceworkandtheinsertionofcommaswastedvaluabletime.Thereisnodoubtthat legal documents would be more comprehensible if they were properlypunctuated.

COMMASINENUMERATION

ItismodernacceptedpracticeintheUKtoomitthelastcommabeforeandinanenumeration,thus:

“They brought gifts of flowers, fruit, clothing, toys and money to therefugees.”

Anexceptionwouldbemade in thecaseofpossibleambiguityordoubt,asin:

“ThetrainwillstopatHarrow,Pinner,Northwood,Watford,andBushey.”“WatfordandBushey”mightbe interpretedas thenameofa single station,

justas“HarrowandWealdstone”isonestation.Anothercasewherethelastcommawouldbejustified,evenessential, isin:

“The motion received the support of the Bishops of Durham, Winchester,Grantham,BathandWells,andNewcastle.”

Where the enumerated items collectively form the subject of a sentenceprecedingaverb, the insertionof a commaafter the last itemdepends largelyuponpersonalpreference.

Wecanwrite:“Allbooks,magazines,papersandotherpublicationsmustbesubmittedtothecensorforexamination.”

Thisseemspreferableto,andreadsmoresmoothlythan,thefollowing:“Allbooks, magazines, papers and other publications, must be submitted to thecensorforexamination.”

Inthesecondexampleitcanbearguedthatthecommaafter“publications”isnecessaryforgroupingtheitemsofthesubject,butthegroupingisgivenbythefirsttwocommasandtheword“and”.

Nowconsiderthefollowingpassage:“Strong sense of duty, sympathetic regard for the feelings of others, high

moralpurposeandunderstandingofdifferentpointsofviewwere thequalitiesforwhichtheleaderwasloved.”

In thispassageeach itemisagroupofwords. Itwouldprobablybespokenwith a natural pause after each item. The resultwould be better, then,with acommaafter“purpose”andanothercommaafter“view”.

ConfusingEnumerations

Confusingexamplesofenumerationsoccurinthedailymedia,especiallywherenames of dignitaries are accompanied by explanatory phrases. Frequently thiskindofreportingappears:

“Acivic receptionwasheldat theTownHall today,when theLordMayor,Ald.HenrySkrimpton, theLadyMayoress,Ald. JamesTodd, theSheriff, andMrsTodd,entertained themembersof thePacific IslandsExpedition to lunch.TheguestsincludedColG.Dykes,leaderoftheexpedition,hischiefassistant,MajorP.Hamm,DrA.Grayling,thechiefscientistandtechnicaladviser,MrW.Jones, meterological officer, the expedition’s botanist, Mr S. Crumm, thesuppliesofficer,MrH.Lawrence,MrK.Smollett, treasurerandsecretary,andDrLeonardFoxhall,medicalofficer.”

At a casual reading the list is not easy to understand. Information of thisnature is better tabulated, but it is more literary to make a continuous prosepassageoftheinformation.

Thenewsitemwouldbemoreintelligibleifusewasmadeof(a)bracketsorof(b)semicolons,thus:

(a) “Theguests includedColG.Dykes (leaderof the expedition),MajorP.Hamm (his chief assistant), Dr A. Grayling (the chief scientist and technicaladviser),...”andsoon.

(b)”The guests included: Col G. Dykes, leader of the expedition;Major P.Hamm, his chief assistant; Dr A. Grayling, the chief scientist and technicaladviser;...”andsoon.

PARENTHETICALUSEOFCOMMAS

Intheoriginalversionoftheabovelistofcivicguests,someofthecommasare

usedparenthetically.Thatis(asyouwillrecallfromthelastchapter),thewordsinparenthesiscouldhavebeenomittedwithoutanydestructionofthesense,theparentheticalphrasesbeing“leaderof theexpedition”,“MajorP.Hamm”,“thechiefscientistandtechnicaladviser”,andsoonto“medicalofficer”.

In thisparticularcase,ofcourse,asshownin therevisedversions, itwouldhavebeenmorereasonabletosticktoadefiniteorder,witheachnamefollowedby itsbearer’s function in the expedition.One revisionallows the semicolons,these being stronger than the commas, to control the groupings. The otherrevision,withbrackets,allowsthewritertoretainaparentheticalconstruction.

Theparentheticaluseofcommasiscommon.Intheprecedingparagraphthephrase“ofcourse”wasbetweenparentheticalcommas.Otherexamples(withtheparentheticalwordsinitalics)arethefollowing:

“The inherent vagaries of mining are too well known, but, subject to thisqualification,theunofficialpredictionofsuccessmaybeaccepted.”

“InCongolia,aprolificweed,thewater-hyacinth,hasmadeitsappearance.”(Note the correct use of the hyphen.A “water hyacinth”would be a hyacinthmadeofwater.)

“PeterPaulRubens(1577–1640),thegreatestpainteroftheFlemishSchool,wasbornatSiegeninNassau.”

Itisunnecessarytogiveanymoresuchexamples,butitmightbeaddedthatclauses starting with relative pronouns, when inserted in sentences, are alsoparenthetical,asinthefollowing:

“Hisfrighteningexperience,whichnearlycosthimhislife,lefthimanervouswreck.”

“Stratford-on-Avon, where Shakespearewas born in 1564, is a picturesquelittletown.”

“The year 1314, when the independence of Scotland was established atBannockburn,wasamilestoneinBritishhistory.”

Theparentheticaluseofcommas, then, shouldbeeasilyunderstood.But inusing commas in this way the writer must not forget that he is using aparenthesis, andaverycommonmistake is toomit the secondcomma.Letusrewritewronglytwoofourexamples:

“The inherent vagaries of mining are too well known, but, subject to thisqualificationtheunofficialpredictionofsuccessmaybeaccepted.”

“InCongoliaaprolificweed,thewater-hyacinthhasmadeitsappearance.”Thetroubleisthatthecommahassomanyuses,andissoinconspicuous,that

itisapttobeoverlooked.Now,ifwechosetousebracketsinsteadofcommas

forourpassages inparenthesis,weshouldneverdreamofomitting thesecondbracket;sowhyomitthesecondcomma?

The possibility of confusion when essential commas are omitted can beillustratedbythefollowingexamples:

“In1926Iwastoldtherehadbeenanepidemic.”“In 1926, I was told, there had been an epidemic.” The first sentence is

ambiguous. Was it 1926 when the writer was told of the epidemic? Thecorrectly-punctuatedsecondsentencemakesthemeaningperfectlyclear.

Sometimes, thoughmore rarely, you even come across an omission of thefirstcomma.Hereisanextractfromapublisheddefinitionofaninn:

“...anestablishmentheldoutbytheproprietorasofferingfood,drink,andifrequired,sleepingaccommodation,...”

Thewords“ifrequired”areaparenthesis,andthereshouldbeacommaafter“and”.

Ifonecommaof theparenthesis isomitted, soshould theotherbeomitted,andmanyparentheticwordsandphrasescansafelybeusedwithoutcommas.Anexampleis“therefore”,asin:“Ithereforeshouldbegratefulforthereturnofthemap.” The use of commas otherwise results in such stilted sentences as: “I,therefore, should be glad if youwould adviseme by return of the amount ofinterestfromthisinvestment.”

Similarlyitisconsideredunacceptablyfussyorold-fashioned,inthewritingofdatesinaprosepassage,togivetheyearparentheticallybetweencommas,asin: “On the 21st June, 1946, and again on the 18th September, 1947, I sailedfromLiverpool.”Thecommascanbemissedoutasin:“Onthe5thMay1995hecelebratedhiseighteenthbirthdaywithaparty.”Sometimesthefirstcommaonlyis inserted, and the omission of the second leaves the parenthesis open, as in:“Onthe21stJune,1946IsailedfromLiverpool.”

Acommashouldbeusedwhereanumber follows theyearas in:“In1995,18-year-oldDanielpassedhisdrivingtest.”

MISUSEOFTHECOMMA

Many people have a habit of separating a simple subject from its verb by acommaandyouoftenfindsentencesof thiskind:“Myuncleandcousin,weregoingtothefarm.”

It isdifficult tounderstand thiserror.Notonly is thecommagrammaticallyunjustified– ithasno function forgroupingor forparenthesis–but inspeechtherewouldbenopausebeforetheverb.Inthecaseofthecompoundsubject,on

theotherhand,wherethespeakerwouldberecitingacatalogueofword-groupstomakeuphissubject,therewouldbeapausebeforetheverb.

Another common error is to misuse a comma in certain cases with aparticiple.Herearesomeexamples:

“Myguest,havinggonehome,Iwenttobed.”“MrBrown,beingalittledeaf,thespeakerraisedhisvoice.”Thesesentences,aswritten,arelogicallywrong.Eachisacaseofcause-and-

effectgrouping,thegroupingbeingdecidedbythecomma.Thesubjectofthefirstsentenceis“I”andthesubjectofthesecondsentence

is“thespeaker”.Theotherpartsof thesentences, thegroupsdependentontheparticiples “having” and “being”, are subordinate. The sentences should bepunctuatedthus:

“Myguesthavinggonehome,Iwenttobed.”“MrBrownbeingalittledeaf,thespeakerraisedhisvoice.”Now,thefollowingsentencesarequiteallright:“Myguest,havinggonehome,arrivedtofindhishouseindarkness.”“MrBrown,beingalittledeaf,hadtostrainhisearstocatchwhatthespeaker

said.”The subjects of the sentences are now “My guest” and “Mr Brown”. The

phrases“havinggonehome”and“beingalittledeaf”arenowparenthetical,andarethereforeputbetweenpairsofcommas.

AnoticefoundinthebedroomofaLondonhotelstated:“If you wish to stay beyond the period booked, it is essential, that, you

contact reception office, on the evening before the original, departure date.Provided that, the room is still available,wewill of coursebepleased tohelpyou.Ifnot,wemustholdyoutotheoriginalbooking.”

Thereare,ofcourse,fartoomanycommasinthisnotice,andthewordnotifywould be preferable to theword contact. A better version of the same noticewouldbethis:

“Ifyouwishtostaybeyondtheperiodbookedit isessential thatyounotifythereceptionofficeontheeveningbeforetheoriginally-planneddeparturedate.Providedthattheroomisstillavailable,weshall,ofcourse,bepleasedtohelpyou.Iftheroomisnotavailablewemustholdyoutotheoriginalbooking.”

There is an example of “good” English in this notice. The writer has said“Provided that” insteadof themuch-misused“Providing that . . .”Thepresentparticipleprovidingneedsanattachment,suchasthepersonalpronounIinthefollowing:“Providingmysonwithaspade,Iaskedhimtodigthegarden.”

ENUMERATIONOFADJECTIVES

Ifyouhavedoubtsabouttheuseofthecommaintheenumerationofadjectives,asafeandsimpleruleisthis.Ifthereareonlytwoadjectives,omitthecomma,asin“ahotdryday”.Iftherearethreeormoreadjectivesinarow,usecommasafterallexceptthelast,asin“ahot,dry,dustyday”.Youwouldwrite“astickysweetmixture”but“asticky,sweet,warm,mysteriousmixture”.

With two adjectives you can use and if you wish, just as in the previousparagraph–“asafeandsimplerule”.

THECOMMAWITHNUMERALS

Although itdoesnotcomewithin the sphereofgrammar, theuseofacommawithnumeralsshouldbementionedbriefly.

It is customary in the English-speaking world to divide a number into itsthousandsbythecomma.Exceptionsaredates(forexample,2000BCandAD1914)andreferencenumbers(forexample,ModelNo.3652).

Itisinterestingthatwhileweusethecommatodividethethousandsandthefull stop for the decimal point (85,617.23), European practice is the opposite(85.617,23).Alternatively,Europeansuseaspacetogroupthedigitsinanumberwithfiveormorefigures(56423,75).

THECOMMAWITHQUOTATIONS

Thecommacanbeusedtointroducequotedspeeches,asin:“AsGeorgepassedthequeueattheboxofficehesaid,‘It’sagoodthingwe

bookedearly.’”Thecoloncanbeusedasanalternative,andthisisdealtwithmorefullyon

page97.Ifaquotationisbroken,however,commasmustbeused,asinthefollowing:“‘Beforeyougo,’saidSusan,‘youmustseemyholidayphotos.’”

THESEMICOLONItisconvenienttoregardthesemicolonassomethingbetweenthefullstopandthecommainvalue,thoughitisusedmuchlessfrequentlythaneither.Ithasadefinite use, however – for instance, when a slight break in a sentence ispreferabletoanewsentence.

Thefollowingarelegitimateexamplesoftheuseofthesemicolon.“The production from the illicit diggings surpasses by far that from the

recognised mines; last year the company exported only £1,500,000 worth of

diamonds,whilethevalueofblack-marketexportsisestimatedat£10,000,000.”“The proposed extension to Malaysia would involve a capital of some

millions of pounds; and we cannot help thinking of the lonely pioneer whoeightyyearsagoarrivedtherewithnothing.”

“Noonewashurtintheincident;theonlyrealdamagewastoafewpanesofglass.”

“MrJonesbelievedthatthenewextensionwouldcutoffasignificantamountofdaylight fromhishouse;hisneighbourcontended that,because itwasnotaverytallstructure,itwoulddonosuchthing.”

“HeboughtthecarinGermany;atleastthat’swhathesaid.”“None of her relatives liked her; her nephew, for example, refused to

communicatewithherormentionheratall.”

THESEMICOLONINVERSE

Thesemicolon ismuchused in thewritingofverse–and inverse is includedeverything from the highest level of true poetry to the meanest doggerel. Inverse,asemicolonisoftenusedwhereafullstopwouldbetooabruptandwouldtend to destroy the rhythm. Some poets like to use the colon, too, but oftensimply as a change from the semicolon, from which it differs in value onlyslightly.

Shakespearewasfondofthesemicolon,asyouwillseefromallhisplaysandpoems.

Ifyouopenalmostanybookofverseyouwillseeexamplesoftheuseofthesemicolon; thewriting of verse, in fact, is good discipline in the grouping ofwords,andthepunctuationoftruepoetsisusuallybeyondreproach.

THESEMICOLONINGROUPING

In the grouping of words, the semicolon is used where a stronger means ofgroupingisdesirablethanwouldbeprovidedbythecomma.Particularlyisthisthecaseinenumerations,where(aswehavealreadyseen)commasarenotclearenough.Anenumeration(orlist)maybeintroducedbyacolon,whichisslightlystrongerthanasemicolonandisusefulforindicatingthatthewriteris“leadingup”tosomething.Foranexampleofthisuseofthesemicolonyoushouldrefertoparagraph(b)onpage89.

MISUSEOFTHESEMICOLON

Itiswrongtouseasemicolonwhereacommashouldbeusedinthenormalway.One fault which is not uncommon is to use a relative pronoun after such a

misusedsemicolon,asinthefollowingsentences:“Wegavethechieftainapresentoftobacco;whichheacceptedgratefullyas

ifitwereahandfulofgold.”“Jonathan tookhisbride toa lonely island in theOuterHebrides;where, it

maybeassumed,theyweresafefromtheattentionsofthepress.”“TheEmperorinquestionwasNapoleonBonaparte;who,itwillbeconceded,

hadmorethanasparkofhumanity.”Ineachofthesesentencesacommashouldbeusedinsteadofthesemicolon.In enumerations, semicolons should be used only if commas would cause

confusion,but theyareoftenused inpassageswherecommaswoulddo.Here,for instance, is a list of adverse factors which have overtaken an unfortunatecompany:

“Dividendshavebeenmuchreduced;theminesareamongthedeepestintheworld;costsarelikelytorise,andtechnicalproblemsareincreasing.”

Thereisnojustificationforthesemicolonsafterthefirsttwoadversefactors.Ifthepassageisintendedtobereadwithapauseaftereachgroupofwordsthereaderwillusehisownsenseeveniftherearecommasinsteadofsemicolons.Inany case, if thewriter of the sentencewanted to be consistent he shouldhaveused a semicolon after the third item (“costs are likely to rise”) instead of acomma.

Hereisanextractfromanewspaper’sleadingarticle:“Having given his heirs all he dares; having bought the best advice on

showing foresight; having taken every legal step to frustrate the tax-inspector,whatprospectdoesthemillionaireorthedemi-millionaireface?”

Thefirsttwosemicolonsareunnecessary.Tobeconsistentinhismalpractice,moreover,thewritershouldhaveusedasemicolonafter“tax-inspector”.Theuseofacommaheregroupsthefinalclause(“whatprospectdoesthemillionaireorthedemi-millionaireface?”)onlywiththelastitemoftheenumeration(“havingtaken every legal step to frustrate the tax-inspector”), whereas the writer’sintentionistogroupitwithalltheitems.

Thesemicolonhasnorighttobeinthefollowing:“Summertemperatures,asonemightsuppose,reachunbearableheights,and

thewholezone isoneofutterdesolation;no living thing, animalorvegetableexistingthere.”

Thereshouldbeacommaafter“desolation”andanotherafter“vegetable”.

THECOLONThecolonisslightlystrongerthanthesemicolon.Inthepast,however,thetwowere used interchangeably, and either was used as an intermediate stopsomewherebetween the full stop andcomma invalue.Manyof thepoets anddramatists had a liking for the colon, and in theCathedral Psalter (the PrayerBookversionofthePsalms)itwasadoptedasasymbolforthedivisionofeachverseintohalvesforchanting.ThetranslatorsoftheBiblelikedboththecolonandthesemicolon.

Theuseofthecolonasapunctuationmarkintheconstructionofasentenceistoindicatethatthepartofthesentencewhichfollowsisaresultof,oradirectcorollaryto,theprecedingpart.

Thus,inmyopinion,thecolonismorejustifiedthanthesemicoloninsuchasentenceas:

“Foodwasscarcein theforest thatwinter:neitherof thewoodmenhadhadanybreakfastforthreedays.”

Afullstopwouldhavemadetwoscrappysentences.Asemicolonwouldhavegiventherightrhythm,butwouldnothaveemphasisedtheconnectionbetweenthe two parts. A colon gives the strongest effect: the reader stops sharply onreachingit,andisforcedtotherealityofthesituationbyreadingthesubsequentpartofthesentence.

Here is another good example of the justifiable use of the colon inpunctuation:

“Itisnotajustlaw:infact,itisunjustintheextreme.”

THECOLONASALINK

Thecolonisalsoaconnectingsign,andoneverycommonuseofitisnotinthegrammatical punctuation of a sentence but in connecting the general with theparticular.Thiskindofconstructioniswidespreadandlegitimate,withaphraseorawordfollowingasentencethroughaconnectingcolon:

“Therearesixroomsinthehouse:fourupstairsandtwodownstairs.”“Theexplanationofhisprogresswastobefoundinoneword:ambition.”“OneofthefirstsubjectstowhichthenewPrimeMinisterwillhavetodevote

his attention is one to which the very structure of the Cabinet suggests apredisposition:Europeaneconomiccooperation.”

Now,ineachofthesecasesadash(–)wouldhaveservedquiteaswellasacolon. There are, in fact, innumerable instances where the link between twoitemscanbeprovidedbyeitheradashoracolon.

Inthisbookyouwilloftenfindexamplesofwritingintroduced,perhaps,bythe words “the following” and a colon, the colon being the link between thegeneralandtheparticular.

THECOLONWITHQUOTATIONS

Itissometimesapracticetointroduceanyquotedmaterial(wordsinquotationmarks)byacolon.Wherespeechisconcerned,however,toomanycolonscanbeconspicuous.

“Asshesteppedintotheconservatoryshesawadarkshapeglidingoverthefloor. Involuntarily gasping: ‘Oh!’, she went shivering into the commodiousloungeandtoldherstorytoherhorror-struckhusband.

“Hemuttered:‘Comewithme,mydear,’andledherintothelibrary,wherefrom a high shelf he took a dusty brown leather volume, smelling of age andmildew.Pointingtoachair,hesaid:‘Beseated.Listentothis.’

“ForthefirsttimeinherlifeshelistenedtothedreadstoryoftheFanshawes,and when the dry trembling recital came to an end two hours later shemurmured:‘Sothat’sit.’”

Thecolonsbefore theshortspeechesbreakuptheprosetoomuch.There isalsoatendencytoreadtheproseasifthecolonswerepauses.Commascouldbeusedinplaceofthecolons,andalthoughnotquitesodistractingthey,too,mightinducepauseswherepauseswerenotintended.

Inthecaseofsuchshortspeechesitwouldbebesttoignorebothcolonsandcommasbeforethequotationmarksandcarrystraighton,likethis:

“Involuntarily gasping ‘Oh!’, she went shivering into the commodiouslounge. . . .Hemuttered‘Comewithme,mydear.’ . . .Pointingtoachair,hesaid‘Beseated.Listentothis.’...Shemurmured‘Sothat’sit.’”

Commas would be used before somewhat longer quotations, and colonsbeforestilllongerquotations.Asinglesentence,ifnottoolong,maybeprecededbyacomma.A longsentence,orapassageof twoormoresentences,maybeprecededbyacolon.Certainly,ifanewparagraphistostartwithaquotation,itisoftenintroducedbyacolon.

THEQUESTIONMARKThe question mark is not greatly maltreated, and on the whole its use isunderstood.

Unfortunately,however,itistoooftenomittedfromthoserequestswhichare

politelygivenintheformofquestions,suchas,“WillyoukindlynotethatIshallbeawayfromhomeallnextweek?”

The writers of business correspondence are especially unconscious of theneedforthequestionmark,especiallyifaquestionstarts“Willyou...?”Thefollowingareexamplesoftherequeststhataresentouteveryday:

“Willyoupleasereturntheplansatyourconvenience.”“Willyoutakestepstoensurethatthereisnorecurrenceofthistrouble.”“Willyoupleasesupplytheundermentionedgoods.”“MayI...?”isanother

beginningwhich,itisoftenassumed,doesnotneedaquestionmark:“MayIdrawyourattention toyournon-compliancewith thenewcondition

embodiedinClause32(c).”The assumption seems to be thatwhere a question implies a command, an

order, a request, there is no doubt about the answer. The writers of suchsentencesdonotforamomentthinkthatthereadersmaysay“No.”Inspiteofthat,however, thesesentencesaregrammatically in the formofquestions,andthereforethequestionmarkisabsolutelynecessary.

MISUSEOFTHEQUESTIONMARK

There are sentences which, though simple statements, are intended to implyquestioning.Inspeech,theimplicationmaybegivenbythetoneofvoiceorthelilt,butinwritingthereisnologicaljustificationforthequestionmark.Herearefourexamples:

“IwonderifIcouldseethemanager.”“Surelyitisnottrue.”“Don’ttellmeyouaregoingaway.”“Youreallyhaven’tfoundit.”There is a strong temptation touseaquestionmarkafter such sentencesas

these, but any sentence, to justify the question mark, should be framed as aquestion.

Withtheexceptionofthefirstexample,eachsentencecouldbefollowedbyan exclamationmark, asmost probably itwould be uttered in an exclamatorytone.

Thereare,moreover,exclamatorysentenceswhichareexpressedasquestionsbutwhichdonottakethequestionmark.“Howarethemightyfallen!”isnotaquestionbutanoratoricalwayofsaying“Howthemightyarefallen!”

Suchaconstructioncanbeeitheraquestionoranexclamation.Thus,“Howoftendoes it happen?” is adirectquestion. “Howoftendoes it happen!” is an

exclamationofsurpriseatthefrequencyof“it”.TherewasapeculiarVictorianandEdwardianformofrequeststartingwith

“Doyou...”,whichwasnotaquestionatall.Thesearetwoexamples:“DoyouholdmyhorsewhileIlookathishoof.”“DoyoutakethisroadwhileI’lltakethat,andwe’llseewhoarrivesfirst.”Inthefirstexample,“Doyouhold”wasregardedastheimperativemoodof

the verb “to hold”, and hence therewas no hint of a question in this form ofconstruction.“Doyoutake”wastheimperativemoodoftheverb“totake”.

One pitfall to be avoided is the use of a questionmark in brackets after aword of phrase which you may consider unjustified. In readers’ letters tonewspapersthiskindoffacetiousnessisnotuncommon:

“The experience (?) of many of our county councillors should surely leadthem to the conclusion that on new housing estates the roads should be laidfirst.”

This, likeaprofusionof exclamationmarks, is anunmistakable signof theinexperiencedwriter.Itamountstoaraisingoftheeyebrows,anudgeintheribs.Thewriter is trying to imply that in his opinionmany of the councillors lackexperience,andheshouldboldlysayso,evenifitmeansanothersentence.How,inspeech,canaquestionmarkbeplacedbetweentwobrackets?

THEEXCLAMATIONMARKWith rare exceptions, the use of the exclamation mark must be limited toexclamations,exclamatorysentencesandexclamatoryphrases.

Anothername forexclamationmarks is “interjections” (seepage32).Oncecalled a “point of admiration” the exclamation mark should be used withdiscriminationandcareinexclamatorysentencesandphrases.

Anexclamatorysentencecouldbesomethinglikethis:“Allmyjewelshavebeenstolen!”Suchastatement lookstoocasualwithout theexclamationmark,asifthespeakerdidnotcareverymuch.Otherexamplesare:

“Hesurelyhasn’tcomehomealready!”“Iamsavedatlast!”“Getout!”A point to remember is that the exclamatory sentences are usually quoted

sentencesspokenemotionallyorunderstress.Apassageinnarrativeformwouldcertainlynotbewrittenlikethis:

“She entered the room and found that all her jewels had been stolen! Herblack-sheepbrother surelyhadnotcomehomealready!Thenshe remembered

that her brother had just been elected to the city council, and had decided toreform.Clearly he could not have been the culprit.Hewas saved at last! Sheneednottellhimtogetout!”

Exclamatory phrases are such observations as “Good heavens!”, “What amess!”, “Oh! What a beautiful morning!”, “Hey! Look out!”, “If only I’dknown!”and“Godforbid!”

The general attitude to the exclamation mark is the attitude of the naïveminister in Barrie’sFarewell, Miss Julie Logan. The Revd AdamYestreen isexplaininghumourtoMissJulie.

“Idrewanoteofexclamation,andshowedherhowtheywereputintobooks,attheendofsentences,toindicatethattheremarkwasofahumorouscharacter.Shegottheloanofthepencilandpractisedmakingnotesofexclamationundermyinstruction.”

MISUSEOFTHEEXCLAMATIONMARK

Theoveruseoftheexclamationmarkisfrownedonasvulgarand,despitewhatoneseesinprint,multipleexclamationmarks,suchasthepairattheendofthissentence,standforsensationalismandshouldbebanned!!

Manypeople (especially themoredemonstrativeamongus) seem incapableof writing personal letters without these emblems of emotion. They wronglythink that every sentencemeant to be surprising, amusing, peculiar, or in anywayoutoftheordinary,shouldbefollowedbyanexclamationmark.

“This is funny,” theyseem to say,or“This iswitty, this is astonishing, thiswillmakeyourhair curl.”But the truth is that theessenceof the surprise, thehumour,thewit,theunusual,shouldbeinthewritingitself,andifthesequalitiesarelackingalltheexclamationmarksinthewholeworldwillnotcreatethem.

It is as if thewriter is screaming at his reader to take special notice of hisdevastatingsentence,butthecivilisedwritershouldnotadoptthetacticsofthesignwriterortheposterartist.

QUOTATIONMARKSThe term “quotation marks” is far better than the old-fashioned “invertedcommas”. For one thing, only the firstmarks (“) – before the quotation – areinvertedcommas, thesecondmarks(”)beingcommastherightwayroundbutstuckupintheair.

Foranotherthing,theterm“invertedcommas”istop-heavy.Andforanother

(even though this is a book on English), French quotation marks are notcommas,invertedorotherwise,butarelikethis:«».

Then let us consider what quotation marks are for. Primarily, they are foranythingactuallyquoted;thismaysoundsilly,but,asyouwillseelater,itisnotas silly as it sounds. Quotationmarks are for quoting speech, or for copyingsomethingthatiswritten.Theyareforillustratingtheunusualness,doubtfulness,orotherpeculiarity,realorimagined,ofawordoragroupofwords.Theymaybeusedfortitlesofbooks,plays,films,articles,poemsandperiodicals,andfornamesofships,paintings,houses,innsandhotels.

SINGLEANDDOUBLEQUOTATIONMARKS

Manypeopleareunderstandablyconfusedbytheapparentlyindiscriminateuseofsinglequotationmarks(‘’)anddoublequotationmarks(“”).

Themorelogicalpracticeistousesinglemarksforallquotationsunlessthereisonequotationinsideanother,whentheinsidequotationreceivesdoublemarks.Thispracticegivesthiskindofresult:

‘AsIwalkedoutofthehouseIsaidtohim,“Weshallnevermeetagain.”Yet,hadIknownit,Iwaswrong.’

‘Thetitleofthebook,“PurpleSkies”,givesnoclueastoitscontents.’‘Thedictatorialpolicyof“indoctrination”hasprovedfutile.’However, conventional practice in this direction is illogical. It is more

conventional to use double marks for all quoted matter except for quotedquotations, which are given singlemarks. The practice of using singlemarksinsidedoublemarksisthepracticeadoptedthroughoutthisbook.

MISUSEOFQUOTATIONMARKS

It is important to remember that quotationmarks enclose passages which areactuallyquoted.Writerswhohavefailedintheobservanceofthisobvioustruthincludenovelistswhosepagesaboundwithpassages inquotationmarkswhicharenotquotationsatall.

LetmeshowwhatImeanbyasimpleexample:“JackHornersaid,‘WhatagoodboyamI!’”Thedoublequotationmarks,incidentally,showthatthepassageismerelyan

example,andnotpartofthetextofthebook.Thespeech“WhatagoodboyamI!”consistsofJack’sactualwords,andis

thusaquotation.(Noticethecorrectuseoftheexclamationmark.)Butifthesentencehadbeenexpressedinthisway:“Jacksaidthathewasa

goodboy”,theactualwordsarenotgiven.Hencethereisnoquotation,andtheuseofquotationmarkswouldbewrong.

Yet, in effect, many novelists and other kinds of writers would write thesecondexamplethus:

“Jacksaidthat‘hehadbeenagoodboy’.”Youwillrealisethatthisisentirelywrong.

JaneAustenhadanirritatingtrickofputtinginquotationmarkspassagesinwhich the speaker was referred to as he instead of I. Look at this, fromPersuasion,whereSirWalterisaddressingacompany:

“SirWalter thoughtmuchofMrsWallis; shewas said tobeanexcessivelyprettywoman,beautiful.‘Helongedtoseeher.Hehopedshemightmakesomeamendsforthemanyveryplainfaceshewascontinuallypassinginthestreets... . It was evident how little the women were used to the sight of anythingtolerable,bytheeffectwhichamanofdecentappearanceproduced....’ModestSirWalter!”

The words in the single quotation marks are obviously not the words SirWalter used, for the speaker would have used I and the present tense of theverbs.Asthepassageiswritten,thequotationmarksarewrongandunnecessary.

Hereisanotherexamplefromthesamenovel:“Aknock at the door suspended every thing. ‘Aknock at the door! and so

late!....MrsClaydecidedlythoughtitMrElliot’sknock.’MrsClaywasright.”PresumablyMrsClaywasspeaking;butwhydidJaneAustenusequotation

markswhenshewasnotgivingMrsClay’sactualwords?Towardsourowntime,evensuchcelebratednovelistsasSirHughWalpole

havenotbeenguiltless.Considerthis,fromTheSecretCity:“Hewouldtellyou,ifyouinquired,that‘hecouldn’tstandthosefellowswho

lookedintoeveryglasstheypassed.’”IfWalpolehadwantedtogivetheman’sspeechinquotationmarks,itwould

probablyhavebeenlikethis:“‘Ican’tstandthosefellowswholookintoeveryglasstheypass.’”The alternative form would be as it is printed, but without the quotation

marks,thus:“Hewouldtellyou,ifyouinquired,thathecouldn’tstandthosefellowswho

lookedintoeveryglasstheypassed.”Hereisanextractfromanerstwhileadvertisementofanoilcompany:“Forty-sixyearsagoBlériotflewtheChannelandinthepropheticwordsof

LordNorthcliffeatthetime‘Britainwasnolongeranisland.’”

ThewordsofLordNorthcliffewere“Britainisnolongeranisland”,andtheerrorofthecopywriterisemphasisedbythephrase“atthetime”.

Thepassage,infact,isslightlyconfused.Thecopywriterprobablywantedtouse thephrase “propheticwords”, and realised that this called for aquotation.“Britainis”wouldnothavesoundedrightinassociationwith“Blériotflew”,andtherefore“Britainwas”appeared.

Reconstructionwouldhavesolvedtheproblem,insomesuchmannerasthefollowing:

“Forty-six years ago Blériot flew the Channel, and, as Lord Northclifferemarkedatthetime,Britainwasnolongeranisland.”

QUOTATIONMARKSWITHFULLSTOPSANDCOMMAS

You have probably noticed that in most newspapers, and in some books andmagazines,closingquotationmarksforquotedspeechareplacedafterafullstoporcommaiftherehappenstobeone.

Thisisdonepurelyforappearance,evenifthefullstoporcommaisnotpartofthequotation.Youwillprobablyagreethat,inthefollowing,thefirstexamplelooksneateronthepage:

“‘MynameisSamuel,’hesaid.”“‘MynameisSamuel’,hesaid.”Logically,however, thecommahereisnotpartofthequotation,andshould

beoutside the closingmark.Usually, in fact, the logicalplace for a comma isoutside.Anexceptioncanoccur inan interrupted speechofwhich thecommaformsapart,asin:

“There are, unfortunately,’ she said, ‘very few first-class applicants for thepost.’”

Thecommaafter“unfortunately”ispartofthebrokensentence,isthereforepart of the quotation, and correctly appears before the intermediate quotationmark.

Inthefollowingexamplethecommaisnotpartofthebrokensentence,andcorrectlyappearsaftertheintermediatequotationmark:

“‘Thereare’,shesaid,‘veryfewfirst-classapplicants.’”Yetaccordingtoconventionthiswouldbeprintedthus:“‘Thereare,’shesaid,‘veryfewfirst-classapplicants.’”Ifwewant to follow logic, a full stop can be placed inside or outside, the

positiondependingonthementalsequence.Inthefollowingexamples,thefullstopisrightlyplacedoutside:

“LadyNugent,aswehaveseen,couldnotpaintherflamingo,buthadtocallin‘anatureartist’.”

“Lackofsunlight,shortagesoffreshfruitandvegetablesandtheintensecoldcombinetobringonwhatiscalled‘Lappsickness’.”

(Thissentencewouldbebetterwithcommasaftervegetablesandcold.Andso-calledwouldbebetterthanwhatiscalled.)

“Above all,Griffo supplied a novel fount . . .. based on the ‘cancellerescacorsiva’ofthepapalchancery,whichhumanistshadtakenoverfortheirinformalwriting,andlaterreceivedthenameof‘italics’.”

Sometimes,theplacingoffullstopsoutsidequotationmarkslooksuntidy,asinthefollowingexamples:

“To Charles XII these occupations of Peter afforded some scornfulamusement.‘Lethimbuildtowns’arethewordsaccreditedtohim‘andwewillcomeandtakethem’.”

“‘Oneambassadorfliesoutasanotherfliesin’.”“When Dr Johnson averred that Milton’s Lycidas was easy, vulgar and

therefore disgusting, he intended to say that it was ‘effortless, popular, andthereforenotingoodtaste’.”

Thesethreeexamplesshowwhymanypublishersandprintersdonotalwaysfollowlogicandinsteadsometimesplacequotationmarksoutsidefullstopsandcommas.

QUOTATIONMARKSWITHOTHERPUNCTUATIONMARKS

Whenitcomestotheuseofquotationmarkswithpunctuationmarksotherthanthefullstopandthecomma,logicseemstobetheonlyguide.

If thepunctuationmark ispart of thequotation, then it obviously isplacedbeforetheclosingquotationmarks;ifitisnotincludedinthequotation,thenitisplacedaftertheclosingquotationmarks.

TheSemicolon

Thesemicolon,byvirtueofitsnature,canhardlycomeattheendof,andinside,aquotation.Itthereforeappearsafterthequotationmarks,asfollows:

“Heunfurledthebannerbearingthemagicword‘Excelsior’;then,attheheadofhislittleband,hemarchedproudlyintothenight.”

TheColon

Thecolon,too,comesafterthequotationmarks,asinthisexample:“Thefollowingisthecastof‘Macbeth’:....”

TheQuestionMark

Depending on the sense of the sentence, the question mark can be inside,outside,orboth.Herearethreeexamples,oneofeachkindofapplication:

“Areyouhappy?”“Didyousee‘TheMaidofOrleans’?”“Didshesay‘Doyouloveme?’?”MargueriteSheen,inTwilightontheFloods,hasmisplacedaquestionmark

inthefollowing:“Yethowcouldhesaybluntly:‘Ihavemarriedthegirlyoulove?’”Thisshouldbe:“Yethowcouldhesaybluntly:‘Ihavemarriedthegirlyoulove.’?”

TheExclamationMark

Theexclamationmark,likethequestionmark,canbeinthreepositions:“‘Getoutofmysight!’hesaid.”“Howhorridofhimtocallyou‘Parasite’!”“Howcasualofhimjust tosay

‘Oh!’!”

INTERRUPTEDQUOTATIONS

Alreadydealtwithareinterruptedspeechesofthiskind:“‘It’sallright,’hegaspedwithrelief,‘there’snobodyin.’”But another kind of interruption in a quotation or an extract is an

interpolation, or explanatory note put in by the quoter for the benefit of thereader.Sometimesyouseesuchinterpolationsenclosedbyordinarybrackets,butthismethod is clearly inadequate as the quotation itselfmay containwords insuchbrackets.

One convention in printing is the use of square brackets to distinguish theinterpolation from words in ordinary round brackets forming part of thequotation.Hereisanexampleofsuchpractice:

“The Member for South Beasley said: ‘The Minister has pointed out thatwhentheImportedInks(RestrictionofColours)Billbecomeslaw, it [theBill]will not seek to prohibit ink-users from selecting their favourite colourswhenpurchasinginks.CantheMinistergiveushisassurancethatwhenthey[inks]arebought,theywillbefoundtobeequalinqualityandinthefastnessoftheirdyeswiththeinksatpresentobtainable?’(Laughter.)”

Thesquarebrackets indicate that thewords theyenclosearenotpartof thespeech of theMember for South Beasley, but are simply inserted to help thereader to define “it” and “they”.Thequotationor the extract could be broken

withquotationmarksanddashes.Thesquare-bracketedpartsoftheabovewouldthenappearinthisway:

“ ‘. . ..Billbecomes law, it’– theBill– ‘willnot seek toprohibit . . . thatwhenthey’–inks–‘arebought,theywillbefound...’”

QUOTATIONMARKSWITHPARAGRAPHS

Whenaquotedpassageorspeechisdividedintoparagraphs,itiscustomarytousequotationmarksatthebeginningofthepassageandatthebeginningofeachparagraph,butonlythelastparagraphisgivenquotationmarksattheend.

THEHYPHENThehyphen,areallylogicalpunctuationmark,hastwofunctions.Oneistolinkseparatewordstomakeonecompoundword.Theotheris toactasagroupingagent.(Seealsopage114.)

COMPOUNDWORDS

Simple examples of compound words are orange-box, paper-fastener andwater-carrier. Without the hyphen these would mean, absurdly, an orange-colouredbox,afastenermadeofpaper,andacarriermadeofwater.Similarly,whenthefirstpartof thecompoundisapresentparticiple, thehyphenisoftenessential, as in changing-room (instead of a room that is changing),laughinggasandwriting-desk.Without thehyphenthesecompoundswouldbeambiguous.

There is little fear of ambiguity in copper-mining, ducking-stool, fruit-picker,manhole-cover,piano-stoolandsteel-production,evenwhenthehyphenis absent, but the fact that the items are single objects or activities, in myopinion,justifiesthehyphen.

There are innumerable cases where the first word acts as an adjectivedescribing the second,when there is no need for the hyphen, examples beingfootball team, herb garden, monkey house, punctuation mark andwashingmachine. There is a commendable tendency to drop the hyphen after thecombinationhasbeenwellestablished,sothatwenowhave,asacceptednouns,dishwasher,earthworks,glassblower,haystack,inkwell,lampshade,weedkillerandathousandothers.

THEHYPHENASAGROUPINGAGENT

As a grouping agent the hyphen forms adjectives, as in face-saving action,

newly-married couple and public-spirited council. Of these examples, face-saving and public-spirited are always adjectives, so that the hyphen is stillnecessaryifwewrite“Hisactionwasface-saving”or“Thecouncilwaspublic-spirited”. Newly married, however, need not be a compound adjective butsimply a pair of independent words, so that if we write “They are newlymarried”thereisnohyphen.

Similarexamplesareprovidedbythefollowingpairsofsentences:“Shewalkedupthestairstoherofficeonthethirdfloor.”“Shewalkedupthestairstoherthird-flooroffice.”“Sheiswelldressed.”“Sheisawell-dressedwoman.”“Hegaveanentertainingspeechafterdinner.”“Hewasanentertainingafter-dinnerspeaker.”“Hiscarwasuptodatebuthisideaswereoutofdate.”“Hehadanup-to-datecarbutout-of-dateideas.”“Thecircuitisratedat250volts.”“Itisa250-voltcircuit.”“Thejourneyistwentymiles.”“Itisatwenty-milejourney.”In the last twoexamplesyouwillnotice thechange fromplural to singular

when the quantitative words are compounded into adjectives. Similarly weshouldwriteof“asix-mancommittee”,not“asix-mencommittee”.

WORDSWITHPREFIXES

A prefix is something placed before a word to modify the meaning. Thefollowingisalistofprefixesincommonuse:

pre-(before) supra-(above)

ante-(before) super-(above)

post-(after) infra-(below)

anti-(against) ex-(former)

pro-(for) ex-(outof)

contra-(against,oppositeto) ultra-(morethan)

Sometimes,butnotalways,theprefixislinkedwiththemainwordbyahyphen.Thereseemstobenolawdeterminingwhichwordsaretohavethehyphen,but

most probably all thewordswith prefixes originally had hyphenswhich havebeendiscardedbygeneralandtacitagreementinthecourseoftime.

Thus, today we have prehistoric but pre-Christian, postnatal but post-nuptial,antipatheticbutanti-ethnic.

Infrared,ultraviolet andmost of the contra-,supra- and super- words arewritten without the hyphen, examples being contradict, supranational,supernatural.Exmayormaynotbegiventhehyphen.

Whenaprefixis linkedbyahyphenwithapropername, it isusual tostarttheprefixwithasmalllettereventhoughthepropernamestartswithacapital.An example included in the foregoing lists is pre-Christian. A compoundadjective which has become independent of the main word, however, is thegeologicalnamePrecambrian,whichlogicallyshouldbepre-Cambrian.

Becarefulhowyouusehyphenedprefixeswithdoublewords.Forexample,thinkhowabsurdarewrittenexpressionslikethese:

“Theex-HomeSecretarywasatthereception.”“In spite of his anti-trade union attitude, he is a militant champion of the

masses.”“Before becoming pro-Free Churches, the Bishop was a staunch High

Anglican.”“Ex-Home-Secretary”would look peculiar, butwhy not use “formerHome

Secretary”? “Anti-trade-union” is all right, as it is a compound adjectivepreceding a noun. “Pro-Free-Churches” is not satisfactory, and here somereconstructionisnecessary:“BeforebecomingasupporterofFreeChurches,theBishopwasastaunchHighAnglican.”

THEEFFECTOFOMITTINGTHEHYPHEN

Theomissionofthehyphencanproduceabsurdambiguitieslike“smallbusinessheads”, “obsolete food contamination regulations”, “galloping inflationsufferers”,“edibleoil technologist”and“fine toothcomb”.The logicalwayofwriting these, as should be obvious after a little thought, is: “small-businessheads”, “obsolete food-contamination regulations”, “galloping-inflationsufferers”, “edible-oil technologist” and “fine-tooth comb”.You shouldhave atoothbrush,butatooth-combisunnecessary.

Wehave already seen someof the odd effects that can be producedby theomissionofthehyphen,asinwritingdeskandwalkingstick.

What about the headline, “ManEatingTiger inZoo”?The omission of thehyphenbetweenmanandeatingisacomicalmistake,butitisbynomeansrare.

A vapour-lamp was advertised as “producing a germ destroying vapour”.Literallyinterpreted,thismeantthatthelampproducedagermwhichdestroyedvapour. All that was needed to give the right sense was a hyphen in “germdestroying”.

“Frenchpolisher”meansapolisherofFrenchnationality,butifthereferenceis to amanwho does French polishing he should be described as a “French-polisher”.

There is justification for the hyphen in words like tinminer. Similarly, thehyphenisnecessaryinthefollowingwordsandallotherslikethem,evenifthereisnofollowingnounasinmaneatingtiger:

copper-mining steel-production tool-making

coal-mining gas-manufacture house-hunting

tea-planting novel-writing portrait-painting

It should be noted that words like nickel plating are not in this category, asnickel is an adjective and the plating is not done on the nickel but on theunderlyingmetal.Nickel-platingwould imply that thenickel itselfwasplated.Tinplatedoesnotnormallyneedahyphen,buttheacceptedtermistinplate.

Wemayhaveanenumerationofhyphenatedwords,asinthesentence:“Heisinterested in gold-mining, silver-mining and copper-mining.” If we wanted towrite this as it would probably be said, we should be perfectly justified inwriting:“Heisinterestedingold-,silver-andcopper-mining.”

Whileitisimportanttouseitwhereitisjustified,thehyphenshouldnotbeusedunnecessarily.Theuseoftoomanyhyphensisnearlyasbadastheuseoftoofew.

OTHERMEANSOFADJECTIVALGROUPING“Adjectivalgrouping”simplymeansthegroupingoftwoormorewordstoformacompoundadjective,asin“six-mancommittee”and“sabre-toothedtiger”.

Wehaveseenthattheusualmethodofgroupingisbymeansofthehyphen.Thereare,however,threeotherwayswhichmustbementioned.

Ifthegroupofwordsformingtheadjectivehappenstobeinquotationmarksforonereasonoranother,hyphensaresuperfluous.Suitableexamplesareinthefollowingsentences:

“The extraordinary meeting of the council resulted in the formation of a

special‘coordinationofcommittees’plan.”“For the purpose of attracting tourists it was decided to inaugurate a

‘WelcometoDulltown’campaign.”“Themagnificent‘DailyDrummer’trophywaswonbyMrsQueetch.”Inthelastexample,“DailyDrummer”wouldprobablyhavebeenprintedin

italics, as is the custom of most publishers, but in such cases there are noquotationmarks.The use of italics, in fact, is the secondmethod of groupingwithout the hyphen, and inwriting or typing it is customary to underline anywordswhicharetobesetinitalics.

Foreign phrases are usually printed in italics, and when they are used asadjectives it isnotnecessary touse thehyphen.Weneednotwrite“bona-fideclaim”astheitalicsin“bonafideclaim”providesufficientgrouping.Similarly,weshouldwrite“àlacartemenu”and“horsdecombatarmy”.

Thereisathirdsystemofgroupingwhereomissionofthehyphenisjustified.“North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries” does not have hyphens as thefour words are a well-known group in themselves without any further aid,especiallyaseachwordisstartedwithacapitalletter.Thecapitalinitials,infact,are frequently regarded as self-sufficient, and the organisation has developedinto“NATO”.

Notetheabsenceofhyphensintheseexamples:“AForeignOfficespokesman.”“TheUnitedStatesambassador.”“AHouseofLordsdebate.”“AFriendsoftheEarthrepresentative.”

THEDASHTomanypeople,thedash(–)istheonlypunctuationmarkknown.Theyscatterdashesfreelyabouttheircorrespondence,totaketheplaceoffullstops,commas,colonsandsemicolons.Iftheydopermitthemselvesalittlerelaxationfromthisdullpracticeitisprobablyonlytousethedoubleortrebleexclamationmark.

The dash has three main functions – as a pause, as an indication ofparenthesis,andasalink.

THEDASHASAPAUSE

Whenadashisusedtoindicateapauseinasentence,itisessentialthatafterthepausethecontinuationisstronglylinkedwiththepartofthesentencepreceding

thedash.The readeror listenermustexpect something to follow thepause. Inspeech this expectation could be induced by the speaker’s intonation, but inwritingthebestmeansofindicationisthedash.

Thefollowingaretypicalexamplesofthisfunctionofthedash:“It was not a lion – it was a tiger, furiously lashing its way through the

undergrowth.”“ThatseasonFarmerMontgomeryhelpedwithmyharvest–notbeforetime,

Ithought.”Thefollowingisabadexampleofthisfunctionofthedash:“ItwillbefortheCounciltodecidewhetherthepropertyafterimprovement

or conversionwill have a useful lifewhichwill justify the spendingof publicmoneyonit–thelawrequiresthattheexpectedlifemustbemorethanfifteenyears.”

Itwouldhavebeenbetterifafullstophadtakentheplaceofthedashandanewsentencestartedwith“Thelaw...”

THEDASHINPARENTHESIS

Thesecondfunctionof thedash isparenthetical,andofcourse twodashesarerequired to give the parenthesis. (See page 74.) A pair of dashes may beequivalent toapairofbracketsorapairofcommas,butnotalways.Considerthefollowingsentence:

“Allnightlongtheytoiled–itwastheirthirdnightwithoutsleep–andbythemorningtheywerecompletelyexhausted.”

Here, commascouldnotproperlybeused.Bracketscouldbeusedwith thesameeffectasdashes:

“All night long they toiled (it was their third night without sleep) and bymorningtheywerecompletelyexhausted.”

Oftenyoufind thatawriter–even inprint–willstartaparenthesiswithadashandthenforgettofinishit.Suchlapsescanleadtothiskindofwriting:

“The Mayor’s annual banquet – at which His Worship the Mayor, theMayoress, the Sheriff, the Aldermen, the Councillors, and several visitingnotabilitieswerepresent,washeldtodayattheTownHall.”

Havingchosenadash toopenhisparenthesis thewritermustuseadash tocloseit,andtherightplaceforit intheabovesentenceisbetweenpresentandwas.Ifthewriterhadstartedwithabrackethewouldprobablyhavenoticedtheneedforabracketattheotherend.

Commascouldhavebeenusedinthissentenceinsteadofdashesorbrackets,

buttheparenthesisissolongthatthereadermighthavebecomeconfused.Referalsotothesections,“CommasinEnumeration”,page87,and“ParentheticalUseofCommas”,page89.

Aninterestingpointariseswhendashesorbracketsareusedwithalegitimatecomma.Considerthesentence:

“Harpsareexpensive,andharpistsarescarce.”Thecommaafterexpensiveisjustified.

Now, suppose that the writer wishes to interpolate in parenthesis someinformationaboutharps–forexample,“agoodharpcostswelloverathousandpounds.”

Themostsuitableplacetoputitisafterexpensive,sothatthesentencetakeseitherofthefollowingforms:

“Harpsareexpensive–agoodharpcostswelloverathousandpounds–,andharpistsarescarce.”

“Harpsareexpensive(agoodharpcostswellovera thousandpounds),andharpistsarescarce.”

Now,althoughthecommaafterthesecondbracketlooksallright,thecommaaftertheseconddashlooksoutofplace.Actually,itisnotoutofplaceatall,andlogically it should be there. However, parenthetical dashes are nowadaysregardedashavingthepowerofabsorbingthesecondcomma,ordoingits jobforit.Inotherwords,theseconddashfulfilsthejointfunctionsofadashandacomma,sothatthecommainsuchcasesisnotinserted.

THEDASHASALINK

Thethirduseofthedashistoindicateaconnectinglink.Itmaybebetweenthegeneralandtheparticularasonpage97(“TheColonasaLink”),orbeforelistsandsummaries,oritmaylinkaquotationwithitssource,forexample:

“‘Historyisbunk.’–HenryFord.”Itcanalsobeusedtolinkbreaksinspeech:“David,I’vepouredyouawhiskyand–oh,Iforgot,youonlydrinkorange

juice,don’tyou?”“ ‘Mr Johnson, I – ,’ Smith broke off as Johnson’s secretary entered the

office.”Thedashisusedinsteadofahyphentolinkwordswherethefirstelementis

notamodifierofthesecondsuchasin,forexample:“TheTyson–Brunofight”;“TheformerLiberal–SDPalliance”;“The1914–18War”;“TheHeathrow–Romeflight”;“TheChinese–Sovietborder”;“TheJaneSmith–HaroldJoneswedding.”

BRACKETSThe use of brackets to indicate parenthesis has already been dealt with inChapter4(under“Parenthesis”)andintheforegoingsectionondashes.Thereisthereforelittlefurthertosayaboutbrackets:theiruseisonlyparenthetical,theyarealwaysinpairs,andabracketbyitselfhasnoreasonforexistence.

Youshouldbecarefulwhenaclosingbracketcomesattheendofasentence,a clause, or a phrase, in such away that it is next to a full stop or a comma.Often,toooften,youseemistakesintheorderofpunctuation,andthefollowingexamplesareallwrong:

“The5.30willstopatSheffield(Midland)andLeeds(City.)”“Thefilmiscalled‘ToShapeTomorrow.’(Subject:Plastics).”“I thankyouforyour letterof the15thandhavepleasure in returningyour

plan(ofwhich,incidentally,Ihavemadeacopy.)”Thecommaseemstobelessvulnerablethanthefullstopwhenusedbesidea

closingbracket,butpunctuationlikethisissometimesseen:“Heshowedmehisbicycle(averynicebicycle,)andletmehavearide.”Thecorrectversionsoftheabovefoursentencesare:“The5.30willstopatSheffield(Midland)andLeeds(City).”“The film is calledToShapeTomorrow’ (subject:Plastics).”Analternative

is:“Thefilmiscalled‘ToShapeTomorrow.’(Subject:Plastics.)”“I thankyouforyour letterof the15thandhavepleasure in returningyour

plan(ofwhich,incidentally,Ihavemadeacopy).”“Heshowedmehisbicycle(averynicebicycle),andletmehavearide.”Strictly,thewriterofthethirdexampleshouldnothaveusedbrackets,asthe

second part of his sentence is a relative clause rather than a parenthesis. Thefollowingwouldhavebeenpreferable:

“Ithankyouforyourletterofthe15th,andhavepleasureinreturningyourplan,ofwhich,incidentally,Ihavemadeacopy.”

SQUAREBRACKETS

While ordinary round brackets have their place in the course of a writtensentence,and in factarepartofawrittensentence,squarebrackets– [ ]–aregenerally used to enclose something that is put in, perhaps by way ofexplanation,butisnotpartofthesentence.(Seealsopages74and116.)

“Ilive[verb]inahouse.”Theexplanatorywordverbisobviouslynotpartofthesentence,andthushas

tobedistinguishedsomehowfromthewordsofthesentence,“Iliveinahouse.”

Ifroundbracketswereused,itwouldmeanthatthewordverb,inparenthesis,was part of the sentence. To show its independence from the words of thesentence,therefore,itisenclosedinsquarebrackets.

A common example of the use of square brackets is the interpolation ofsomethingintoaquotation–theinterpolationofawordorphrasewhichisnotactuallypartofthequotation.Thefollowingexampleisfromabookreview:

“Accordingtotheauthor’spreface,‘thebookwasplannedtogivethenationsome ideaof theconditionsunderwhich they [thepygmies] lived in theearlynineteenthcentury.’Ifhehasnotsucceeded,itisnothisfault.”

The words the pygmies are an explanatory note inserted by the reviewer.Roundbracketswouldhavemadethewordspartofthequotation,butastheyarenotpartofthequotationtheyareenclosedinsquarebrackets.

Youcando it anotherway–bybreaking thequotation andusing apair ofdashes:

“Accordingtotheauthor’spreface,‘thebookwasplannedtogivethenationsomeideaoftheconditionsunderwhichthey’–thepygmies–‘livedintheearlynineteenthcentury.’...”

THEAPOSTROPHETheapostropheisusedtoindicatepossession(seepage19)andisalsousedtotaketheplace,forthesakeofabbreviation,ofomittedletters.Itisexplainedherewhenyoushoulduseapostrophe-s(’s)ands-apostrophe(s’).

POSSESSION

Simplecasesofpossession includeJim’sdog,myuncle’sbook andStJohn’sChurch. In each of these the possessor is singular, and the s follows theapostrophe.Where ownership is shared by two ormore nouns the apostrophecomes after the s, as in the girls’ hats, the dogs’ bones and the two nations’agreement.

Most proper nouns ending in s take apostrophe-s, as inColumbus’s ship,Charles’s reign, Frances’s doll, Keats’s poetry and Pythagoras’s theorem.ExceptionshallowedbytraditionoreuphonyincludeAchilles’heel,goodness’sake,Jesus’sake,Moses’lawandXerxes’fleet.Anotherexception,inwhichthefinal sibilant acts as s, is conscience’ sake. Classical poetry abounds inexceptions in this and othermatters of grammar, but is usually exonerated bysomethingcalledpoeticlicence.

Collectivenounsaretreatedassingular,sothattheapostrophecomesbeforethesinexpressionslikethepeople’shomes,thechildren’stoys,themen’sworkandthemice’shole.

Evensomejournalistsareconfusedwhenwritingaboutpeople’shomes.YouwriteMrJones’shouseorMrsJones’shouse, but if youwant to refer to thejointownershipyoutreat theJoneshouseholdaspluralandwrite theJoneses’house.

Commercial establishments should receive exactly the same treatment. If afirm is controlled by one man called Smith you can write that you do yourshopping atSmith’s. If there are twoormoreSmiths in a familybusiness thecorrectformisSmiths’.IfyoudonotknowhowmanySmithsthereareitissafetosticktoSmith’s.

Oftwonewspaperreportsonerefersto“theDeanofStPaul’snote”andtheotherto“theSerjeant-at-Arm’schair”.AnythingpossessedbyorattributedtotheDeanofStPaul’s should take theapostrophe-s in thenormalway.The logicalrendering of this phrase is “the Dean of St Paul’s’s note”, but as this looksunwieldyitwouldbepreferabletowrite“thenoteoftheDeanofStPaul’s”.Theother phrase should be “the Serjeant-at-Arms’s chair” or “the chair of theSerjeant-at-Arms”.

Onthesubjectofplace-nameswhereapossessiveisinvolved,thebestadviceis to follow tradition or custom, wrong though it may be. For example, StAlbans,StAndrews,StAnnes,StHelens,St Ives,StLeonardsandStMawes,arenotgrantedanapostrophe.StMichael’sMount,StJohn’sWoodandLand’sEndarefavoured,butGoldersGreenshunstheapostrophe.

The treatment of possessive pronouns has varied in the past, but today theacceptedpracticeistoomittheapostropheinhers,ours,theirsandyours.Thesepossessivepronounsthusagreewithits,whichwasnevergivenanapostrophe.

OMITTEDLETTERS

Confusionbetweenthepossessiveitsandtheabbreviationit’s(itis)isoneofthecommonestmistakesinspelling.It’sisoneoftheabbreviations,orcontractions,inthesamegroupascan’t,isn’t,shouldn’t,it’ll,I’d,he’s,we’ll,they’re.Won’tisamysteriousabbreviationofwillnot;itmaybeacorruptionof“willn’t”,oritmayoweitsorigintothefactthatitrhymeswithdon’t.Shan’t,meaningshallnot, should have two apostrophes, and inmany nineteenth-century books it iswritten sha’n’t. George Bernard Shaw tried to assert his individuality byomitting the apostrophe from familiar contractions andwrote “didnt”, “wont”,

“weve”and“shouldnt”,butperverselyheretaineditinI’m,I’llandhe’s.Thentherearewordslike’bus,’phone,’flu (influenza),’cello (violoncello)

and ’plane (aeroplaneor airplane).These started asdefinite abbreviations, butthe apostrophe has subsequently been dropped as the abbreviated forms areacceptedintothelanguageastruewords.Bus,phone,flu,celloandplanehavenowbecomeaslegitimateaspram.

MARKSOFOMISSIONIt is often necessary to copy an extract from something – from a report, anarticle,abook,aletter,oraspeech.Inthecourseoftheextractyouprobablyfindthat everything is not relevant to your present purpose, and that certain parts,havingnothingtodowith thatpurpose,canbeomitted.Whatareyoutodotoavoidtediumforthereader?

The customary way of showing that something has been omitted from aquotationisbymeansofarowofthreeorfourdots,nottoocloselyspaced.Iftheendofasentencefallsimmediatelybeforetheomission,thefullstopshouldbeshowninitsproperplace.Iftheomissionstartsinthemiddleofasentence,aspace must be left between the last word and the first dot. The followingexampleshowsbothkindsofomission:

Originalversion

“TheMinistersaidthatithadalwaysbeenhisaimtoassistsmallshopkeepers.Alarge number of small purchases in a populous area could give a substantialturnover,butruralareaswerelessfortunate.SubsidiesofthekindsuggestedbytheHon.Memberwould relieve hardship, but at the same timemight tend topromote a certain lethargy. It was not his intention to set up a RoyalCommission, but the Ministry would investigate any special claims ofoutstandingmerit.”

Abbreviatedversion

“TheMinistersaidthatithadalwaysbeenhisaimtoassistsmallshopkeepers....Subsidiesofthekindsuggested...mighttendtopromoteacertainlethargy....theMinistrywouldinvestigateanyspecialclaimsofoutstandingmerit.”

Dots can also be used at the end of a quoted passage to show that thequotationisincomplete.

Theuseofdotsisadevice,too,ofsomenovelists,toindicateperhapsapauseoranincompletespeech.Often,however,theyareusedfornoparticularreason,

andcanbemisleading.

CAPITALLETTERSCapitalletters,beinginawayaguidetothereader,canbeincludedinastudyofpunctuation.

Far toomany people use initial capital letters indiscriminately, not only intheir personal correspondence but also in official, commercial and technicalwriting.

Youshouldstartasentencewithacapitalletter,butyoushouldnotstartonewithanumeral.“£9 isbarelysufficient tobuy . . . .”shouldbewritten:“Ninepoundsisbarelysufficient....”

Capitalsshouldbeusedforthestartofpropernouns–namesofpeopleandplaces. Personal titles should be graced with capitals, such as Her (or His)Majesty,Queen(orKing)X,LordY,theDukeofZ,Mr,Mrs,MissandDr.Thekeywordsintitlesofpublications,stageproductionsandmusicalworksshouldstartwithcapitals,andsoshouldthenamesofbuildings,organisations,collegesandschools.Thesearethebasiccases; thereare innumerableoptionalcases inwhichwordsmaystartwithcapitals,butcapitalsmustbeusedwithcare.

IntheHouseofCommonstheMemberforExtonisinvariablygivenacapitalM, while his political Party sometimes gets a capital P. The newspaper andperiodicalPress isusuallygiven thecapital todistinguish it from theprinting-pressfromwhichitsprang.TheNavyhasacapitalN,whilenavalcanhaveasmalln.BesidesHerMajesty’sArmytherecanbeunofficialarmiesofpeopleorantsorfrogs.

The cardinal points should not be given capitals unless used to specify arecognisedgeographicalregion:

“Theroadforkedsixmileswestofthetown,andwhenIreachedthejunctionIturnednorth-west.AfterawhileIlefttheroadandfollowedapathwhichledeastwardsoverahill, ahillwhichseemed tobeoneof the foothillsofagreatmountainrangethattraversedtheislandfromnorthtosouth.”

“A-townissixmilesnorthofB-town”,“Land’sEnd is in thesouth-westofEngland”,and“ThemildestareainwinterwaseasternScotland”.Alsocorrect,however,are:“NewregionscreatedbytheBoundaryCommissionincludedWestSussexandEastYorkshire”and“The largest territory insouthernAfrica is theRepublicofSouthAfrica”.

Thefourseasons–spring,summer,autumn,winter–donotnormallyrequire

capitals.Somepeoplewonder,quitereasonably,ifthereisanyruleaboutthewriting

of “French chalk” and “French polish”, as the association of the terms withFrance is remote. There is no rule, and a small f is sometimes used, but it isconventionaltouseacapitalF ifonlybecausetheadjectiveFrenchattractsit.Asmentioned earlier the term “French polisher” is ambiguous.A personwhoengages in French polishing should be described with a hyphen, “French-polisher”,todistinguishhimfromaFrenchmanwhopolishes,“Frenchpolisher”.

Whileyouareadvisedtobesparingwithcapitals,donotadopt thepracticewhich has developed in some “progressive” quarters of abolishing capitalsaltogether. It looks ridiculous and is to be condemned, not least because it isconfusingtoachildwhoistaughtatschooltousecapitals.

SMALLCAPITALS

If a word is printed completely in ordinary capitals the effect is one ofCLUMSINESS,isn’tit?Youfeelthatthewriterisshoutingatyou.Sometimes,however,itisnecessarytoprintwholewordsorgroupsofwordsincapitals,andtogetoverthedifficultyandyetgiveaquiettonetothepagetheprintermayuseSMALLCAPITALS.

If you are sending anything to be printed, andwant the compositor to usesmallcapitals,youshouldruleadoublelineunderthewordsaffected.

It is usual, for instance, to use small capitals for BC andAD, which lookmuchmore tasteful in this form. It is worth remembering that the customarypractice–thoughnottheinvariablepractice–istoput“BC”afterthedateand“AD”beforeit,thus:

“AugustusCaesar(63BCtoAD14)wasthefirstRomanEmperor.”AcademicqualificationssuchasBAorDD,andsuchdesignationsasMPor

PC (PrivyCouncillor),whenwrittenaftersomeone’sname,mayalsobeset insmallcapitals.

ITALICSItalics are used in printing to emphasise something, to accentuate a word orgroupofwords, todistinguishawordorgroupofwords fromthebodyof thetext,andtoshowthatawordorgroupofwordsisforeign.Somuchisgenerallyknown, and throughout this book there are dozens of examples of the use ofitalics.

Ifyouwantsomething tobeprinted in italicsyouunderline itwithasingleline.

Mostpublishersuse italics as an alternative toquotationmarks for titlesofbooks, periodicals, plays and films. In the case of a book or periodical, areference to the title of anything contained within it should be in quotationmarks,thus:

“In theauthor’snewbookofessays,TheChangingSeasons, theonewhichimpressesmemostisthefragilelittlebelle-lettreentitled‘InthePark.’”

“Thearticleinyesterday’sDailyTrumpet,‘ShallwehaveanewParty?’,mayleadtoabarrageofquestionswhentheHousemeetsonTuesday.”Belle-lettre, asaFrenchword, isprinted in italics. It isquite satisfactory to

use italics for foreign words and phrases, but a whole sentence in a foreignlanguage can be tedious to read if printed in italics and should preferably beprintedinRomantype.

6

COMMONMISTAKES

Manyofthesetypesofmistakehavealreadybeenreferredto,inearlierchapters,andpagereferencesaregiven.

SUBJECTANDOBJECTOneofthemostcommonmistakesistoconfusethesubjectandtheobjectofasentence. Should you want to refresh yourself, you will find references inChapter 1 (page 27), Chapter 2 (page 48), Chapter 3 (pages 51 and 57) andChapter4(pages69and71).

Tosummarise,examplesaregivenhereoftheconfusionofsubjectandobjectwiththenecessarycorrections:

Wrong Right

“HetookMotherandIforarideinthecar.” “HetookMotherandmeforarideinthecar.”

“ThemanagermetmyfriendandIatthestation.”

“Themanagermetmyfriendandmeatthestation.”

“BetweenyouandI...” “Betweenyouandme...”

“Comeandsitbesidewegirls.” “Comeandsitbesideusgirls.”

“Meandthewifewenttothepictures.” “MywifeandIwenttothepictures.”

“It’sme.”(Thisisnowanacceptedcolloquialism.)

“ItisI.”

“Thosearethem.” “Thosearethey.”

“WhoshallIgiveitto?” “WhomshallIgiveitto?”

“ThepersonwhoIsaw...” “ThepersonwhomIsaw...”

“Whomisthenextspeaker?” “Whoisthenextspeaker?”

“Themanwhothepolicemanarrested...” “Themanwhomthepolicemanarrested...”

Finally,hereisagemfromanestateagent’sannouncement:“....presentshiscomplimentstohe(orshe)seeking,southofthePark,new,

architectdesigned,freeholdhouses.”Youwillbeawarethat“he(orshe)”shouldbe“him(orher)”.Itshouldalso

be pointed out that there should be a hyphen between “architect” and“designed”,forthetwowordsformacompoundadjective.

“WHO”AND“WHOM”Whoissubjective,whomisobjective.

“WhoshallIgiveitto?”iswrongbecausethequestionisanotherformof“Ishall give it towhom?”or “Towhomshall I give it?”The subject is I, and apreposition–inthiscaseto–isfollowedbytheobjective.

“WhomshallItakewithme?”isright.“WhoshallItakewithme?”iswrong.Iamtakingsomeonewithme,sothatIisthesubject,thesomeoneistheobject,andthesomeoneinthequestionistheunknownwhom.

Who,asthesubject,iscorrectinsuchquestionsasthefollowing:“Whogoeshome?”“Whoiscomingwithme?”“Whodidit?”Whenwhoisusedasasimplerelativepronoun(seeChapter3,page57)itis

immaterialwhether itsgoverningnounorpronoun is thesubjector theobject,andboththefollowingsentencesarecorrect:

“Theladywhodealtwithyourenquiryisaway.”(“Thelady”isthesubject.)“Isawthemanwhodidit.”(“Theman”istheobject.)Wecouldalsosay,correctly:“Theladywhoislovedbyallisaway.”Yetwhowouldbechangedtowhominthefollowingkindsofconstruction:“Theladywhomnothingcouldupsetisaway.”“Theladytowhomyouaddressedyourenquiryisaway.”“The man whom the policeman arrested . . .” is right because it was the

policemanwho did the arresting. Forwho to be right, theman (subject)musthimselfhaveperformedanaction,orvirtuallyperformedit,asin“Themanwhowasarrested...”Here,theman’sactionlayinbeingarrested.

ThetranslatorsofthePsalms,thoughtheysometimeserredintheirEnglish,madenomistakeinthefirstverseofPsalm27(PrayerBookVersion):“TheLordismylight,andmysalvation;whomthenshallIfear:theLordisthestrengthofmylife;ofwhomthenshallIbeafraid?”

“WHOSE”Whosecanbeusedforsomethingimpersonal(seepage58),asin:

“At the outset of the meeting, whose agenda included a discussion onretirementpensions,thechairmangaveawarning.”

Butthefollowingispreferable:“At the outset of the meeting, of which the agenda” – or “the agenda of

which”–“includedadiscussiononretirementpensions....”The use of whose is better confined to persons, as in the following two

examples:“Themanwhosecarwasstolenreportedthefactstothepolice.”“MrsElsieJones,whosehundredthbirthdayfellyesterday,receivedpresents

fromallhergrandchildrenandgreat-grandchildren.”

“EVERY”AND“EACH”Every,everyone andeverything havebeendealtwith fairly fully inChapter3(page64).Themainthingtorememberisthatthesearesingularwords,anditisaverycommonmistaketotreatthemasplurals.

Considerthisexamplebyagossip-writer:“I was most impressed by the reasonable prices and agreeable designs of

everythingonsale.”“Everythingonsale”issingular,meaningeachobject,andeachobjecthadits

ownpriceandowndesign.Thesentenceshouldthusbe:“I was most impressed by the reasonable price and agreeable design of

everythingonsale.”“Therearecarpetsineveryroom.”Thistypeofsentenceisoftenheard.Each

roommayhavemorethanonecarpet,butthewriterprobablymeansthatthereisnoroomwithoutacarpet.Therearetwocorrectwaysofexpressingthemeaning:

“Thereisacarpetineveryroom.”“Therearecarpetsinalltherooms.”Each is similarly maltreated, and the following are examples of common

mistakes:

Wrong Right

“Thehotelissuesfreeguidebookstoeachguest.”

“Thehotelissuesafreeguidebooktoeachguest.”or“Thehotelissuesfreeguide-bookstoallguests.”

“Iforeseeneatrowsoftinyhouses,withsmoothlawnsineachgardenandpramsateachfrontdoor.”

“Iforeseeneatrowsoftinyhouses,withasmoothlawnineachgardenandapramateachfrontdoor.”

Thefollowingspecimenisanextractfromabookseller’scatalogue,followingalistofnovelsbyoneauthor:

“Eacharegrippingexamplesofdescriptivewritingwhichmanyexperiencedwritersinthisgenremightwellenvy.”

Thesentenceshould,ofcourse,belikethis:“Eachisagrippingexampleofdescriptivewriting...”Incidentally, the writer of the catalogue goes on to say, still of the same

novelist:“Puttingsuchmattersasideheisaremarkablestylist.”Youmayknowwhatiswrongwiththissentence;ifnot,youwillknowlater.

Eachissingular,asexplained,andisaccompaniedbythesingularformofaverb.Thereisapitfall,however,inthiskindofsentence:

“Nigeria,Ghana, SierraLeone andGambia have each a part to play in thedevelopmentofWestAfrica.”

This is perfectly correct, but often you will find has instead of have. Theplural verb have follows the enumeration of the different territories, but thesingulareachcallsforapart(notparts).Alternatively,wecouldsay:

“Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Gambia all have parts to play in thedevelopmentofWestAfrica.”

“BETWEENEACH”Itisstrangethatoneofthecommonestmistakesisalsooneofthemostobvious.Toooftenwereadthiskindofthing:

“Sowtheplantsinrows,withatleast60cmbetweeneachrow.”“Thebuttonholesshouldnextbecut,with15cmbetweeneach.”“TheYorkshirePenninesaretraversedbytheSwale,theUreandtheWharfe,

betweeneachofwhichisarangeofhillsformingawatershed.”It should be clear to anyone that the prepositionbetween cannot existwith

one singular word, and “between each” is nonsense. Correct versions of theforegoingsentenceswouldbe:

“Sowtheplantsinrows,withatleast60cmbetweenadjacentrows”,or“...withatleast60cmbetweeneachpairofrows”,or“Sowtheplantsinrows,therowsbeingatleast60cmapart.”

“Thebuttonholesshouldnextbecut,15cmapart.”“TheYorkshirePenninesaretraversedbytheSwale,theUreandtheWharfe,

each river being separated from the next by a range of hills forming awatershed.”

The temptation is irresistible to conclude this sectionbyquoting a lapseofWilliamCombefromhisrichlongpoem,whichisalmostanepic,DrSyntax’sTourinSearchofthePicturesque(1812):

“Whoe’erhaspassedanidlehour,InfollowingSyntaxthroughhisTour,Musthaveperceiv’dhedidnotbalkHisfancy,whenhewish’dtotalk:Nay,more–thathewasoftenproneTomakelongspeecheswhenalone:Andwhilehequaff’dth’inspiringale,Betweeneachglasstotellatale:....”

IfCombehadsubstitutedbetweenbyafter,logicwouldhavebeensatisfiedandthelinewouldstillhavescanned.

CONFUSIONOFSINGULARANDPLURALFromconsiderationofeveryandeachitisconvenienttopasstotheconfusionofsingular and plural within a sentence. Here are some examples of wrong andright:

Wrong Right

“Youcrossalltheriversbyabridge.” “Youcrossalltheriversbybridges.”

“Thereisacrisisinthelifeofallmen.” “Therearecrisesinthelivesofallmen.”

“ScotlandwasmadepoorerbythedeathofBruceandWallace.”

“ScotlandwasmadepoorerbythedeathsofBruceandWallace.”

“Whenleavingfields,pleaseseethatthegateisfastened.”

“Whenleavingfields,pleaseseethatthegatesarefastened.”

“Thetowersare6msquareattheirbase.” “Thetowersare6msquareattheirbases.”

The conclusion is, then, that associatedwords in a sentence should usually

agreeinnumber–thatis,singularwithsingularandpluralwithplural.There are exceptions. Some words, for example, cannot be considered as

plural,asthefollowingsentencesshow:“Thedryness of the deserts is an adverse factor in their development” (not

drynesses).“The staff representation on the boards of the different companies is

extremelyactive”(notrepresentations).“TheatmosphereofWestAfricancountriesis,ingeneral,somewhathumid.”

(We should not use atmospheres here, although atmosphere has a plural in aquantitativescientificsense.)

Anexampleofthepluraluseofdeathisgiveninthesentence:“ScotlandwasmadepoorerbythedeathsofBruceandWallace.”Here,thedeathofeachmanisconsideredasaseparateevent.Butifwerefertodeathinageneralsenseitcanbesingular,asin:“Deathovertakesallmen.”“Deathsovertakeallmen”wouldsoundodd.

There are doubtful cases – for example, “The foliage at the bottom of themountainsisdifferentfromthatatthetop.”

Ifthemountainsarealtogether,itmaybepresumedthattheyhaveacommonbottom, in which case “the bottom of the mountains” is right. But if themountains are separated, each with its own bottom, then we should say “thebottomsofthemountains”.

“EITHER”AND“NEITHER”AsexplainedinChapter3(page54)whileeither isgenerallycorrectlyused

neitherisoftenabused.Glaringexamplesof“neitherare”appearinprintfrequently.Hereisanexample:“One can expect an immediate reaction from the Anti-Noise League, but

neithertheClerktotheMagistratesnorthetransportassociation’ssolicitorknowofanyregulationsforbiddingsuchcacophony.”

AsClerkissingular,andsolicitorissingular,knowshouldbeknows.Knowwouldhavebeencorrectifbothhadbeenplural,asin:

“NeithertheClerksnorthesolicitorsknow.”If one had been singular and the other plural there would have been a

difficulty. Should we say “Neither the Clerks nor the solicitor know” or “. ..knows”?

Thereisnosolution,butyoucouldreconstructthepassagethus:“TheClerksdonotknowandthesolicitordoesnotknow.”

Hereisaveryconfusedpassagefromaleadingarticle:“Neither theBritish nor theAmericanGovernments,who supply themajor

part of the country’s national income,nor theFrenchGovernment,which alsocontributestoherexchequer,wereawareofthediscussionsuntilSept.25.”

Aspointedoutonpage55,“neither...nor”shouldnotbeusediftherearemorethantwoitems.Yetherewehavethreeitems–theBritish,AmericanandFrenchGovernments.Thatisonemistake.Anothermistakeistosay“neither...were.”

Athirdmistakeistosay“NeithertheBritishnortheAmericanGovernments”(insteadof“Government”).AfourthistousewhofortheBritishandAmericanGovernments and which for the French Government; there should beconsistency,especiallywhenthereisareferencetoherexchequer.

Thesentenceissohopelesslyconfusedthatitisbeyondsimplecorrection.Itisacasethatneedsdrasticrewriting,and,notforgettingtochange“majorpart”for“most”,youshoulddoitthus:

“The British and the American Governments, who supply most of thecountry’snationalincome,andtheFrenchGovernment,whoalsocontributestoherexchequer,werenotawareofthediscussionsuntilSept.25.”

THEUSEOFADJECTIVESASADVERBS“Do it quick” is wrong.Quick is an adjective, and the verb do demands anadverb.Thecorrectversionis“Doitquickly”.Similarly,“Driveslow”shouldbe“Driveslowly”.

Whileit iscolloquialtosay“Walkquicker”and“Driveslower”,thecorrectformsare“Walkmorequickly”and“Drivemoreslowly”.

Fast, on the other hand, is both adjective and adverb. Another curiousinconsistencyconcernswrongandright.Wesay“Hedidhissumswrongly”but“Hedidhissumsright”.Yetifbothtermsareusedtogetherwesay“Rightlyorwrongly”.

We speak of a tradition or a convention as “dying hard”,meaning that thetradition or convention finds it hard to die. Itwould seem strange to say “diehardly”,ashardlymeansscarcelyornearly.

Wellistheadverbcorrespondingwiththeadjectivegood.Thus,wesay“Sheis a good singer” or “She sings well”. Some people, unfortunately, think itsounds polite to usewell when they mean good, and frequently we hear: “Itlookswellonher,doesn’tit?”

This construction is wrong. The wordwell is not associated with the verblooks butwith the pronoun it, so that the adjectivegood should be used. The

correct form of the sentence, in the sensemeant by the polite speaker, is: “Itlooksgoodonher,doesn’t it?”Thesamespeakerwouldhavenodoubtsatallaboutsaying,correctly,“Itlookssplendid”or“Itlookshorrible”or“Itlooksold-fashioned”.

Literally,“Itlookswell”meansthatitperformstheactoflookingwell.Wellis also an adjective meaning healthy, and although “He looks well” usuallymeansthathelookshealthy,itcouldalsomeanthatheisagoodperformerintheactoflooking.

REDUNDANTCONDITIONALSTheredundantconditionalisthenamegiveninthisbooktothelabouredformofconstructiondescribedonpage42,Chapter2.Anexampleisthefollowing:

“Ishouldhavethoughtthatitwouldhavebeenbettertheotherway.”Thisislogicallywrongaswellasgrammaticallywrong.Youcannothavetwo

conditionalswithonecompoundclause.Therearetwocorrectalternatives:“Ishouldhavethoughtthatitwasbettertheotherway.”“Ithinkitwouldhavebeenbettertheotherway.”A somewhat similar form of redundancy is exhibited in the use of past

participles,butthatwillcomelater.

UNFORMEDSENTENCESSomeexamplesofunformed“sentences”(thoughtheyarenotsentences)appearunder theheading“Sentences” inChapter4.Besides theseexamples, therearethosegroupsofwordsthatstartwithwhich,likethese:

“TheGovernmentofNotaland,thoughlethargicintheimplementationofitsforeignpolicy,isatleaststable.WhichcannotbesaidfortheGovernmentoftheneighbouringterritory.”

“Myunclegavemea fivepoundnoteand toldme togoandenjoymyself.WhichIproceededtodowithalacrity.”

“Defendingcounseldescribedhisclientas industriousandhonest,amanofintegrity.Which,ofcourse,heisn’t.”

There are twomain errors of thought and grammar in passages like these.Oneerrorliesinthefactthatineachcasethe“sentence”startingwithwhichisnot a sentence at all, but is a secondary clause dependent on the previoussentence. There should, therefore, be neither a full stop after the previoussentencenoracapitalW.

Theseconderrorisintheassumptionthattherelativepronounwhichcanbeused to relate a clause to something other than a noun or pronoun. This“something”,inthefirstexample,isthestatementthattheGovernmentisstable.In thesecondexample it is theuncle’scommand“togoandenjoymyself”. Inthethirdexamplethe“something”isdefendingcounsel’sopinonofhisclient’svirtues.

Which, as a relative pronoun, can only be used directly with a noun or apronoun. The three examples above, then, cannot be corrected simply by thechangingofeachfullstoptoacommaandofeachcapitalWtoasmallw.Thepassagesmustbereconstructed,andmysuggestionswouldbethefollowing:

“TheGovernmentofNotaland,thoughlethargicintheimplementationofitsforeignpolicy,isatleaststable,andthatissomethingthatcannotbesaidfortheGovernmentoftheneighbouringterritory.”

“Myunclegavemeafivepoundnoteandtoldmetogoandenjoymyself.Iproceededtodosowithalacrity.”

“Defendingcounseldescribedhisclientas industriousandhonest,amanofintegrity.Heis,infact,nothingofthesort.”

Theexamplesgiven,ofunformedsentencesstartingwithWhich,aresimilartotheexamplegivenonpage68:“Towhomthebookmayberecommended”.

There are other kinds of unformed sentences, and here are some curiousexamplesfromnewspapers:

“ThesettingwasaninterviewbetweenMrX,theMPwhohasrecentlybeenconductingastormycorrespondenceinTheTimesaboutworkmenonabuildingsitespendingtoomuchtimemakingtea.”(HowcouldMrXhaveaninterviewbetweenhimself?)

“Theyprovethat...onecandoitbeautifully.Oratanyrate,withattractiveaccessories.Alsopractically.”

“INCLUDE”AND“INCLUDING”Though it is debatablewhether the verb “to include”was originallymeant toembrace a whole or only a part, present usage generally carries the secondimplication.

“TheCBIincludedmanythousandsofsmallerfirmswhichwerenotdirectlyrepresentedonitscouncils.”

Obviously the thousandsofsmaller firmsdidnotmakeup thewholeof theCBI.There isnothingwrong,however, ingivingtheverb“to include”amuch

morecomprehensivemeaning,andweareequallyjustifiedinsaying:“The CBI included such industrial giants as The Rover Group, ICI,

Courtaulds,aswellasmanythousandsofsmallerfirmswhichwerenotdirectlyrepresentedonitscouncils.”

Itispossibletomakeamistakewithinclude,asinthisshortextractfromacookeryguide:

“SomeoftheChinesefoodsyoucanbuyinclude:...”Someand include are similar in implication, and thecookerywriter should

havewritteneitherofthefollowing:“SomeoftheChinesefoodsyoucanbuyare:...”“TheChinesefoodsyoucanbuyinclude:...”Themodernunderstanding that theverb “to include” embracesonly a part,

andnotthewhole,isobviousfromtheverycommonuseofthepresentparticipleincluding.

“The members, including children, number over a thousand.” Not all themembers are children. Incidentally, it is important to note that the presentparticipleincludingmustberelatedtoanounorapronoun,therelatedwordinthiscasebeingthenounmembers.

“CHART”AND“CHARTER”Achartisamaporaplan.Thus,theverb“tochart”meanstomap,ortoplotasurvey.Anunchartedreefisareefnotshownonachart,ornauticalmap.

Yethereisanextractfromanewspaper:“Apartyofholidaymakers,rescuedinmotorlauncheswhentheirboatstruck

anuncharteredreef,werelandedatSouthampton.”Thewordshouldbeuncharted.Theverb“tocharter”meanstohire,andthe

noun“charter”isaRoyaldocumentaryinstrument.Some people, when they seeMagna Charta, point out that it should be

Magna Carta, the Great Charter. However, in Latin the two words aresynonymous.MagnaCartahappenstobethecommonerform.

“DUETO”“Theschemewasnotapprovedduetotheabsenceofwaterinthevicinity.”

“Duetotheinclementweather,theannualoutinghasbeenpostponedtillnextweek.”Both these are wrong. Such sentences are quite common, making due to

grammaticallylikebecauseofandowingto,butstrictgrammarianssaythatdueisalwaysanadjectiveandthatduetocanonlybeusedtolinktwonounsornounphrases.Only“something”canbeduetosomethingelse,andthefollowingarequiteright:

“Hissleeplessnesswasduetolatemeals.”“General resentment, due mainly to the high-handed actions of the

committee,wasfeltbyallthemembers.”“Can the incidence of juvenile delinquency be due to the lack of parental

interest?”Consider the first two sentences again. Could the first be written thus?

“Disapprovaloftheschemewasduetotheabsenceofwater.”This is correct structurally, but not quite correct logically. The listener or

reader is first being told of something, namely, that the scheme was notapproved,thereasonforthedisapprovalfollowing.

To sayorwrite the sentence in themanner justgivenwould imply that thelisteneralreadyknowsofthedisapprovalandisnowbeingtoldthereason.Ifwewantedtouseduetohere,onewaywouldbethis:

“Theschemewasnotapproved,thedisapprovalbeingduetotheabsenceofwaterinthevicinity.”

Theotherexamplecouldberewrittenthus:“The annual outing has been postponed till next week, the postponement

beingduetotheinclementweather.”If,however,wewanttosticktothesamekindofconstructionbutavoidthe

misuseofdueto,thefollowingarethesimplestways:“The scheme was not approved, because of the absence of water in the

vicinity.”(Thecommaisessential.Ifitisomittedthesentencecanimplythattheschemewasapprovedbutforotherreasonsthantheabsenceofwater.)

“Becauseoftheinclementweather,theannualoutinghasbeenpostponedtillnextweek.”

DrJ.Bronowski,reviewingabookbyDrFredHoyle,rightlycastigatedtheauthorforhavingwritten:“Starscancollapsecatastrophicallyduetothiscause.”

Owingtocansometimesbeusedinsteadofbecauseof,butcansometimesbeclumsyifnotusedwithcare.Onaccountof lendsitself toAmericanismssuchas:“IwenthomefromtheofficeonaccountofIwasfeelingill.”Itisacceptableinthefollowingexample:

“Theywantedtoliveneartheseaonaccountoftheboy’shealth.”

“REASON”Fromconsiderationofduetowepassconvenientlytosomeobservationsontheassociatedconstructionscontainingreason.

“ThereasonIamgoinghome”isequivalentto“WhyIamgoinghome”.Itisjustanotherwayofsayingit.

“The reason why I am going home”, therefore, contains a redundancy, orduplicationofmeaning.

Why should not be used after the noun reason unless it is necessary as aconvenient link for the sake of smoothness. “There is no reason I should gohome”soundsawkward,andit ismoreusualtosay“ThereisnoreasonwhyIshouldgohome”.Theuseofwhycouldbeavoidedifthespeakersaid“Thereisnoreasonformygoinghome”.

Anothercommonerrorofduplicationtoavoidwiththenounreasonisitsuseinsuchconstructionsas“Thereasonisbecause...”and“Thereasonisdueto...”Thereasonforsomethingobviouslycannotbebecauseoforduetoanything.

Amothermaywrite to a schoolteacher: “The reason formy boy’s absencewasdue toanattackofmeasles.”Thiskindofmistake isnotuncommon,andeitherofthefollowingtwocorrectformscouldbeused:

“The reason for my boy’s absence was an attack of measles.” “My boy’sabsencewasduetoanattackofmeasles.”

Theverb to reasonwhy can be quite correct.The verb implies a particularreasoning, a reasoning of some problem, while to reason simply impliesreasoningingeneral.Toreasonwhyimpliesthattheobjectofthereasoningistofind out the cause of something, so thatwhenTennysonwrote “Theirs not toreasonwhy”hewasprobablyjustified.(Tennyson,wrongly,wrote“their’s”,andmanyeditorsomittheapostrophe.)

“CIRCUMSTANCES”Circumstances are the events around something. Therefore to say “under thecircumstances”iswrong.Thecorrectuseis“inthecircumstances”.

OMISSIONOFARTICLESInChapter1,page22,theunpleasantcustomofomittingthedefinitearticletheandtheindefinitearticlesaandanismentioned.Hereisanexampleofthiskindofwriting:

“Bestpart forholiday thisyear isSouthCoast. Ifweather isgood thereareseveral resorts to give you variety of entertainment. At Seacliff try miniaturevillage. At Sun-beach don’t miss hanging gardens. Eastwater offers marblebathing pool. Westwater boasts biggest roller-coaster ride in Europe. Specialattraction at Mudflat Kursaal this year is thrillerHamlet on ice with all-starskating cast. All these exciting places are honoured by Holiday Guiderecommends.”

Thispoorpieceofwritingbadlyneedsitsarticles.Youmaynoticetwothings,however. “Bathing-pool” needs a hyphen; otherwise itmeans a poolwhich isbathing.Then,tomaketheverb“recommend”intoanounisatrocious,fortherehappenstobeanoun,“recommendation.”Youwillhear,similarly,aninvitationcalledan“invite,”butthesepracticesareindefensible.

“THOSEKIND”AsnotedinChapter3,youmustneversay“thosekind”ofanything.Youcansay“thosekinds”,“thesekinds”,“thiskind”or“thatkind”.Buttosay“thosekind”istoapplyapluraladjectivetoasingularnoun.

THEMISUSEOF“AN”Theindefinitearticleanisusedbeforeawordstartingwithavowelsound–notnecessarilywithavowel.

Unique,forexample,startswithavowelbutavowelhavingtheeffectofay.Tosayorwrite“anunique”isamistakewhichisincomprehensible,fornobodywouldeverthinkofsaying“anunicorn”.

Itisequallywrongandincomprehensibletosayorwrite“anhotel”,yetyoucomeacross this fault everyday. It is right to say“anhour”and“anhonour”,whenthehissilent,butpleasesay“ahotel”and“aherbaceousplant”.

“ATABOUT”“Ishallexpectyouaboutfiveo’clock.”

“Ishallexpectyouataboutfiveo’clock.”Whichoftheseiscorrect?Strictly,at applies toadefinite time;about applies toanapproximate time.

Therefore, at about is a confusion of two unlikes, and should be avoided.Logically-mindedpeoplesay:“Ishallexpectyouatoraboutfiveo’clock.”

VERBSWITHPREPOSITIONSWhatiswrongwiththeverb“toface”?Whyshould“upto”beadded?

“Icouldnotfaceuptotheproblem.”Isthisanimprovementon“Icouldnotfacetheproblem”?Additions to a language can only be justified if they are necessities or

improvements,and“faceupto”isinneithercategory.“Stand for”, instead of simply “stand”, meaning “tolerate”, is another

expression in the same class as “face up to”. The addition of the preposition“for”isquiteneedless.

“I’mnotstandingforit.”“Standfor”,ofcourse,haslegitimatemeanings,too,asin:“HeisstandingforParliament.”“BBCstandsforBritishBroadcastingCorporation.”“‘Istandforrighteousnessandjustice,’saidthestreet-cornerorator.”There are many similar compound verbs. Examples of such verbs are the

following:“startup”,“stopup”,“speedup”,“slowdown”,“heatup”,“tryout”,“addup”and“seekout”.

Thereisnodefenceoftheuseoftheprepositionsintheseexamples.Ontheother hand, “give up” and “cough up” are different from “give” and “cough”.ThereisanAmericanism–“visitwith”for“visit”,asin“WevisitedwithsomefriendsinNewYork”.Thehabitofsaying“consultwith”(for“consult”)hasalsospread, and there is “meet up with”, instead of the simple “meet”. None isattractive.

“PERPENDICULAR”AND“VERTICAL”Perpendicularisoftenmisusedforvertical(seepage300).

“PARALLELWITH”Twolinescanbeparallelwithoneanother (oreachother),notparallel tooneanother. The preposition to signifies approach, and themoment the lines startapproachingeachothertheyceasetobeparallel.

“COMPARE”There is some confusion about “compare with” and “compare to”. To take alogicalviewwithseemsmoresuitableforcomparisonoflikes,orsubjectswhich

aresupposedlysimilar,andtoforcomparisonofsubjectsinwhichthelikenessissomewhatremote.Thefollowingareexamples:

“CanMarlowebycomparedwithShakespeare?”“Abicyclecannotcomparewithamotorbike.”(Thatistosay,amotorbikeis

muchbetter.)“The English master, praising Jim Brown’s essays, jocularly compared the

boytoBacon.”“As the rabbit dodged into the bracken I compared the little animal to a

cunninglionintheAfricanjungle.”Sometimesyoumaybeuncertainwhether thecomparedsubjectsare likeor

unlikeeachother,andinsuchcaseswithissafer.Withisinvariablyusedinsuchconstructionsas:“Fordurabilityoffootwear,nothingcancomparewithleather.”

“USEDTO”“HeusedtoliveinLondon”means“HeformerlylivedinLondon”or“HeoncelivedinLondon”.

That is understood.But neither the past tense nor the negative is generallyunderstood,andwehearconstructionslikethese:

“Hedidn’tusetoliveinLondon.”“DidheusetoliveinLondon?”“Used to” is itself a peculiar idiom, but there is no point in making its

variationsevenmorepeculiar.Thecorrectversionsofthetwoexamplesare:‘‘HeusednottoliveinLondon.”“UsedhetoliveinLondon?”Althoughmanypeoplefindthisformalandusedidn’tusetoanddidheuse

toinspeech,thesephraseslookuglyinprint.

“PROMISE”Topromisemeans toengageoneself toperformafutureact, togiveadefiniteundertaking for the future.But in recent years the verb has acquired a furthermeaningandisnowused,quitewrongly,toindicatethatoneistellingthetruthatthemoment.Youmayhearthiskindofsentence:

“AsIwascominghomeIsawapinkmonkey,Ipromiseyou.”Thisuseofpromiseisunjustified.Tobecorrectthespeakercouldhavesaid:

“AsIwascominghomeIsawapinkmonkey,Iswear.”

“OUGHTTO”“Heoughtto,didn’the?”issomethingweoftenhear.Thecorrectconstruction,ofcourse,is“Heoughtto,oughtn’the?”or“...oughthenot?”

“LAY”AND“LIE”For theuseof layand lieand theirderivativesseeChapter2,page45 and thesummaryonpage296.

“ATTAIN”To attain means to reach, or to arrive, in the sense of reaching a height orarrivingatagoal.Oftenitisusedfiguratively,asin“HeattainedthePresidency”or“Heattainedhisdearestambition”.

Sometimes,however,toisaddedunnecessarily.“Youcanattaintosomethinghigher”iswrong.Itisequivalenttosaying“Youcanreachtosomethinghigher”.Mountaineersdonottrytoattaintothesummit;theytrytoattainthesummit.

“DIFFERENTFROM”In spite of various feeble attempts at defence, “different to” is wrong simplybecauseitisillogical.Nobodywoulddreamofsaying“similarfrom”.

Itisunfortunatethat“differentto”haspenetratedsuchrespectablequartersasParliament,literatureandthePress,forinmattersofEnglishmanypeopleacceptthe guidance of thesementors. They are even guilty of using an import fromAmerica,“differentthan”,whichismeaninglessratherthanillogical.

“TRYAND”Manypeoplesay“tryand”whentheymean“try to”.Mistakesapart,however,thereisasubtledifferencebetweenthetwoexpressions.

Logically,ifyoutryanddosomethingyoutryfirst,makingageneralattemptintherightdirectionandfindingouthowtodoit.Havingfoundoutthebestwayof doing it, youdo it. Thus there are two actions involved, the trying and thedoing,andinthissense“tryand”canbequiteright.

“Tryto”,ontheotherhand,impliesthesinglecombinedactionoftryinganddoing.Usuallythecorrectexpressionis“tryto”,andwhenpeoplesay“tryand”theyseldomhavethelogicalmeaninginmind.

“TIMESGREATERTHAN”“Productionthisyearissixtimesgreaterthanproductionlastyear.”

Whatexactlydoesthismean?Ifproductionisoncegreater,itisasmuchagain,ortwiceasmuchasbefore.

Ifitistwicegreater,itisthreetimesasmuchasbefore.Therefore,ifproduction(oranythingelse)isxtimesgreater,itis(x+1)times

asgreatasbefore.This is simple, isn’t it?Nothingcouldbemore logical.Andyet, theperson

who wrote that sentence – “Production this year is six times greater thanproductionlastyear”–actuallymeantthatproductionissixtimesasgreat.

If the sentence is interpreted literally, it means that production this year isseventimesproductionlastyear.

This is a very common type ofmistake, especially in journalism, and youmustbecarefulaboutit.

“EXTENDEDTOUR”Whenabuscompanyadvertises“ExtendedtourstotheHighlands”itiswritingnonsense.

“Extended”means“madelonger”or“lengthened”.Thusanextendedtourisatour which has been increased above its original length. In other words, thecompany originallymeant it to last for a certain time but has now decided toextendorprolongit.

Nothingcouldbefurther,ofcourse,fromthecompany’smind,orminds.Theintendedmeaning is that the tour to theHighlands (or the South-West, or theLake District, or the Continent) is quite long as tours go, and the word thatshouldbeusedisextensive.

“BUT,HOWEVER”Occasionally,onecomesacrossthiskindofconstruction:

“Ablizzard had raged allmorning, our limbswere numbed andour bodiesexhausted.Weexpectedtofindaroaringfireofcomfortinthecabin.Butwhenwearrived,however,andopenedthedoor,allwefoundwasacoldheapofashesinthehearth.”

Butandhoweveraresimilar ineffect,andshouldnotbeusedtogether.Thesecondsentenceofthispassagecanbeexpressedineitherofthefollowingtwo

ways:“Butwhenwearrived,andopenedthedoor,allwefoundwasacoldheapof

ashes....”“Whenwearrived,however, andopened thedoor, allwe foundwasacold

heapofashes....”

“LOAN”AND“LEND”Loanisanoun.Lendisaverb.Itisacommonmistake,however,touseloanasa verb, as in “I loaned him a fiver” instead of “I lent him a fiver”. Whensomethingisonloanitislent.

“LEARN”FOR“TEACH”ThemisuseoflearnforteachisevenfoundintheBookofCommonPrayer,andisawarningthatthetextofthePrayerBookisnottobeacceptedinitsentiretyasgoodEnglish,evenasgoodmediaevalEnglish.

InthePrayerBook,verse4ofPsalm25isthus:“Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me: for thou art the God of my

salvation;....”IntheBible,thefifthverseofPsalm25isthus:“Leadmeinthytruth,andteachme:forthouarttheGodofmysalvation;...

.”(ThefirsttwoversesoftheBiblicalversionarecondensedintothefirstverse

ofthePrayerBookversion;hencetheBible’sverse5isthePrayerBook’sverse4.)

THEMISUSEOF“THAT”Informallythatisusedasanemphaticadverb:

“Ihadnoideathehousewasthatsmall.”“Asapianistheisn’treallythatgood.”“Iftheweatheristhatbadyouhadbetterstayathome.”But in spite of common acceptance, this use of that iswrong and is to be

avoided.Thecorrectformsoftheabovesentencesare:“Ihadnoideathatthehousewasassmallasthat.”(Theomissionof“that”

after“idea”isapermissiblecolloquialism.)“Asapianistheisn’treallyasgoodasthat.”

“Iftheweatherisasbadasthatyouhadbetterstayathome.”Thatisoftenusedinsteadofasimpleso:“IwasthathappyIcouldhavecried.”“Iwenttothepicturesthreetimesthatweek,thefilmwasthatexciting.”“Thathappy”and“thatexciting”shouldbe“sohappy”and“soexciting”.Thecommonexpressions“thatmuch”and“thatmany”shouldbe“asmuch

asthat”and“asmanyasthat.”

“RIGHTHERE”“Righthere”,“rightthere”and“rightnow”areAmericanismswhichcanhardlybecalledmistakes.Right isusedbeforeadverbsandprepositionstoemphasisethem:

“Shewaswearingaskirtrightdowntoherankles.”“Thehouseisrightontheroadandverynoisy.”“Ifyouwaitformerighthere,I’llberightback.”It is often preferable to substitute words like “completely”, “directly”,

“exactly”or“immediately”.

“CHRISTMAS”The only excuse forwriting “Xmas” for “Christmas” is thatXwas theGreeksymbolforJesusChrist.Somepeople,awareofthis,doitdeliberately,butmostwritersof“Xmas”aremerelylazy.

“MOOTPOINT”Manypeopleconfusethewordmootwithmute(silent),andwronglytalkabouta“mutepoint”insteadofa“mootpoint”.Seepage298.

“ALLRIGHT”Already,almost,almightyandaltogetherareright,butalright iswrong.Thereseems tobeno fair reason for this,but ifyouwantyourwrittenEnglish tobecorrect,youmustwrite“allright”.

“AVERSEFROM”

You cannot be averse to, or show an aversion to, anything. The suffix tosignifiesapproach,whentheoppositeisintended.Youcanonlybeaversefrom,orshowanaversionfrom,something.

CONFUSEDWORDSCertainpairsofsimilarwordsareoftenconfusedandwronglyused,onewordofa pair being used in place of the other. The following cases are the mostcommon,anddetailswillbefoundinChapter10,“NotesonSelectedWords”:

adaptandadopt(page275)affectandeffect(page276)balmyandbarmy(page279)dependantanddependent(page285)deprecateanddepreciate(page285)forebearandforbear(page291)foregoandforgo(page292)licenceandlicense(page297)loatheandloath(page297)prescribeandproscribe(seepage302)

REDUNDANTPASTPARTICIPLESRedundantpastparticiplesarerathersimilartoredundantconditionals(page42).

“Hewouldhavehadtohavewaited”contains twopastparticiples(hadandwaited) when only one is necessary. The meaning of this sentence should beexpressedthus:

“Hewouldhavehadtowait.”

UNATTACHEDPARTICIPLESNowwecometoaclassoferrorwhichisprobablythemostcommonofall.

Always remember this: a present participlemust be logically attached to anounorapronoun.

ParticiplesingeneralaredealtwithinChapter2(page36).AnexampleofanunattachedpresentparticipleisgiveninChapter4(page68)inthesentence:

“Referring to your letter of the 16th November, the horse was sold lastMonday.”

Ifthisisstrictlyinterpreted,thepresentparticiplereferringisattachedtothehorse.But thewriter does not reallymean that the horsewas referring to theletterofthe16thNovember.Hemeansthathehimselfisreferringtotheletter.Thereareseveralwaysinwhichthesentencecouldbemadesensible,andhereisone:

“Referringtoyourletterofthe16thNovember,IhavetostatethatthehorsewassoldlastMonday.”

“I have to state” is commercial English, but at least the sentence is nowgrammatical,withtheparticiplereferringattachedtothepronounI.

Thissillykindofmistakeisprevalentincommercialcorrespondence.Think,too,ofthecommonmisuseofproviding,asin:

“ProvidingthegoodsaredespatchedbytheendofDecemberweshallpayinfullbytheendofJanuary.”

Literally, thismeansthatwearedoingtheproviding,andthis,ofcourse, isnonsense.Thewordhereshouldbethepastparticipleprovided.

Hereisanewspaperparagraph:“Providing the weather is suitable, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

intendtotakenextmonthaweek’scruiseintheMediterranean.”TheQueenandtheDukehaveenoughtothinkaboutwithoutprovidingthat

theweatherissuitable,andhere,too,thewordshouldbeprovided.

“ASSUMING”

We are still in our study of unattached participles, and our next target isassuming.Thiskindofconstructioniscommon:

“Assumingitdoesnotrain,thematchwilltakeplaceasarranged.”Thismeansthatthematchwilldotheassuming,whenactuallytheassuming

is done by the organisers of the match. If the writer wants to use the wordassumingheshouldwritethesentencethisway:

“Assumingitdoesnotrain,theorganiserswillseethatthematchtakesplaceasarranged.”

Itispreferable,however,tocallintheaidofthepastparticipleassumed,likethis:

“Itbeingassumedthatitdoesnotrain”–or“willnotrain”–“thematchwilltakeplaceasarranged.”

Hereisanotherexample:“ThestageissetforadramaticdénouementofthecrisisintheMiddleEast

bythedeadlineofMondaynext,assuming–whichisfarfromcertain–thatthe

greatgamblebythePresidentoftheUnitedStatescomesoff.”Thepresentparticipleassumingisnotattachedtoanything.Anditisdifficult

to see what the relative pronounwhich is related to. The writer should haveexpressedthispassagesomethinglikethis:

“ThestageissetforadramaticdénouementofthecrisisintheMiddleEastbythedeadlineofMondaynext,itbeingassumedthatthegreatgamblebythePresident of theUnited States comes off. It is, however, far from certain if itwill.”

“JUDGING”

Many professional journalists are fond of the present participle judging andoftenuseitwrongly.Hereisoneexample:

“JudgingbyaccountsintheBritishPress,theopeningnightofThePhantomoftheOperainNewYorkseemstohavebeensuccessful.”

Thismeansthattheopeningnightdidthejudging.Theuseofjudgedwouldhavesavedthesituation.

Here is another passage where judged should have been used instead ofjudging:

“Judgingbythedepartmentstores’sales,thislookslikebeingFrance’smostprosperousChristmasever.”

MISCELLANEOUSEXAMPLESOFUNATTACHEDPARTICIPLES

Prevalent errors are in the use of “broadly speaking”, “strictly speaking”,“generallyspeaking”,andalltheotherkindsofspeaking.

“Broadlyspeaking,thefortunesofthecateringtradedependontheweather.”Can it be the fortunes of the catering trade which speak broadly? This

sentencewouldhavemadesenseif“speaking”hadbeenomitted.Thenthereistheotheroldfriendwhichfrequentlyappearsinnewspapersand

onpicturepostcards:‘BeachatSeahampton,lookingeast.”Thereaderorviewerismeanttoassumethatheislookingeast.Buttheliteral

meaning is that the beach itself is looking east – the direct opposite to themeaningintended.

The following is froma literary article by a formereditor: “Looking back,then,twoeditorsareoutstanding....”

The passage should be reconstructed: “If we look back,” or “If one looksback,then,twoeditorsareoutstanding....”

Howdoyoulikethefollowingconfusedpassage?

“Havingmadethisquiteclearitcanbestated,forwhatitisworth,thatsincenationalizationBolivian tinhasbeen soldatunitpricesaveragingadollar andlessandhascostfromadollarandahalftotwodollarstoproduce,convertingcostsattheofficialexchangerate.”

As it stands, the present participle having is attached to the pronoun it.Nobodyknowswhatitis,butwhateveritisitisnotthethingthathasmade“thisquite clear”. It is hard to find anything at all to which converting might beattached.

Hereisagrammaticalreconstruction:“Thishavingbeenmadequiteclear,itcanbestated,forwhatitisworth,that

although, since nationalisation, Bolivian tin has cost one and a half to twodollarsperunit toproduce, ithasbeensoldatprices (costsbeingconvertedattheofficialexchangerate)averagingadollarandless.”

This is a grammatical reconstruction, but it still is not very good prose.Several commas have been inserted to divide the long sentence into logicalgroups,buttheeffectisjerky.Amuchbetterwayofwritingthepassagewouldbethus:

“Theforegoinghasbeenmadequiteclear.Itmaybeofinterestthatalthough,since nationalisation, Bolivian tin has cost one and a half to two dollars toproduce,itsunitsellingpriceattheofficialexchangeratehasaveragedadollarorevenless.”

Thepresentparticipleshavenowbeencutoutaltogether.Incidentally,thezof“nationalisation”hasbeenchangedtossimplybecauseitispreferredthatwayinthisbook.Somepublishinghousesfavourzinsuchwords.

Forthefollowingsentencesomeslightexcusemaybefound:“Berlin,takingEastandWesttogether,wastheundoubtedtheatricalcapitalof

Germanyagain,andoneoftheleadingtheatrecitiesoftheworld.”Itmaybearguedbythewriter thathemeant the taking tobeinterpretedas

donebyBerlin.Itisdoubtful,however,andthisispreferred:“EastandWesttakentogether,Berlinwastheundoubtedtheatricalcapitalof

Germany....”The following is an extract from a eulogy of a leader of a nationalised

industry:“WhentalkingtoX,thefutureofnationalisationseemsalotmoreimportant

thanthepast.”SurelythefutureofnationalisationhasnotbeentalkingtoX!Yetthatisjust

whatitmeans.Whatthewriterintended,ofcourse,wasthis:

“WhenonetalkstoX,thefutureofnationalisation....”Auniversityprofessormightbeexpectedtobeawareofthepitfallsintheuse

ofparticiples,buthereisanextractfromaprofessor’sforewordtoatext-bookonminingengineering:

“Havingpractisedminingengineeringforover thirtyyearsand taught it forfive,existingtext-bookshadlongseemedunsatisfactory.”

Iftheprofessorwantedtousetheparticipleheshouldhaveuseditlikethis:“Havingpractisedminingengineeringforover thirtyyearsand taught it for

five,Ihavelongfoundexistingtext-booksapparentlyunsatisfactory.”Anexcellentarticleinascientificjournalborethistitle:“Explorationofthe

Earth’sUpperAtmosphereUsingHigh-AltitudeRockets”.Now, it was not the exploration which was using the rockets, but the

experimenters. The title should have been: “Exploration of the Earth’s UpperAtmospherebytheUseofHigh-AltitudeRockets”.

UnintentionalHumour

Some examples of unattached participles are unintentionally funny. Some aretragicallyfunny,asinthisextractfromthetransactionsofahistoricalsociety:

“Incarryingoutthisdreadfulpunishment,thevictimwasfastenedintoastoolorchairattheendofasortofsee-saw,andwasraisedandloweredintoapoolofwater,inwhichshewascompletelysubmerged....”

Thepoorvictimwasnotcarryingoutthisdreadfulpunishment,butthatisthemeaningofthesentence.Onewayofcorrectingtheconstructionwouldbethus:

“Inthecarrying-outofthisdreadfulpunishment,thevictimwasfastenedintoastoolorchair....”

Thisisfromareader’slettertoaneditor,manyyearsago:“Arising out of the Suez crisis,we are about to bemade to realisewhat it

meanstobeshortofoilandpetrol,thetwofuelstowhichsomeofourbrilliantpoliticianshaveconfinedroadtransport.”

ThelettermeansthatwearearisingoutoftheSuezcrisis,likeVenusarisingoutof the foam,and it is surprising that itwaspublishedaswritten. It shouldhavebeencorrected,perhapsinthisfashion:

“AsaresultoftheSuezcrisis,weareabouttobemadetorealise....”Ahigh-rankingofficerinthepoliceforcewrotethisinacommuniqué:“Failingtofindthekeys,forcibleentrywaseffected.”Didforcibleentryfail

tofindthekeys?Ofcoursenot.Whattheofficermeanttosaycouldhavebeenwrittenlikethis:

“Failing to find the keys, the intrudersmade a forcible entry”, or like thisclumsyalternative,

“Failuretofindthekeysresultedintheeffectingofaforcibleentry.”Thefollowingunfortunateexampleisfromabook:“Havingeatenourdinner...anddrunkourwines,theladieshavewithdrawn

andwehavebeenleftaloneinthediningroom.”Lestthereadermaygatherthattheladiesweregreedy,Inowgivethewriter’s

intention:“Wehaveeatenourdinneranddrunkourwines.Theladieshavewithdrawn

andwehavebeenleftaloneinthedining-room.”(Noticethehyphen.)

UNATTACHEDPASTPARTICIPLES

Most examples of the misuse of participles are concerned with presentparticiples.Butevenpastparticiplescan leadpeopleastray,and twoexamplesaregivenhere.Thefirstisfromamagazineconcernedwithmotoring:

“Thepicnictableiswithineasyreachwhenseatedoncampstools.”Logically,thismeansthatwhenthepicnic-tableisseatedoncamp-stoolsitis

withineasyreach.Thiskindofthingtakesusintoaworldofnonsense,forthewriterdoesnotevensaythatheisreferringtothepicnickers.Nodoubtwhathemeansisthis:

“The picnic-table is within easy reach when the picnickers are seated oncamp-stools.”

But there isnoneed togo to this length, and the followingwouldbequiteadequate:“Thepicnic-tableiswithineasyreachofthecamp-stools.”

Thesecondexampleisfromthecatalogueofabuildingexhibition:“Strong, clean and economically priced, we have strong conviction in

recommendingthisproduct.”Let this be the last, before we go beyond amusement. A suitable

reconstructionofthisexamplewouldbe:“Wehavestrongconviction in recommending thisproduct,which is strong,

cleanandcheap.”

OTHERMISUSESOFTHEPRESENTPARTICIPLE

There is one form of construction with the present participle which, frankly,presents a problem – the instructional or informative type of sentence whichreadssomethinglikethis:

“Themachineisstartedbyswitchingonthecurrentandmovingthecontrol

armovertotheextremeleft.”Thisisnotrightasitstands,astheparticiplesswitchingandmovingarenot

disciplinedbyanything.The sentencewouldbequitecorrect,however, in thisform:

“Theoperatorstartsthemachinebyswitchingonthecurrentandmovingthecontrolarmovertotheextremeleft.”Here,theparticiplesaredisciplinedbythewords the operator, which are, in fact, the subject of the sentence. In theexample as given, it is difficult to analyse the sentence into subject, verb andobject,and,infact,ifasentencecannotbesoanalyseditissuspect.

If theexample isaninstructiontooperators, itcouldjustaswellhavebeenwritten,quitecorrectly,intheimperativemood:

“Start themachinebyswitchingon thecurrentandmoving thecontrolarmovertotheextremeleft.”

Such sentences are not always instructions to operators, and the imperativemoodcannotalwaysbeused.Onesolutionistotreatsuchawkwardparticiplesasnouns,likethis:

“Themachineisstartedbytheswitching-onofthecurrentandthemovingofthecontrolarmovertotheextremeleft.”

This sentence, though correct, is clumsy. Some sentences, if treated in thiswaywithpresentparticiplesasnouns,areevenworse.How,forinstance,couldthefollowingbecorrected?

1.“Anewlawnmaybemadeeitherbylayingturvesorbysowingseed.”2.“Cutasshownintheillustration,thecentrecutbeingmadebypressingthe

knife-bladedownandpullingitout.”3.“Thereisanelectronicwheel-balancingmachinethatenablesthewheelsto

bebalancedwithoutremovingthemfromthecar.”4.“Anymisadjustmentmaybegaugedbygraspingthecentreringfirmlywith

bothhandsandpushingitdownandpullingitupalongthelengthoftheshaft.”

First,letusseetheeffectoftreatingthepresentparticiplesasnouns.1.“Anewlawnmaybemadeeitherbythelayingofturvesorbythesowingof

seed.”2.“Cutasshownintheillustration,thecentrecutbeingmadebyapressingof

theknife-bladedownandapullingofitout.”3.“Thereisanelectronicwheel-balancingmachinethatenablesthewheelsto

bebalancedwithouttheremovingofthemfromthecar.”4.“Anymisadjustmentmaybegaugedbyagraspingofthecentreringfirmly

withbothhandsandapushingofitdownandapullingofitupalongthelengthoftheshaft.”

No.1nowsoundssatisfactory.Nos.2,3and4,however,aretoocumbersome,anditwouldbebettertorewritethesentences.AsNo.2startsintheimperativemood(“Cutasshown”) itmightaswellcontinue in thismood.Herearesomesuggestions:

2.“Cutasshownintheillustration,makingthecentrecutbypressingtheknife-bladedownandpullingitout.”

3.“Thereisanelectronicwheel-balancingmachinethatenablesthewheelstobebalancedwithouttheirremovalfromthecar.”

4.“Anymisadjustmentmaybegaugedifthecentreringisgraspedfirmlywithbothhandsandpusheddownandpulledupalongthelengthoftheshaft.”

Thepresentparticiplebeingisoftenmaltreated,asinthefollowingexamples:1.“Thepossibilityofstrongheadwindsbeingencounteredisnotprecluded.”2.“Theskidappearstohavebeenprecipitatedbyoilbeingsprayedontoarear

wheelbyadefectiveoilbreatherpipe.”3.“Uponitbeingexplainedtohim,heagreedwiththeproposal.”Alltheseexamplescanbeeasilycorrectedbythetreatmentofpresentparticiplesasnouns,inthisway:1.“Thepossibilityoftheencounteringofstrongheadwindsisnotprecluded.”2.“Theskidappearstohavebeenprecipitatedbythesprayingofoilontoa

rearwheelbyadefectiveoilbreatherpipe.”3.“Uponitsbeingexplainedtohim,heagreedwiththeproposal.”

Sometimes thecorrectmanipulationofapresentparticiplemakes the sentencesound clumsy, as we have seen, and you might argue that ungrammaticalsentences like those quoted are justified by common usage. Common usage,however,canoccasionallybeagoodservantbut isneveramaster. Ifcommonusageistobeouronlyguideingrammarweleavethewayopentoallkindsofslipshodwritingandspeech.

UNRELATEDWORDS

Lastly,wecometomisconstructionsofsentencesbytheuseofunrelatedwordsotherthanparticiples.

Thisisfromanarticleonacelebratedman:“Thoughshyofpersonalpublicity,mostpeoplefindhimfriendlyandeasyto

getonwith.”Thismeansthatmostpeopleareshyofpersonalpublicity.Thewriter,onthe

otherhand,reallymeansthatthecelebratedmanisshy.Ifthewriterhadreadthepassagecarefullybeforesending it forpublicationheshouldhaverealised thatreaderswouldbehoodwinkedbythefalserelationof“Thoughshy”with“mostpeople”.Thesentencecouldhavebeencorrectedsimplybytheinsertionof“heis”after“Though”.

“AVERBALAGREEMENT”Peoplesaythiswhentheymeananoralagreement,thatis,aspokenagreement.Everythinginvolvingwordsisverbal:iftheyarenotwrittendowntheyareoral.Thusaspokenagreementisanoralagreement.

“PERSUADE”AND“CONVINCE”“Convince” is oftenwrongly used for “persuade”.Youhear sentences such as“Heconvincedmetotakeaholiday”,insteadof“Hepersuadedme....”Iwaspersuadedtotaketheholiday,hewasconvincedthatIshould.

“DISINTERESTED”AND“UNINTERESTED”“Disinterested”meansimpartial,notuninterested.“Uninterested”meansbored.

“CENTRED”As “centre” means the middle point of a circle or sphere you cannot centrearoundsomething,onlyonit.“Hisconcentrationwascentredontheball.”

7

ODDITIESOFTHELANGUAGE

InEnglish therearenumerouspeculiar constructionsandusesofwordswhichcannot be classed as mistakes but which are interesting enough to deservediscussion.Whilemanyoftheseareacceptableinliteratesociety,somearenotrecommendedforregularuseandmay,infact,befrownedupon.

CLICHÉSClichéisthepastparticipleoftheFrenchverbclicher,“tostereotype”.Thus,inEnglish, a cliché is a word, phrase, clause or sentence that has becomefiguratively stereotyped, or so overworked that it has ceased to be effective.Clichés areoftenused innocentlyby ingenuouspeople andare apt toprovoketolerantsmilesor,attheworst,impolitesniggers.

The thing to remember about any cliché is that originally it was a clever,pungent,economical,euphoniousorevenwittyexpression.Whoeverstarted it,other people copied it because they liked the sound of it or because of itshandinessinsavingthoughtandinexpressingmuchinlittle.

Through constant use, however, clichés lose their originality and becomehackneyed. They are to be avoided as far as possible although certain usefulwords like “incidentally” and phrases like “as a matter of fact”, which areundeniable clichés, are so truly useful that they do not bring “the ghost of asmile”(thisisacliché)tothefaceofalistenerorreader.Nobody,tryashemay,canavoidclichésaltogether.

Belowisalistofclichés,someofthemold,somenotsoold.Ifanyoftheseexpressions,orotherslikethem,comeintoyourmindwhileyouarewritingorspeaking, youmust be cautious. Inwritingyouhave time tohunt forwaysofescape,butinspeechyouareliabletosaythefirstthingyouthinkof.

“Icouldn’tcareless.”“Priorto”(before)“Rainingcatsanddogs”“Astepintherightdirection”“Themajorpartof”(mostof)

“Ireadhimlikeabook.”“Smokinglikeahouseonfire”“Theletterofthelaw”“Byandlarge”“Reading-matter”“Exploringeveryavenue”“Leavewellalone”“Inhisheartofhearts”“Itstandstoreason.”“Thishurtsmemorethanithurtsyou.”“Conspicuousbyhisabsence”“Atthismomentintime”“Inthisdayandage”“Quitefrankly....totellyouthetruth”“Thisisaonceonly,unrepeatablebargainoffer.”“Wemustgiveofourbest.”“Eachandeveryoneofus.”“Finally,andinconclusion.”“Thisisamemorableoccasionforthecompany.”Youwillbeabletoaddmanyclichéstothislist.

COMMERCIALENGLISH“Commercial English” bristles with clichés, and a business letter written instraightforward language is usually much appreciated. These clichés are of aparticular and strange kind of “business-speak”. Why do people in businesschooseimportant-soundingphrasesratherthansimpleprecisewords?Abusinessletter in simple English shows that thewriter has cleared hismind of, or hasneveracquired,thoselifelesscollectionsofwords.

“Yourstohand”,forinstance–thisisabsurd.“Theworkisinhand”isonlyslightlybetter.Thenthereisouroldfriendinst.whichisindefensible.Thereisno reason at all why dates should not be given as the 15th June or the 20thDecember.Theexpression“evendate”, for“today”, is inexplicable, for itdoesnotevenhavethevirtueofsavingspace.

“Iacknowledgereceiptofyourletter”isungrammatical.Youreceivealetter,oryouacknowledgealetter,butyoucannotacknowledgereceipt.

Somanywritersofbusinesslettersthinkitasintorepeatanythingthatthey

arepronetowritingabout“thesame”,oreven“same”.Thisquaintpracticeissounnecessaryastobecomical.

“Weregret” isoftenusedwhere itwouldbemorepoliteormore feeling tosay“Wearesorry”,anditisusedwheremorehomelyyetprecisewordswoulddo.

“Weregretthatatthisjuncturewecannotseeourwaycleartoaccedetoyourrequest”,soundspatronisingcomparedwith:

“Wearesorrythatwecannot,atpresent,doasyouask.”Theremaybeadifferencebetween“tell” and“inform”,but in caseswhere

there is no difference “tell” is preferable. “Forward” and “despatch” are usedwhere “send” would be better. “Begin” or “start” is usually better than“commence”.

Asforthecliché“Mygratefulthanks”,haveyoueverheardofthanksbeingungrateful?

“ASTO”,“ASREGARDS”,“WITHREGARDTO”“Sofarasconcernsthiscommittee,greaterunderstandingwouldresultfromanimprovementwithregardtocommunication.”

Simplifiedthissentencebecomes:“Greater understanding for us would result from an improvement in

communication.”“As to the children,” we might read, “they are enjoying their holiday

immensely.”Thewritercouldhavewrittensimply:“The children are enjoying their holiday immensely.” Let us suppose,

however, that he had a genuine reason; for example, he might have begunwriting about the othermembers of the family andwanted tomake a specialpointofaddingsomethingaboutthechildren.

Insteadof“As to”, then,hemighthaveused“Asfor”,“Asregards”,“Withregardto”,or,ungrammatically,“Regarding”.“Regarding”iswrongbecauseitisanunattachedpresentparticiple;thechildrenarenotregardingthemselves.

Anyway, the five expressions, similar in meaning, are clumsy. They are,however,shorterthanthefullandmoreexplanatoryconstruction:

“On the subject of the children, I can report that they are enjoying theirholidayimmensely.”

Are the expressions acceptable? “Regarding” is not acceptable, aswe have

seen. “As regards” is themost awkward, for it is difficult to find any logicalbasis for it. “As to” and “As for” are better, and “With regard to” the mostacceptableofall.

“THEFORMER”AND“THELATTER”Toomuchuse ismadeof “the former”and“the latter”, in themistakenbeliefthatitisbadEnglishtorepeataword.ItmaybebadEnglishiftherepetitioncanbeavoided,buttheuseof“theformer”and“thelatter”isapoorwayofavoidingit.

“The two greatest men in the history of Stonechester were EmmanuelScamper and Benjamin Thwaites. Both were staunch councillors and notedphilanthropists,butwhiletheformerwasnotedalsoforhishorse-racingintereststhelatter’saversionfromallkindsofgamblingwasparticularlywellknown.”

When the reader comes across “the former” and “the latter”hehas to lookbacktoseewhatismeant,andthisisonefactoragainsttheiruse.Intheabovepassage, for instance, the reader cannot be expected tograsp immediately that“theformer”isScamperand“thelatter”Thwaites.

“The former” and “the latter” also tend tomake a passage sound stilted. Itsoundsbetterwritteninthisway:

“The two greatest men in the history of Stonechester were EmmanuelScamper and Benjamin Thwaites. Both were staunch councillors and notedphilanthropists,butwhileScamperwasnotedalsoforhishorse-racinginterestsThwaites’saversionfromallkindsofgamblingwasparticularlywellknown.”

“Aversionfrom”,incidentally,isright.Thecommon“aversionto”iswrong,“to”(asexplainedelsewhere)signifyingapproach.

Everybodyuses“theformer”and“thelatter”sometimes,buttheiruseshouldbeminimisedandconfinedasfaraspossibletocomplicateditemsconsistingofgroupsofwords.Oneimportantthingtorememberisthat“theformer”and“thelatter” can be used only for a pair of items, and the following examples arewrong:

“Problemswhich stillhave tobe facedbyourbigcities includehousingofincreasing populations, provision of more schools, smooth and balancedorganisationofpublic transport,andeliminationof trafficcongestion.Of theseproblems,theformerisperhapsthemosturgent.”

“SpeakingofMarlowe,Bacon andShakespeare himself, I think there is nodoubtthatthelatterwasresponsibleforalltheplays.”

Inthefirstexample,theuseof“theformer”wouldbequitejustifiediftherehadbeenonlytwoitems,aseachitemconsistsofagroupofwordswhichcouldnotbeconveniently repeated.As therearemore than two items,however, it iswrongtouse“theformer”,andinsuchcasesweshouldsay“thefirst”and“thelast”or“thefirst-named”and“thelast-named”.

Inthesecondexample“thelast”or“thelast-named”shouldhavebeenusedifthiskindofconstructionhadbeenwanted,but thesentencewouldbebetter inthisform:

“SpeakingofMarlowe,BaconandShakespeare,IthinkthereisnodoubtthatShakespearehimselfwasresponsibleforalltheplays.”

ELLIPSISINCOMPARISONSEllipsis (page 49) is simply a shortening by the omission of certainwords

whichareunderstood,and“ellipsisincomparisons”meanssentenceslikethis:“Temperaturestodaywillbelowerthanyesterday.”Thisisashortenedform

ofeachofthefollowing:“Temperaturestodaywillbelowerthanyesterday’s.”“Temperaturestodaywillbelowerthantheywereyesterday.”“Temperaturestodaywillbelowerthanthoseofyesterday.”Theellipsisisgenerallyacceptable,butitispreferabletousethefullformif

itisnottoounwieldy.

SWITCHEDADJECTIVESWhenwespeakofa“generousgift”wedonotmeanthatthegiftisgenerousbutthatthegiverisgenerous.Theadjectivegeneroushasbeenswitchedfromonethingtoanotherandbecomesa“switchedadjective”.

Thereisnoharminthispracticeaslongasthereaderorlistenerunderstandstheintentionofthewriterorspeaker.Otherexamplesofswitchedadjectivesare“gladtidings”,“sadnews”andeven“happyChristmas”.

“LOSTTO”The phrase lost to is strangely used in two ways, as the following sentencesshow:

“WhenJack retired frombusinessafter fiftyyearsofhardworkhe felt thatthecommercialworldwaslosttohimforever.”

“WhenJackplayedinthebowlsmatchthisyearhelostthechampionshiptoBob.”

IneachcaseitisJackwhoistheloser,butwhileinthefirstinstancethethinglost (thecommercialworld) is lost tohimself, in thesecond instance the thinglost(thechampionship)islosttosomebodyelse.

The general conclusion seems to be that if the thing lost is not gained byanyone else in particular it is lost to the loser. If the thing lost is gained bysomebodyitislosttothegainer.

Herearesomemoreexamples:“Allthatshehadcherishedwaslosttoher.”“Ruritania’s once-prosperous trade in string bags had been lost to her go-

aheadneighbour,Petularia.”“AshewanderedthroughthestreetsofLondon,destitute,hebitterlyresented

thewayhisfortunehaddwindledawayandwasnowcompletelylosttohim.”“AshewanderedthroughthestreetsofLondon,destitute,hebitterlyresented

the way his legitimate fortune had been lost to his cunning and malevolentbrother.”

Whenthephraselosetoisused(insteadoflostto)thethinglostcanonlybelosttothegainer:

“Youmustnotloseyourbusinesstothatterribleshopacrosstheroad.”

“ASFROM”Twoprepositions sidebysideareoften frownedupon,but“as from”canbeausefulandlegitimatephrase.

“Orderof25thJanuary.Asfrom1stJanuary,salarieswillbeincreasedby5percent.”

“As from” here indicates precisely that the order takes effect from a dateearlierthanthedateonwhichitiswritten,andthereisnoquarrelwithanyonewhousesitinthissense.Butthereseemsnopointinitsuseif,forexample,theeffectivedateisafterthedateoftheorder,inwhichcase“as”shouldbeomitted:

“Orderof25thJanuary.From1stFebruary,salarieswillbeincreasedby5percent.”

Ifwecometoanotherkindofwriting,thereisthis:“Heheardavoiceasfromagreatdistance,and,wakingfromhisdream,saw

hisfatherbesidehim.”Thereisnothingwrongwith“asfrom”ifitisregardedasanellipsis.Thusin

thefirstexampleitcouldbe“as[ifitis]from”,andinthelastexample“as[ifitcame]from”.

LATINABBREVIATIONSEtc(or&c)isanabbreviationof“etcetera”,whichisLatinfor“andtherest”.Itshouldhavenoplaceinordinaryproseanditsuseshouldbeconfinedtonotesandjottings.If,aftergivingalistofitems,awriterwantstoimplytheexistenceofmore,heshouldusesomesuchexpressionas“andsoforth”,“andsoon”,or“andothers”.

OtherLatinabbreviationsincludeetal.(etalibi,“andelsewhere”,oretalii,“and others”) and et seq. (et sequens, “and the following”). Note the originalmeaningofalibi.

“AND/OR”Theterm“and/or”hasappearedformanyyearsnotonlyinofficialpublicationsbut also in more general writing. It may be convenient in certain limitedcircumstances,butitisnotgoodEnglish.

“InstructionstoCouncil.ThepresentationoftheAldermentoHisGracewillbemadebytheLordMayorand/ortheSheriff.”

Now,inthatofficialinstruction,wherebrevityandclarityarebothdesirable“and/or” is justified. There is no justification, however, for “and/or” in thefollowing:

“Thefeatureswelookforintheidealnovelincludeaccuratecharacterisation,an attractive literary style, the power of holding the reader’s attention, areasonabledegreeofprobabilityand/oragoodplotskilfullywoven.”

Thewritermeans that ifwecannothavea reasonabledegreeofprobabilitywewant agoodplot skilfullywoven,butpreferablywe shouldhaveboth.Heshouldsayso,then.Itwilltakelonger,butthereaderdoesnotexpecttofindlackofmeaninginhisprose.Onewayofexpressingthewriter’sintentionswouldbelikethis:

“Thefeatureswelookforintheidealnovelincludeaccuratecharacterisation,an attractive literary style and thepowerof holding the reader’s attention.Wealsolookforareasonabledegreeofprobability,withtheadditionoralternativeofagoodplotskilfullywoven.”

Hereisanotherexample:“Ishouldbeobligedifyouwouldkindlysendmeallyourbooks,manuscripts

and/ortypescriptsforexamination.”Thiswouldbemorepleasingthus:“Ishouldbeobligedifyouwouldkindlysendme,forexamination,allyour

booksandscripts(whethermanuscriptortypescript).”

“LITTLE”AND“ALITTLE”Thereisadistinctdifferencebetweenthefollowingtwosentences:

“Hehadlittledifficultyinfindingtheaddress.”“Hehadalittledifficultyinfindingtheaddress.”The firstmeans thathe found theaddresseasily.The secondmeans thathe

didnotfinditeasily.Thelittlewordamakesall thedifference,butthisis justoneofthefunnythingsaboutEnglish.

“TOBUILD”The verb “to build” means “to erect”. And yet we read about various thingsbeing built which are not built at all – things like tunnels, canals, andundergroundshelters,whicharedugor(ifwewantalongerword)excavated.

Ifyouaretemptedtousethewordbuild,therefore,stoptoaskyourselfifyouaredoingrightorwrong.

POSSESSIVEPROBLEMSSeveral place-names are prefixed by “Saint” or “St”. Strictly, the name of thesaintineachcasewherepossessionisimpliedshouldbegivenanapostrophe-s,astheplaceissupposedtobehisplace.Thereareotherplaces,ofcourse,wherenopossessionisimplied–StAsaphinWales,forexample–butthesepresentnoproblemofapostrophe.

Unfortunately,theofficialnames,nodoubtasadoptedbythetowncouncils,donotalwaysfollowtherulesofgrammar,andtheresultinginconsistencymustbeconfusingtoforeigners.ItisespeciallyunfortunatethatStAndrew’s,oneofouroldestuniversitytowns,isofficiallyStAndrews.

Thefollowingare theofficialnamesof someof the“St”places inEnglish-speakingcountries:StAbb’sHead,StAlbans,StAndrews,StAnne’s,StBees,St Bride’s Bay, St Catherines (Ontario), St Catherine’s Point, St Davids, StFillans,StGeorge’sChannel,StHelens,St Ives,StJohn’s(Newfoundland),StLeonards,StMary’s(ScillyIsles),StNeots.

PROBLEMSOFPLURALSWemaybeconfrontedwithalternativesofthefollowingkinds:

“TheUnitedStatesareimportantallies.”“TheUnitedStatesisanimportantally.”“TheStraitsofGibraltarwerecrowdedwithvessels.”“TheStraitsofGibraltarwascrowdedwithvessels.”“Tenthousandtonsoforewereproducedinthemonth.”“Tenthousandtonsoforewasproducedinthemonth.”ItiscommonlyacceptedpracticetotreattheUnitedStatesassingular,sothat

thefirstexampleshouldbe:“TheUnitedStatesisanimportantally.”TheStraitsofGibraltar,ontheotherhand,aretreatedasplural,sothathere

weshouldsay:“TheStraitsofGibraltarwerecrowdedwithvessels.”Quantitiesexpressedintons,andinallotherunits,aretreatedassingular,the

point being that it is the substancewhich is grammatically significant, not thenumberofunits.Thus,in“tonsofore”,thegoverningwordis“ore”,not“tons”,sothatthesentenceshouldbe:

“Tenthousandtonsoforewasproducedinthemonth.”If,however,boththeunitsandthesubstanceareplural,itisnaturaltosay(forexample),“Sixpoundsofpeasarewanted”,or“Twelveacresofdaffodilsweredestroyedbyfrost.”

Pluralproblemsofadifferentkindarisewithcollectivenounslikecompany,committee,board,societyandsoforth.Dowesay“Thecommitteeisagreed”or“Thecommitteeareagreed”?

Thereisnoruleaboutthis,andprocedurelargelydependsonthesense.Ifthesense implies – as it usually does – that the company, committee, board orsocietyasawholeisinvolved,thesingularformoftheverbshouldbeused,asinthefollowingtwoexamples:

“TheBoard in its annual report has shown a profit for the year, in spite ofseriousstrikesandincreasedcosts.”

“The Company has decided in the interests of safety to install specialprotectivedevicesinthefactory.”

But if thesense implies that the individualmembersof theorganisationareinvolved, the plural of the verb should be used, as in the following twoexamples:

“AfterprolongeddeliberationstheCommitteewereunanimouslyagreedthattheschemeshouldbeadopted.”

“FollowingrecentcriticismanextraordinarymeetingoftheSocietywasheldon the 31st August. At first there was considerable evidence that the Societywere divided among themselves. After some discussion, however, and thereadingof supporting letters from representativebodiesofkindred societies, itwas decided that therewas no substance in the unfavourable allegations. ThemeetingclosedwiththeSocietyconvincedoftheirunity.”

“MESSRS”“Messrs” is the abbreviation of the French “Messieurs”, or “Gentlemen”. Assuch,itisaplural,sothatMessrsJ.&A.SmithmeansthecombinationofMrJ.SmithandMrA.Smith.

But once Messrs J. & A. Smith form themselves into a limited company,perhapsunderthenameofJ.&A.SmithLtd,theybecomeasinglelegalperson.ItisthereforeincorrecttoaddressthefirmasMessrsJ.&A.SmithLtd.

The rule is simple. “Messrs” should not be used in addressing a limitedcompany.Foracompanywhichisnotlimiteditshouldonlybeusedifthetitleofthecompanyincludesasurnameorsurnames.Thus,youwouldbecorrectinwriting“MessrsJ.&A.Smith”or“MessrsRobinson&Co.”,butyouwouldbewronginwriting“MessrsTheApexJamjarCo.”or“MessrsHappifootShoes”.Letters addressed to the last two firmswould be inscribed “TheApex JamjarCo.”and“HappifootShoes”.

“SCOTCH”,“SCOTTISH”,“SCOTS”Donotimaginethat“Scotch”isavulgarism,or,inthefacetiouswordsofsomeEnglishmen, “only the name of a drink”. Reputable Scotch writers up to thenineteenth century, notably Burns and Scott, were not afraid of the adjective“Scotch”,althoughnativesofScotlandcouldbecalledScotsmen.

“Scottish” may be the older form and seems to be generally favoured bymany English people, perhaps to distinguish it from the verb “to scotch” andperhapsfromamistakenfancythat“Scotch”soundsinelegant.

Attemptshavebeenmadetoeffectacompromisebytheuseof“Scots”asanadjective.Theseattemptscertainlyhavehistoricalandliteraryvalidity,butoneobjectionto“Scots”isthepossibilityofawkwardnessif,forinstance,itshouldbe mistaken for the possessive “Scot’s” (singular) or the possessive “Scots’”(plural). Thus, the title of the excellent Scots Magazine never was meant toimplythatthemagazinebelongedtoorwaspublishedforScots(Scotsmenand

Scotswomen)butthatitwastheScottishorScotchmagazine.

SCOTTISHUSAGESome Scots use certain words and phrases in ways which sound peculiar tomanyEnglishpeopleunfamiliarwithScotchusage.

“PRESENTLY”

There is a distinct difference inmeaning between the Englishman’s presentlyandtheScotsman’s.InEnglanditmeans“soon,inalittlewhile”.InScotlanditmeans“atpresent,now,at thisverymoment”.Thus topeopleofeithernation,unusedtotheirneighbours’habits,itcanleadtomisunderstanding.

WhenaScotsman,inabusinessletter,writes,“Wearedealingwiththematterpresently”,hemeansthathisfirmaredealingwiththematteratthemoment,buttheEnglishrecipientsoftheletterwouldconcludethatthematterwastobedealtwithinashortwhile.

Yet, strangely, the legal language of both countries still gives presently itsScottish meaning, and you can find it used in this way in numerous legaldocuments.

“MISTRESS”

The title “Mrs” is an abbreviation of “Mistress”, but only among some old-fashionedScotswill you hear the abbreviation pronounced as “Mistress”.Theusualpronunciationof“Mrs” is theonlywayofdistinguishingthemeaningofthewordasatitlefromitsothermeanings.

“WHATLIKE”

Englishmenwill say “What is thepark like?”SomeScotsmenwill say “Whatlikeisthepark?”

Thereisnothingwrongwiththissyntax.Indeed,wherethereissomedistancebetweentheEnglishman’s“Whatis”and“like”,theScottishpracticehasmuchtocommendit.Thus,“Whatlikearethegardensattheotherendofthepark?”ismuchneaterthan“Whatarethegardensattheotherendoftheparklike?”

“PURPOSE”

“I purpose to apply for permission next week” used to be both English andScotch usage, but now the use of purpose for propose is found mainly inScotland.

“RETIRAL”

InEnglandaman speaksofhis “retirement”,but inScotlandhe speaksofhis“retiral”.

“SHOCK”

While,medically,shockinEnglandmeanssomethingdefinite,inScotlandithasan additionalmeaning, themeaning of stroke. Thus, “He died of a stroke” inEnglandwouldbe“Hediedofshock”amongsomeScots.

“OUTWITH”

Outwith is sometimes used byScotsmen foroutside, as in the sentence, “Thesubjectisoutwiththecommittee’stermsofreference”.

ELLIPSIS

MostScottishlinguisticcuriositiesaretechnicallysound,butthisdoesnotapplytothehabitofunjustifiedellipsis(omissionofcertainwords).SomeScotsmaysay“Haveyouplentymoney?”whentheymean“Haveyouplentyofmoney?”Theymaysay“Hewants in” insteadof“Hewants tocome in”,or“Hewantsout”insteadof“Hewantstogoout”.

A fairlycommonexampleof suchellipsis is, “She said to tellyou tocomehome”,insteadof“ShesaidIwastotellyoutocomehome”.

GREATBRITAINItisannoyingtohearpeoplereferto“England”whentheymeanGreatBritainortheUnitedKingdom.Themediaisnotimmunefromthevice,andweevenreadof“theislandofEngland”.

Use“England”and“English”whenyoumean“England”and“English”.Use“Wales”and“Welsh”whenyoumeanpreciselythesethings.Use“Scotland”and“Scottish”(or“Scotch”or“Scots”)whenthesearethewordsyoureallymean.

INTRUDERSAdditions to or modifications of a language can be necessary, logical,mellifluousorallthree.Suchinnovationsarehealthyandwelcome,butthereareothers which, being unnecessary, illogical or discordant, are certainlyunwelcome.Examplesspringtothemind.

Theword like,which has several legitimate uses, is now oftenmisused by

being commonly substituted foras, as in “Like I said”, “It should offend himlike it offends me”. Some misusages are so grotesque that only completereconstructionwould rectify theoffendingpassages.Thus,awomanpublisher,interviewedaboutherinterests,isreportedtohavesaid:“I’veseveral,likeIgotothetheatrealot.”

Hereareotherexamplesofstrangeconstructionwhichmaymakeyouwince:“Atthispointintime”for“now”or“atpresent”.“Overly”insteadofasimple“over”,asin“over-anxious”.“Forreal”and“forfree”insteadof“real”and“free”.“Fromwhence”insteadof“whence”(literally“wherefrom?”).“But”foremphasis,asin:“Itwasdisastrous,butdisastrous.”

PART2

SPELLINGANDVOCABULARY

INTRODUCTION

It is, of course, the spelling of English (or orthography) with which we areconcerned in this section, but English-writers should know that users of otherlanguageshave theirdifficulties, too, so thatwritersofEnglishunsureof theirspellingneednotthinkthemselvesunique.Asitisonlyinwritingthatincorrectspellingshowsitself,themostfluentspeakermaybequiteinadequatewhenheputspentopaperorfingerstokeyboard.

With the gradual spread of literacy and the invention of printing came thedevelopment of written English, with its confusing and inconsistent spellingsbecomingmoreandmoreapparent.

ThefirstpotentialreformerwasSirThomasSmith,whoin1568publishedabook(inLatin!)onEnglishspelling.Hewasfollowedbyseveralotherscholarsinthesixteenthandseventeenthcenturies.

Evenaslateastheeighteenthcenturymanypeopledidnotseemtoconcernthemselvesgreatlywithrulesoracceptedpractices, thegeneralfeelingperhapsbeingthat,aslongasawriter’smeaningwasunderstood,spellingdidnotmatter.EphraimChambersinhisCyclopaedia(1743)wrote:

“IntheEnglish,theorthographyismorevagueandunascertained,thaninanyotherlanguageweknowof.Everyauthor,andalmosteveryprinter,hashisparticularsystem.Nay,itisscarcesowellwithusasthat:wenotonlydiffer fromone another; but there is scarce any that consistswithhimself. The same word shall frequently appear with two or threedifferentfacesinthesamepage,nottosayline.”

English spelling remains inconsistent in part and can be puzzling. Why, forexample,shouldEnglishitselfsoundasifitbeganwithanI?ThewordEnglandis derived fromEnglaland, the land of the Angles or Engles, not the Ingles.Numerousotherexamplesof inconsistencyinpronunciationandspellingcouldbe cited, but exampleswhich spring readily tomind are the following: clerk,jerk;full,dull;work,fork;worm,form;put,but;gone,done,bone;four,dour;

said, laid, plaid; cow, low; treat, threat; the two meanings of tear; the twotensesofread;names,Thames;love,strove;andallthedifferentsoundsmadeby-ough.

Inconsistencies such as these, however, contribute to the fascination of thelanguage.

Interestinspellingreformwasrevivedinthe1840s,largelythroughtheworkof Sir Isaac Pitman. His scheme for reform was rivalled by others but nonefoundacceptance,perhapsbecausethereweretoomany.Therewereattemptsatreforminthetwentiethcentury,notonlybytheSimplifiedSpellingSocietybutalsobyRobertBridges(PoetLaureatefrom1912to1930)andGeorgeBernardShaw. In 1961 Sir James Pitman (Isaac’s grandson) introduced his InitialTeaching Alphabet, which, however, is not a reformed spelling system but ateachingmethod.

SeveraldictionariesappearedbeforethepublicationofDrSamuelJohnson’sin 1755, and although this great work contained many inconsistencies itestablished the basis of our spelling of today, which we accept with all itsimperfections.

Observanceofconsistencyledtothelimitedformulationofrules.Mostoftherulesdevelopedfromwithin,outoftradition,convention,generalunderstandingand common practice. The rules were not imposed from without, and it isnoteworthy that there is no organisation in Great Britain similar to the twolanguage academies of Italy (founded in 1582) andFrance (founded in 1635).Therearevariousbodieswhichconcernthemselveswith language,suchas theBritish Academy, the Philological Society and the English Association, but,admirablethoughtheseinstitutionsare,theydonotgiveauthoritative linguisticadvice in themanner of the twoContinentalAcademies. Themembers of theFrench Academy, for example, meet periodically to decide – amongst manyothermattersconcernedwiththeFrenchlanguage–howwords,especiallynewwords,aretobespelt.

Agreement tostick torulesdevelopedin thenineteenthcentury,whenmorepeople discovered the joys of reading and writing. Hand-in-hand with theIndustrial Revolution came a surge in the publication of books, newspapers,periodicalsandthetransactionsoflearnedsocieties.Thenecessityofdisciplinein spellingwas accompanied by an appreciation of discipline in grammar, butgrammarisdifferentfromspellingasmuchofitdependsonlogicalthought,andmost of the greatwriters of the past, however loose their spelling (and unlikemanyoftoday’sephemeralwriters)weregoodgrammarians.

Inspiteoftheevolutionofrulesinspellingthereareanomalieswhichcannotbe satisfactorily explained, such as alternative spellings for somewords and adeliberatelegalityinthebreakingofsomerules.Someirregularitiesarelegaciesofthepast,perhapsresultsofwriters’orprinters’carelessnesswhich,unnoticedatthetime,havebeenassimilatedintothewrittenlanguage.

American spelling of today, on the whole, is the result of years ofdeliberation, of trial and error, of advance and retreat, the result of labourinitiatedby thegreat lexicographerNoahWebster (1758–1843).Webstermadeseveralattemptsatstandardisation,woulddiscard,reviveanddiscardagainuntilhe, and his successors, reached forms of spelling that were to be adopted asstandardAmerican,formswhichinmanycasesaremorelogicalthanourown.

Thissectiononspellingandvocabularyoffersmorethanmerelistsofwordswhichcanbe found indictionaries. It ismeant tohelp the reader toenjoy thefascinationofwordsaswords,toinduceaninterestintheirhistory,toappreciatehow they are formed, to listen to their sounds, and to be aware of strangeinconsistencies.

Whilekeepingtheneedsofthedoubtfulspellerintheforefront,considerableattentionhasbeengiventotheformationofwords.Agenerallistofwordsattheendofthesection–wordswhichcanraisedoubtsinspellings,wordswhichcanbemisspelt,andwordswhichareinteresting–isprecededbynotesonselectedwordswhichdeservediscursivecomment.

Spelling isbasedon thealphabet, and inadelightful littlebook,Origins oftheAlphabetJosephNavehwrites:

“ButbadasEnglishspellingmaybe,itstillretainsmostoftheprinciplesofalphabeticwriting.IttakesonlyayearortwoofstudytolearntospellEnglish.TheChinese,on theotherhand,have todevotemanyyears tolearning characters if they are to have a complete command of theirliterature.”

Youmayberelieved,then,tobestudyingEnglishratherthanChinese.

8

WORDFORMATION

Anybodyreallyinterestedinspellingwillnaturallywanttoknowhowwordsareformedandhow,despitenumerous inconsistencies, themodeof formationcaninfluencethespelling.Somepeoplehaveaninnateinstinctforwords,butothersnot so blessed can develop a retentive visual memory and keep it in soundworking condition by intelligent reading. A “good speller” need not be wellversed in etymology, but the detection of irregularities and similarities, andawareness of their existence, add to the fun of language-study. Notes on theformationofwords,therefore,willbenecessaryasafoundation,andremarksonthe“rules”willbegivenwhereappropriate.

WORD-CONVERSIONSBasicwordsaregenerallychangedintorelatedwordsbytheadditionofprefixesor suffixes, more often by suffixes. In the case of verbs, for example, talk(present tense) becomes talked (past tense and past participle) and talking(present participle). We say “generally” because “rules” of grammar and ofspelling are often disturbed by exceptions. Eat, for instance, gives ate, not“eated”,sitgivessat,holdgivesheld,andsleepgivesslept.

Inthissectiontheexpression“basicverb”isusedratherthan“indicative”andtermslike“infinitive”and“presenttense,firstperson”.Technicaltermswillbeavoidedasfaraspossible,butitisessentialtouse“pasttense”,“pastparticiple”and “present participle”. The meaning of past tense, generally understood, isobvious,butof“participle”lessso.

ItwillbeevidentfromtheexamplesinChapter2andlaterinthissectionthatpast participles can take many forms, but for a great many verbs the pastparticipleisthesameasthepasttense.

Despite thevagariesof thepastparticiple, thepresentparticiple isconstant,alwaysendinginingandpresentingnospellingpuzzles.

BASICVERBSENDINGINCONSONANTS

Sometimes the rules for converting the present tense of verbs into past tense,

pastparticipleandpresentparticiplecanappear so involved that it is easier torememberthe“look”ofthewordsthemselvesthantotrytoremembertherules.As we noted in Chapter 2 the addition of ed or ing to the present tensesometimesneedsaconnectinglink,andthenatureofthelink(accordingtotherules)dependsonthestructureofthebasicwordandtheplacingofthestressedsyllable.

Verbsof one short (unsustained) syllable ending in a consonant areusuallyconverted by doubling the last letter before the ed or ing. Thus we get:hug,hugged,hugging;pet,petted,petting;trap,trapped,trapping.Oneexceptionistread, which gives trod (past tense), trodden (past participle) and treading(present participle). Other strange exceptions are cut and put, where the pasttenseandpastparticiplearestillcutandputbut thepresentparticiplescuttingand putting. Jut, on the other hand (just to be awkward), gives jutted andjutting.Yetanother inconsistentuverb isrun,with itspast tenseran, its pastparticiplerun,anditspresentparticiplerunning.

Where themonosyllable is sustained (or long) the final consonant remainssingle,butthereareinconsistencies.Leadandreadmightbeexpectedtobehavesimilarly,yetthepasttensesandpastparticiplesareledandread.Feedandneedmake fed and needed. Bear and near (in the sense of “nearing one’s goal”)should follow parallel paths, but bear makes bore (past tense), borne (pastparticiple) and bearing (present participle), while near follows the regularpattern of neared (past tense and past participle) and nearing (presentparticiple).(Thespellingofthepastparticiple,borne,distinguishesitfromborninthesenseofbirth.)

Still on the subject of exceptions, remember the correct usage of the verblend,ofwhichtherelatednounisloan(seepage147).

Thepasttenseandpastparticipleofbendarebothbent,butoccasionallyyoumayhearthearchaic(old-fashioned)formbended,asin“onmybendedknees”.

Verbsof two syllables (occasionally three) ending in ahardconsonant takethefinaldoubleconsonantifthestressisonthesecond(orlast)syllable,asin:abut, abutted, abutting; overlap, overlapped, overlapping; prod, prodded,prodding;regret,regretted,regretting. If thestress ison thefirstsyllableofabasic two-syllable verb the final consonant usually stays single, as in:gallop,galloped,galloping;limit,limited,limiting.Therulebreaksdowninthecaseof(forexample)ballot,where,althoughthestressisonthefirstsyllable,therelatedwords ballotted and ballotting have a double t. Likewise there are combat,combattedandcombatting,andrivet,rivettedandrivetting.

Inthethree-syllableverbselicitandsolicit,wherethestressisonthemiddlesyllable, the t stays single to give elicited, eliciting, solicited and soliciting.Shorter -it verbs are inconsistent.Although sitmakes sat and sitting, the pasttense and past participle of quit are both quitted, and the present participlequitting agrees with sitting. (“I have quit” is said colloquially.) As for hit,“hitted”wouldsoundstrange,andthepasttenseandpastparticiplearebothhit,withhittingasthepresentparticiple.Theverbsemit,fit,gritandknitallfollowthe-ittedand-ittingpattern.

There are several nouns and adjectives ending in ight but few verbs.Examplesofverbswhichspringtomindare:alight(inthesenseofgettingoffavehicle); delight; light; right (righting a wrong); and sight. All follow the -ightedand-ightingpattern,but in thecaseof theverb light thepast tenseandpastparticiplecanbelightedorlit.

BASICVERBSENDINGINY

Withmostbasicverbsendinginyafteraconsonantorafterh(notthattherearemany)thepasttenseandpastparticipleareobtainedbysubstitutingtheybyied,but in the present participle the y is retained and ing is added.Examples are:chivvy, chivvied, chivvying; cry, cried, crying; lobby, lobbied, lobbying; ply,plied,plying;shy,shied,shying.

If the y follows a vowel it is not normally dropped, and we have: betray,betrayed, betraying; cloy, cloyed, cloying; play, played, playing; toy, toyed,toying.Thereareexceptions;forexample,buygivesboughtandbuying,and-ayexceptionsaresay(said),pay(paid)andlay(laid).

OTHEREXAMPLESOFDOUBLING

Afewexamplesofthedoublingofthefinalconsonantsd,g,pandtaregiven.Otherconsonantswhichareusually(butnotalways)doubledafterappearingassinglelastlettersareb,l,m,n,rands,butthereisoptionintwoscasesasthefollowingexampleswillshow:

Exceptionsincludeverbsendinginen(suchasopen,openedandopening,andsharpen, sharpened and sharpening), and verbs ending in er (such as offer,offeredandoffering,andtemper,temperedand tempering).The irregularverbrun (ran, running) was mentioned earlier, and another irregular verb iswin(won,winning).

Inadequate spellersoften finddifficulty indecidingwhether toputonerortwo inoccurred,occurring,recurredandrecurring.There isneveranydoubtabout the spelling of gassed and gassing, but biased, biasing, focused andfocusingaremorecommonlyspeltwithones.

BASICVERBSENDINGINL

ThefollowingareexamplesofBritishpractice(notnecessarilyAmerican):

Someverbscanbespeltwithonelortwo,butthepasttenseandtheparticipleshavethedouble l,examplesbeingenthral(l)andmarshal(l).Furtherexamplesoftheconstructionofwordsbasedonverbsendinginlorllaregivenonpage254.

A favourite example of irregularity with verbs ending in l is parallel, ofwhich the past tense has a single l to give paralleled. (Although parallel isusuallyanadjective, it isalsousedasaverb.)This irregularityconformswithstandardAmericanpractice,whichallowsthefinallinallsuchverbstoremain

single.Itiscurious,inpassing,tonotethattheepithetunparalleled isusedfarmoreoftenthanparalleled,asin“unparalleledmagnificence”.

BASICVERBSENDINGINE

Basicverbsendingineusuallytakedforthepasttense,asinelope(d),love(d),moralise(d),rule(d).Forthepresentparticipletheeisdroppedandreplacedbying(eloping,loving,moralising,ruling),butspecialcasesaredealtwithbelow.

Exceptionsincludetake,ofwhichthepasttenseistookbutthepastparticipletaken and the present participle taking. By this system, make should beconverted to“mook”and“maken”,butbyoneofourpleasant littlequirks thepast tense and past participle are made, in spite of consistency in making.Another exception is hide, of which the past tense is hid, the past participlehidden,andthepresentparticiplehiding.Chideshouldbehavesimilarlybuthasalternatives, its past tense being chided or chid, its past participle chided orchidden,anditspresentparticiplechiding.

Anotherexceptionisbite,ofwhichthepasttenseisbit(not“bited”),thepastparticiple bitten, and the present participle biting. Forprove the past tense isalwaysproved,butthereisanotherpastparticiple,proven,whichhasalimiteduseintechnicalandlegallanguage.

From strike are derived struck (past tense and usual past participle) andstriking (present participle). An archaic form of past participle, stricken, issometimes found in such sentences as “I am stricken in years” and suchhackneyed expressions as “poverty-stricken” and “panic-stricken”. Theseapplicationsexemplifythecommonuseofold-fashionedwordsbypeoplewhodonotthinkaboutthem.Anothergoodexampleisprovidedbytheobsolescentbereft (frombereave),as in“Iwasbereftofmysenses”.Even thecommonestverbscandisplayirregularities.Thus,thepasttenseofcomeiscamebutthepastparticipleisstillcome.Thepasttenseandpastparticipleoflosearebothlost.

VERBSENDINGINEAVE

Thederivationofbereft frombereave,whichmeans“todeprive, rob,spoil,orrenderdesolate”,hasbeen referred to. In itsassociationwith thedeathofnearrelatives the past participle has gradually been replaced in popular usage bybereaved,whichmeans the same. InTheTempestAriel speaks to theKing ofNaplesaboutFerdinand:“Theeofthyson,Alonso,/Theyhavebereft;...”

Disagreementamong the -eavewords is shown in the following list, and insomecasesanalternativeformofthepasttenseorpastparticipleispermissible.

Thepresentparticiplefollowstheregular-ingconstructionwiththeedropped.Cleave, incidentally, has twomeaningswhich in a sense are opposites: (1) tosplitasunder;(2)toadhere.

Common expressions using the archaic forms of the cleave (1) words are“cloven hoof” and “in a cleft stick”, where the past participle serves as anadjective.Heave has a nautical sense in “Heave to” and “The boat hove insight”. Although the past participle ofweave iswoven commerce talks about“wovepaper”;“finely-wovefabric”andmanyotherwovenmaterials.

SPECIALCASESOF-ING

Thedoubtfulspelleroftenfindsdifficultyindecidingwhetherornottoretainthefinal e in converting the present tense of a verb to the present participle. Forexample,inthatsentence,whyis“decideing”notwrittenwhendecideendsine?

Some words are easy, and nobody gives a thought to common words likedyingandtyingfromdieandtie.Dyeingandsingeing,likewise,shouldpresentno problems; if the e were omitted the results would be dying and singing,whicharewordsalready.Anotherirregularityisseenintheverbhie(“Hieyouthither”),ofwhichthepasttenseiscertainlyhied.Hyingisgivenasthepresentparticipleinsomedictionaries,buttheusualspellingishieing.

The e is retained in some cases, as in swingeing (“swingeing increases ininflation”) and shoeing. Curiously, ageing is right but so are foraging,managingandraging.

Centre,whenusedasaverb,givescentredaspasttenseandpastparticiple,butsomepeoplearepuzzledaboutthepresentparticiple.Shoulditbecentreingor(astheAmericanshaveit)centering?TheacceptedspellinginBritishEnglishiscentring,with theedropped.Verbsofsimilarconstruction includeaccoutre(accoutring),manoeuvre(manoeuvring)andmitre(mitring).

Verbsendingincaregivenagratuitousk,asinbivouac(king),panic(king),picnic(king)andmimic(king).

The needs ofmodern English have given rise to certain verbs from nounswhichwereoriginallyconsideredonlyasnouns.Service,forinstance,ledtotheservicingofcarsandmanyotherthings,andtheinventionofthetorpedomadetorpedoing necessary. These spellings have developed from common custom,theacceptedpasttenseandpastparticiplebeingservicedandtorpedoed.Toputsomething throughaprocess is nowaverb toprocess,withprocessed as pasttenseandpastparticipleandprocessingaspresentparticiple.

Inmostcasesthereisnothingreprehensibleintheadoptionofnounsasverbswith the same spelling, for the practice can be convenient and savecircumlocution.Ifontheotherhandtheuseofanounasaverbgratesontheearit should be avoided. “I am taking a bus home” is more pleasant than “I ambussing home”, but “bussing” seems to be used in theUnited States.Alreadyreferredtoisthemalpracticeofusingloanasaverbinsteadoflend.

VERBSENDINGINVOWELSOUNDS

Reference to thenounandverb torpedonaturally leads to theconsiderationofotherverbsendinginthevowelsoundo.Apartfromtorpedo,onlythreeneedtobeconsidered,ofwhichtwoarefromnouns,radioandveto.Radioisgivenanein radioed but not in the present participle radioing. Veto is similar, givingvetoedandvetoing.

The third is one of the most frequently used verbs in the language, go.Dealingwithcome, itwas remarked that even thecommonestverbscan showirregularities,andgoisasirregularascome.Itspasttenseiswent(notabitlikego),itspastparticiplegone,anditspresentparticiplegoing.

Someotherverbsare less common.Shanghai (toget amandrunkandputhim aboard a ship needing a crew), for instance, nowadays has little need ofapplication. If its past tense and participles must be used, the forms areshanghaied and shanghaieing. Some people prefer the apostrophe to e, as inshanghai’d and shanghai’ing. Even less commonly heard or read is the pastparticiple(usedasanadjective)moustachioedormoustachio’d.

BASICVERBSENDINGINIVE

Basicverbsendinginiveareregularorirregular.By“regular”ismeantverbsofwhichthepasttenseandpastparticiplearemadebyaddingdtothebasicverbandthepresentparticiplebydroppingtheeandaddinging.Examplesofregular-ive verbs are: connive, connived, conniving; dive, dived, diving; live, lived,living.Examplesofirregular-iveverbsaregiveninthefollowinglist:

Thereare,ofcourse,manyotherEnglishverbsendinginive,andtheabovearegivenonlyasexamplesofregularityandirregularity.Theuniquepronunciationofgiveandlive (differentfromthatofother-iveverbs) isoneof thecharmingodditiesofthelanguage.TheScotshaveaspecialverb,togift,meaningtogiveorbequeathahandsomecontributiontoaworthycause.

BASICVERBSENDINGINW

Basicverbsendinginw,too,areregularorirregularinpattern.By“regular”inthiscaseismeantthepatterninwhichthepasttenseandpastparticiplearemadeby adding ed to the basic verb and the present participle by adding ing.Examples of regular -w verbs are: brew, brewed, brewing; endow, endowed,endowing;row,rowed,rowing;view,viewed,viewing.Examplesofirregular-wverbsarelistedbelow:

Itshouldbepointedoutthat,althoughcrownowfollowstheregularpatternofcrowed and crowing, the archaic past tense crew is not to be ignored. (“Andimmediatelythecockcrew.”Matthew,xxvi.74,A.V.)

Shewasanalternativetoshowisobsolete,evenifstillseenoccasionally.

BASICVERBSCONTAININGIWITHN

Somepeopleareconfusedwhentheyhavetousethepasttenseorpastparticipleofcertainverbscontainingthevowelifollowedbyn.Theystrugglementallyastheywonder if they shouldwrite or say “I sank it” or “I sunk it”,when theyknow that “I wrang my washing” sounds all wrong. Their confusion isexcusable,forsuchverbsareinfuriatinglyinconsistent.

Theonly-inverbwhichfollowsanormalpatternissin,fromwhicheventhesimilarwindiffers.Wring,withpast tensewrung, is different even from ring,withpasttenserang.

Apartfrom-inverbsthereisswim,whichisincludedinthelistbelowasitissimilarinbehaviourtosomeofthe-inverbs.

The past participles drunk, shrunk and sunk have alternative forms used asadjectives:drunken(“drunkenman”),shrunken(“shrunkenhead”)andsunken(“sunkengarden”).

YoumustnotbemisledbyByron,whowrote:

“TheislesofGreece,theislesofGreece!WhereburningSappholovedandsung,Wheregrewtheartsofwarandpeace,WhereDelosrose,andPhoebussprung!”

Thepast tenseofspinhasanarchaic form,span, as in JohnBall’s rhetoricof1381,“WhenAdamdelvedandEvespan...”

CONVERSIONOFVERBSTONOUNSSomeverbscanbechangedintonounssimplybyachangeofspelling.Fromtheverbpursue, forexample, thenounispursuit,andsue leads tosuit.Thenoun

from the verbbreathe is breath, and the noun fromdie isdeath. Inquire (orenquire)leadstoinquiry(orenquiry).

Manyotherverbscanbeconvertedtonounsonlybytheadditionofsuffixes,insomecaseswithslightmodifications.Whiletosomeextentonecarriesoutaconversionunconsciouslyitisinterestingandentertainingtoreviewthevarioussuffixeswhichhaveappeared inour language: -ment, -ion, -tion; -ant, -ent; -ance, -ence; -ism, -ysis, -asm;-al; -age; -ry, -ery; -ure; -acy; -er, -ster; -ar; -ing;-ee,-and.

-MENT,-ION,-TION

Someverbscantakeeitherofthetwosuffixes-mentand-ion,butthemeaningsofthetworesultingformationsareusuallydifferent.Forexample,commitmentandcommission, both from commit, have differentmeanings; excitement andexcitation, both from excite, are different; and complement and completion,bothfromcomplete,aredifferent.

The -ment ending is usually straightforward, being simply attached to thebasic verb. With verbs ending in consonants, for example, there are:amend(ment); detach(ment); embellish(ment); harass(ment); resent(ment).With verbs ending in e there are: abate(ment); defile(ment); encase(ment);incite(ment). An exception is argue, the final e of which is dropped to giveargument.

Thereisnoneedforbewilder(ment)ifyoucomeacrossretiral,whichistheScottishequivalentofretirement.

The -ment suffix cannot be discussed without a reference to those verbsending in dge, such asabridge, acknowledge, judge and lodge. Although theconversions of all these are often spelt with the e included (abridgement,acknowledgement,judgement,lodgement),acommonpracticeistoomititfromthefirstthree(abridgment,acknowledgment, judgment)and include itonly inlodgement.TheAmericansnearlyalwaysomitthee.

Normally,the-ionsuffixissimplyaddedtothebasicverb,asincollect(ion),obstruct(ion),repress(ion).Wherethebasicverbendsine,theeisdropped,asin: accumulate, accumulation; devote, devotion; pollute, pollution; secrete,secretion.

There are numerous special cases. The noun from the verb destroy isdestruction, and many thriller-writers have licensed themselves to use anunpleasant back-formation verb “destruct”. (“Read themessage quickly, for itwillself-destructinoneminute”.)Recogniseshouldmake“recognision”,butthe

nounisrecognition.Reconcilemakesthelongnounreconciliation,andresolvemakesresolution.

Whileonthesubjectofthe-ionsuffixforconversionofverbstonouns,verbsendingin-tend:contend,distend,extend,intend,portendandpretendmustbedealtwith.Uncertain spellers (understandably)often finddifficultywith these,as thederivednouns followno consistent pattern.Theremaybe a problem inchoosingbetweensandt,andthefollowinglistshowsthecorrectconversions:

Basicverb Derivednoun

contend contention

distend distension

extend extension

intend intention

portend portent

pretend pretension

Extend is also related to thenounextent,whichhas adifferentmeaning fromextension. Pretend is related to pretence, which is not quite the same aspretensionandnotthesameasthecontinuingstateofpretentiousness (anounderivedfromtheadjectivepretentious).

Asadjectiveshaveenteredourdiscussionitisappropriatetopointoutthattheadjective from contend is contentious, and this leads to another nouncontentiousness.Althoughtheverbportendgivesthenounportenttheadjectiveisportentous(oftenmispronounced“portentious”),andthisgivesanothernounportentousness.

We have seen that the noun destruction comes from the verb destroy.Construction,however,isfromconstruct,andinstructionfrominstruct.

Thenoundeclension,strangely, isderivednotfromanimaginary“declend”butfromdeclineawordwhichhasseveraldifferentmeaningsasaverbandisalso used as a noun.Prevention is derived fromprevent; there is no problemaboutthis,butthepreferredadjectiveispreventive,not,asmanyseemtothink,thelonger“preventative”.

Itisamysterytomanythatwhilethenounfromadoptisadoptionthenounfromadapt isadaptation, although the incorrect “adaption” is sometimes seenandheard.Theverbabsorb isunique in the replacementof itsbbyp to formabsorption.

Anoteontheconflictbetween-ectionand-exionwillbefoundonpage257.Numerousverbs inEnglishend inate,andforconversion tonouns thee is

dropped and replaced by ion. A few examples are given here for the sake ofillustration (from illustrate): demonstrate, demonstration; enumerate,enumeration; meditate, meditation; pollinate, pollination; stagnate,stagnation.

The suffix -ation is applied to some verbs ending in ise; for example:authorise, authorisation; civilise, civilisation; improvise, improvisation;polarise,polarisation.Conversiontothenounineachcaserequiresthedroppingofthefinale.(Thequestionof-iseand-izeisdiscussedonpage253.)

Thesuffix-ationcanbeasuffixinitsownrightevenwhentheverbdoesnotend inate,examples (apart fromadaptationmentionedabove)being:afforest,afforestation; crown, coronation; deprive, deprivation; derive, derivation;divine,divination;fix,fixation;inhale,inhalation.Itisobviousthatwheretheverbendsinetheeisdroppedintheconversion.

(It is curious, incidentally, that, althoughderivemakesderivation, contrivemakes contrivance and survivemakes survival – three different suffixes usedwithsimilarverbs.)

Stillonthesubjectofthesuffix-ation,itisinterestingtoobservethatinthecase of verbs ending in ke the ke is replaced by c before the suffix in theconversion to give the following nouns: convoke, convocation; evoke,evocation; invoke, invocation; provoke, provocation; revoke, revocation.Revokealsomakesthenounsrevocabilityandirrevocability.

Where some basic verbs end in ain or aim the i is dropped to give, forexample: declaim, declamation; exclaim, exclamation; explain, explanation;proclaim,proclamation.Other verbs in this group behave differently, such as:abstain, abstention; entertain, entertainment; maintain, maintenance; sustain,sustenance.

Itmighthavebeenthoughtthattheverbremonstratewouldhaveledwithoutquestiontothenoun“remonstration”,justas,demonstrategivesdemonstration.So it does, but this word is hardly ever used. The common noun isremonstrance,awordwithahistorywhichisgivenonpage304.

There is awide rangeof -ation nounsderived fromverbs, but here four inparticulararedealtwith–thosefromtheverbsannounce,denounce,enounceand pronounce. Announce makes two nouns, announcement andannunciation, but the second is used almost solely in reference to theannouncementof the Incarnationmadeby theArchangelGabriel to theVirgin

Mary. It will be noticed that in the conversion to this noun the o has beendropped before theu, and the same practice is followed in conversion to thenouns denunciation, enunciation and pronunciation. The last is a fairlycommon word, yet (and in spite of its meaning) some people persist inmispronouncing it “pronounciation”. There is also a noun pronouncement,usuallytakentomeananimportantannouncement,aproclamation.

In thecaseof somenounsending ination there isanotherpossibleending,ative,whichdoesnotgivethesamemeaningastheationending.Examplesare:accuse, accusation, accusative; affirm, affirmation, affirmative; derive,derivation, derivative; indicate, indication, indicative; preserve, preservation,preservative.Directgivesnot“directation”butdirectionanddirective.

Thereisanotherseriesof-ationnouns,admittedlyratherlongnounsbecauseof theirconstruction,whicharederivedfromverbsendingin ifywhichinturnarederivedfromother,shorter,nouns.Ineachcasetheyisdroppedandreplacedby ication. A few examples among many such constructions are: beatify,beatification;gasify,gasification;glory,glorification;sanctify,sanctification;solidify,solidification.

Not surprisingly, there are exceptions. The noun liquid leads to the verbliquefy, not “liquify”, and the verb leads in turn to liquefaction, not“liquidification”. (For further notes on derivatives from liquid, the reader isreferred to page 244.) The verb putrefy (not “putrify”) leads to the nounputrefaction.Theverbcrucifyleadstoneither“crucification”nor“crucifaction”but to crucifixion. Although perform gives performance, deform givesdeformation.Althoughcondolegivescondolence,consolegivesconsolation.

Besides-ationnounstherearenounsinwhichthe tion isprecededbyothervowels,andalreadydealtwithisthedroppingofthefinalefrombasicverbsintheir conversion to such nouns. The following notes are an extension of thediscussion,with,whenappropriate,remarksonspecialcases.

Theverbcompleteforms,besidescompletion,twoothernounswithdifferentmeanings–completenessandcomplement.Complementisoftenconfusedwithcompliment,andmoreissaidaboutitlater(page283).

The suffix -ition is attached to several verbs ending in ish, where sh isdroppedandreplacedbyition.Thus,abolishisconvertedtoabolition,admonishto admonition, and demolish to demolition. The suffix is not limited to -ishverbs, however; it can be attached to some verbs ending in -it, such asexhibit(ion), fruit(ion), inhibit(ion) and prohibit(ion). Other verbs ending in ittakession,asweshallsoonsee.

Thereareseveralverbsendinginishwhichdonottakethesuffix–ition;forexample, banish, and embellish both takement to form the nouns.Furnishformsfurnitureandfurnishing,apresentparticipleusedasanoun.

Thenouncondition,byaback-formation,hasgiven rise toaverbwhich isthesameword.

Alreadygivenareexamplesof-otionnounsformedfrom-oteverbs(suchasdevotion from devote), but a notable exception is denote, which gives not“denotion”butdenotation.

Also given are examples of -ution nouns formed from -ute verbs (such aspollutionfrompollute).Diminution,however, isnot fromanon-existentword“diminute” but fromdiminish. This verb should have led to “diminition” butsomelong-forgottenprintermayhavebeennoddingandunwittinglyinauguratedanewspelling.

Dissolve gives two nouns – dissolution (of Parliament, for example) andsolution (in chemistry). Other verbs ending in olve, with the ve replaced byution,are:absolve,absolution;devolve,devolution;evolve,evolution;resolve,resolution;revolve,revolution.Theusualnounfrominvolveisinvolvement,butthereisanarchaicnouninvolution.

Despite the fact that most -ute verbs form -ution nouns (such ascomminutionfromcomminute),itisaswelltorememberinthiscomputeragethat the noun from the verb compute is not “compution” but computation.Similar constructions are: depute, deputation; impute, imputation; refute,refutation.

Alreadydealtwithisthesuffix-sioninpretensionfrompretendandsimilarconstructions,butthesuffixisappliedalsotosomeverbsendinginise,withthee dropped, as in: excise, excision; revise, revision; supervise; supervision.Televiseisnottheverbfromwhichtelevisionisderived,butisaback-formation–thatis,thenounappearedbeforetheverb.

Thereisaninterestinggroupofverbsendinginde(precededbyavowel)inwhichthisendingisdroppedandreplacedbysiontoformnouns.Thisisalargegroup, but the following are selected examples: collide, collision; conclude,conclusion; decide, decision; divide, division; evade, evasion; extrude,extrusion;invade,invasion;persuade,persuasion;provide,provision.

The suffix -sion is also applied to some verbs ending in rt, when the t isdropped and replaced by sion. The following are examples: avert, aversion;convert,conversion;divert,diversion;invert,inversion;revert,reversion.

Aswellas-sionthereisthedouble-ssuffix-ssion,oftenoccurringwithverbs

ending in eed or ede. There are, for example: accede, accession; concede,concession;intercede,intercession;proceed,procession;secede,secession.Yetprecedegivesnot“precession”butprecedence.

Now here is a warning. Many people fall down with supersede,understandablygiving it ac insteadofans.Thenoun, too, is speltwithans:supersession.

Thesuffix-ssion isalsoattractedbysomeverbsendingin it,suchas:emit,emission;omit,omission;transmit,transmission.Remitgivesremission,butitalsogivesremittance,andthesuffix-ancewillbeconsideredlater.

To conclude our survey of the -ion suffix we shall deal with the series ofnounsinwhichthesuffixisprecededbyavowelandct(-action,-ection,-iction,-oction, -uction). In some cases the vowel and ct form part of the basic verbitself,asinprotract(ion)andretract(ion).Inothercasesthevowelandctdonotform part of the basic verb, which then suffers some amendment. Alreadyreferred to are liquefy (liquefaction) andputrefy (putrefaction).Rarefy givesbothrarefactionandrarefication,butsatisfygivesonlysatisfaction.

Followingareexamplesofverbsendinginect,ictandoctwithcorrespondingnouns:

ect:bisect(ion);direct(ion);protect(ion).ict:constrict(ion);contradict(ion);derelict(ion);predict(ion);restrict(ion).oct:concoct(ion);decoct(ion).Most of the verbs producing nouns ending in uction end in e, which is

dropped to give, for example, the following: deduce, deduction; induce,induction; produce, production; seduce, seduction. (Induce produces anotherelectrical noun, inductance.) Conduct, which does not end in e, leads toconduction,butthereisalsoconductivity.Abduct(nofinale)givesabduction.Thepeculiarityofdestroyanddestructionwasconsideredearlier.

Wehaveseenwhathappenstoadoptandadaptwhen theyareconverted tonouns(page198).Otherverbsendinginptbehavelikeadoptintakingthesuffix-ion without any amendments, as in corrupt(ion), intercept(ion) andinterrupt(ion).Concept isanoun,notaverb,andthenounconceptionisfromtheverbconceive.There isnoverb“percept”,andperception is fromtheverbperceive.Similarly,receptionisfromreceiveanddeceptionfromdeceive.

-ANT,-ENT

Compared with the suffixes -ment and -ion for converting verbs to nouns,consideration of which has taken much space, other suffixes for the same

purposearefewinnumber.Amongthemare-antand-ent,whichjustifyonlyabriefmention.

The suffix -ant forms (for example) the following: celebrate, celebrant;coagulate,coagulant;confide,confidant(nottobeconfusedwiththeadjectiveconfident); depend, dependant (not to be confused with the adjectivedependent); lubricate, lubricant; migrate, migrant; mutate, mutant; occupy,occupant;serve,servant.

The suffix -ent forms (for example) the following: adhere, adherent (adifferent noun from adhesion); antecede, antecedent; correspond,correspondent; deter, deterrent (r doubled); precede, precedent; preside,president. Indirect -ent formations include agent (from act), recipient (fromreceive),andstudent(fromstudy).

Both-antand-entsuffixescanalsobeattachedtoverbstoformadjectives,andweshallconsiderthisfunctionlater.

-ANCE,-ENCE

Nouns are formed from some verbs with the suffixes -ance and -ence, andspellerssometimesfinddifficultyinrememberingwhichtouseofthetwo.Thereisnoabsoluteruleaboutthis,andtheexistenceofafinalehasnobearingonthedecision, as is obvious from the lists below. It will be appreciated that thesewordsaremerelyexamplesandthatthereare,infact,verymanyothersendingin-anceor-ence.

It isoddthat theverbobeygivesnot“obeyence”or“obeyance”asanounbutobedience. If spelling were logical it should at least correspond withconvey(ance).Anotheranomalyinthelistsistheformationofmaintenance(not“maintainance”) from maintain. In subservience an unnecessary i has beeninserted. In abhorrence the r is doubled, but in deference, inference andreferenceitremainssingle.

The suffixes -ance and -ence are also applied in the conversion of someadjectivestonouns.

-ISM,-YSIS,-ASM

In this heading -ism and -ysis are written for the sake of clarity. Strictly, theeffectivesuffixesare -mand -is, but theword-endings to be considered are asabove.

Althoughtheendingismisusuallyappliedtoadjectivesandnounsitisalsoapplied to some verbs in their conversion to nouns. For example, the verbcriticiseleadstothenouncriticism,dogmatisetodogmatism,andplagiarise to

plagiarism.Ineachcasethefinaleisdroppedandreplacedsimplybym.Theendingysisisfoundmostlyinthevocabularyofscientists.Itisappliedto

verbsendinginyse,inwhichtheeisdroppedandreplacedbyis.Forinstance,the verb analyse leads to analysis, and electrolyse leads to electrolysis. Insynthesise,whentheeisdropped,thereisnoneedforanyreplacementtogivethenounsynthesis.

Mentionof-asm isgivenonlyasanincidentalopportunitytopointout thatenthusiasmisnotderivedfromaverb“enthuse”.Thisverb,usedcolloquially,isaback-formationfromthenoun.

-AL

It has already been remarked that retirement in England means the same asretiral inScotland.Itmightbeconjecturedfromthisthatother-mentwordsinEnglandcanalternativelytake-alinScotland,butretireisprobablyaloneinthistreatment.

Other examplesof -al nouns fromverbs include:acquit, acquittal; arouse,arousal; avow, avowal; betray, betrayal; carouse, carousal; rebut, rebuttal;rehearse,rehearsal;withdraw,withdrawal.Itwillbeseenthatwherethebasicverbendsinetheeisdropped,andwhereitendsintthetisdoubled.Rebutcanalsoformrebutment.

Mostverbsendinginateareconvertedtonounsbytheuseofsuchsuffixesas-mentand-ion.Anexampleof therareuseof-alwithaverbending inate isreciprocal(asanoun)fromreciprocate.

Itmayseemconfusingthatverbssimilartothosementioned,whenconvertedto nouns, take not -al but some other suffix. For example, althoughwithdrawtakes -al to form withdrawal, draw takes -ing to form drawing. In spite ofarousalandcarousaltherearesousinganddelousing.Inspiteofbetrayalthereareplayingandpayment.

Thesuffix-alcanalsoformadjectives.

-AGE

Thesuffix-ageisgenerallyattachedtonouns,butinafewcasesitisattachedtoverbs. The geological term cleavage, for example, comes from the basic verbcleave(withthefinaledropped).Usage (anounoftenemployedbywritersonlanguage)maybefromtheverbornounuse,againwith theedropped.Wasteandpost, too, can be regarded either as verbs or nouns in their conversion towastageandpostage.

Therearemodernisms,manufacturedfromverbsforthesakeofconvenience,suchascoverageandreportage.When the introductionofsuchwords into thelanguage arises out of necessity their use cannot be condemned, for nearly allwordshaveappeared fromnecessityat some timeorother.Legitimate reasonsforcondemnationincludeconfusionofstructure(forexample,mixtureofroots)andlackofeuphony.

Someusersofthesuffix-ageshowremarkableingenuity,as,forexample,onaninvoiceIsawonwhichthevariousadditionstothebasicamount–salestax,allowanceforinflationandothercharges–wereenteredas“totalplussage”.

Thesuffix-age isfoundmorefrequentlyinFrenchthaninEnglish,perhapsbecauseinitspronunciationitcomeseasilytothetongue.

-RY,-ERY

Afewverbsareconverted tonounsby thesuffix -ry to result, forexample, inbake(ry),husband(ry),mimic(ry),outlaw(ry) and revel(ry). (Here,husband isthe verb “tomanage or cultivate”, andoutlaw is in its verbal sense.) In somecaseseprecedestherytogivewordslikebrew(ery),hatch(ery)andwash(ery).Inthecaseoflaundertheeisdroppedtogivelaundry.Thesetwosuffixesareusuallyattachedtonouns,however,asshallbeshownlater.

-URE

The suffix -ure is used for converting a fewverbs to nouns. If the basic verbends in a consonant the suffix is a simple addition, as in fail(ure). Similarly,forfeit,whichisbothnounandverb,givesforfeit(ure).Inproceedthereisslightmodificationtoformprocedure.Thereisalsomodificationintheconversionofinvesttoinvestiture,whereithasbeeninserted,unnecessarily.(Theworddoesnotmeanthesameasinvestment.)

If the verb ends in e this is dropped, as in: erase, erasure; legislate,legislature;pose,posture(withtinserted);seize,seizure.Inthecaseofligaturethere is a verb ligate, which, however, is probably a back-formation.Anotherback-formation is a verb sculpt from the noun sculpture. The formation offurniturefromfurnishwasmentionedearlier.

Thesuffix-ureisappliedtoafewadjectivesbutusuallytonouns,anditshallbeconsideredagainlater.

-ACY

Someverbscanbeconvertedintonounsbytheuseof-acy,withslightattentionto the ending of the original. Thus, from the verb conspire the noun is

conspiracy,andfromadvocatethenounisadvocacy.Thesuffixisalsoattachedto nouns and adjectives, and these uses will receive our attention at theappropriatetimes.

-ER,-STER

Laughter,anouninaclassbyitself,ismorelikelytocomefromtheverblaughthanfromthenoun,butwhatevertheorigintheresultisthesame.Thesuffix-er,however, isused inan“action”or“occupation”senseasexplained in thenextsection.

Thesuffix-sterisusuallyattachedtoadjectivesornouns,butanexampleofitsusewithaverbisspinster.Incidentally,whywasitonceapparentlyassumedthatonlyunmarriedladiesdidthespinning?

“ACTION”SUFFIXES

Severalsuffixesareusedtodescribetheactionsoroccupationsofpeopleortheusesof things.Mostof themareaddedtonouns,butsomeareaddedtoverbs,sometimeswithslightalterationstotheverb-endings.Thesuffixesgenerallyinuseare-er,-or,-antand-ist(or-yst),andthere is therarer-ar.Where the-istsuffix is usedwith a verb ending in ise the real suffix is -t, the final e beingdropped.There are several inconsistencies in the application of these suffixes,andthecommonestcauseofdoubtisthechoicebetweenerandor.

Such suffixes have here been called “action” suffixes for the sake ofconvenience,andexamplesoftheirapplicationsaregiveninthelistsbelow.Theverbsselected,ofcourse,areonlyafewoutofhundreds.

Someexamplesfromtheselistsdemandattention.Itiscurious,forinstance,that,althoughsendleadstosender,vendleadstovendor.Thereisnologicalreasonwhyhaulierandpavior(orpaviour) shouldhavean i inserted,and there isnoapparentjustificationforlessorinsteadof“leasor”.Anearparalleltopavior(orpaviour)issaviourfromtheverbsave;inAmericanEnglishthenounissavior,butSaviourisretainedintheChristiansense.

The verb inform is deliberately given two places in the lists, because aninformer,withitsforensicconnotation,isnotthesameasinformant.Theverbcool also is given two places; a cooler is usually understood as a place intowhichsomething isput tobecooled,andacoolant is amedium (a liquid, forinstance)whichcirculatesaroundsomething(suchasmachinery)tokeepitcool.Theduplicationofdefend is justifiedbecauseadefendersupportstheinterestsofadefendant.

Excludedfromthe -ant listare theverbconfide and thenounconfidant.Aconfidant (contrary to the opinion of some misusers of the word) is not thepersonwhoconfidesbutthepersonwhoreceivestheconfidentialinformation.

Adependant(noun)isapersonwhodepends(verb)onsomeoneelseandis

thereforedependent(adjective)onhim.To include burglar and pedlar in the short -ar list would not be strictly

legitimate, as these nouns appeared before the verbsburgle andpeddle whicharethusback-formations.

Verbs ending in y are not consistent in their behaviour. Thus, althoughmagnify leads tomagnifier, pacify leads to pacifist. A minor irregularity isobservedinthetreatmentoftheverbenter,whichperhapsshouldgivethenoun“enterant”,buttraditionhasreducedthewordtoentrant.

Theconnectionofactionsuffixeswithnounswillbeconsideredlater.

-ING

Veryoftenthepresentparticipleofaverbisusedasanounendinginthesuffix-ing. For example, the following are legitimate: “The giving of donations iswelcome” (as an alternative to gift); “From the rising of the sun . . .”; “Hiscomings andgoings are difficult to trace”; “As a leader he has a tremendousfollowing”.

-EE,-AND

The suffix -ee is a relic of the French suffix é (masculine) or ée (feminine).Originally itwasadopted inEnglish in thesameform,butgradually the acuteaccent was dropped and ee retained to cover both sexes. The following areexamples of its use: address, addressee; employ, employee; lease (as verb),lessee(theotherpartybeingthelessor);pay,payee;vend,vendee(thepartyatthesellingendbeingthevendor).Occasionallyyoufindthemeaningsreversed,particularlywiththetwonounsderivedfromtheverbmortgage.Thepartywholendsmoneyonthesecurityofanestateisthemortgagee;theborrowingpartyisthemortgagor(or,lesscommonly,mortgager).

Abeneficiaryunderawill is a legatee, and although this is derived fromaverblegatetheverbhaslargelyfallenintodisuseinfavourofbequeath.

Thesuffix-and isof limitedapplication.Anundergraduateabouttoreceivehisdegree,andthusbecomeagraduate,isagraduand.Anaspiringclerkinholyordersofferinghimselfforordinationisanordinand.

CONVERSIONOFVERBSTOADJECTIVESVerbsareconvertedtoadjectivesbytheadditionofsuffixeswhichmayormaynot require some alteration to the ending of the basic verb. These suffixesincludethefollowing:-able,-ible;-ous;-ory;-ive;-al;-ant,-ent;-some;-ful.

-ABLE,-IBLE

Thesetwosuffixes,appliedtosomeverbsandsomenounstomakeadjectives,giverisetoconfusioneveninnewspapers.Thefollowingaregeneralrules.

Some verbs ending in consonants take able without any alteration, as in:accept(able), book(able). (“All seats are bookable”), comfort(able),favour(able)andhonour(able).Explainshouldleadto“explainable”,butthereisnosuchword.Thederivedadjectiveisexplicable,fromabasicverbexplicatewhichmeansthesameasexplainbutisneverused.

If the basic verb ends in ate this ending is dropped and replaced by able.Commonresultsofthistreatmentinclude:abominate,abominable;appreciate,appreciable; calculate, calculable; demonstrate, demonstrable; educate,educable;irritate,irritable.

If the basic verb ends in e after a consonant (or after s) the e is usuallydropped, to give, for example: admire, admirable; debate, debatable; prove,provable; use, usable. Althoughmovable is standard,moveable is sometimesaccepted.Despiseshouldmake“despisable”,buttheadjectiveisdespicable.

If the basic verb ends in ce the e is retained, as in enforce(able),pronounce(able)andtrace(able).

Wordsendinginageareusuallynouns,someofwhichattractthesuffix-ableto form adjectives,whichwill be dealtwith later. There are also a few verbsendinginagewhichtake-able,andinthesethefinaleisusuallyretained,asinassuage(able),damage(able) andmanage(able).Damage, of course, is also anoun.

If the basic verb ends in y after a consonant, the y is replaced by i, as in:descry, descriable; pity, pitiable; rely, reliable. This rule, as usual, can breakdown.Apply, forexample,shouldmake“appliable”,which issometimesseen,but the adjective, used every day, is applicable. Friable, incidentally, has noconnectionwiththeverbfry; it isascientifictermmeaning“easilycrumbled”.Viable(“practicable”initscommonestmodernsense)hasnothingtodowithvie(“torival,competewith”).

Ifthebasicverbendsinyafteravowel,theyisretained.Therearefewwordsof this kind, examples being assay(able), convey(able), pay(able) andplay(able).

Thereisanopportunityhereto talkabout thevexedadjective inflammable,which is derived from the basic verb inflame (with the e dropped and themdoubled).Unfortunately,theprefix-incaneasilyberegardedasnot,toresultinacompletemisinterpretationofthewordas“notliabletoburstintoflame”and

therefore “safe”. Confusion is now sometimes avoided by using the wordflammabletoconveythecorrectmeaning.

Thesuffix -ible seems tobemore attracted tonouns than toverbs, and thenumberofverbs taking thissuffix is limited.Someof themendine, inwhichcasetheeisdroppedtogive,forexample:collapse,collapsible;force,forcible;reverse,reversible.

Insomecases, if thebasicverbendsin tord, the last letter isdroppedandreplacedby sible or ssible. For example, comprehendmakescomprehensible,defend makes defensible, and reprehend makes reprehensible. Use of thedoubles isexemplifiedbyadmissible(fromadmit),omissible (fromomit)andpermissible (from permit). Exceptions from this practice includecontrovert(ible) and resist(ible),where the suffix is simply added to the basicverbwithoutanyalteration.

Incaseswherethebasicverbendsinaconsonantotherthantord,thesuffixisagainsimplyaddedtothebase,asindiscern(ible)andgull(ible).

The adjectives contemptible and contemptuous are dealt with under noun-adjectiveconversionsratherthanverb-adjectiveconversions,astheseadjectivesarederivedfromthenouncontemptandnotdirectlyfromtheverbcontemn.

Irregularitiesarenothardtofind.Thus,neglectmakesnot“neglectible”butnegligible, and it may not be generally known, as a similarity, that eligiblecomesfromtheverbelect.

Theverbeatmakesuseofbothsuffixestogiveeatableandedible.Althoughtheverbreduceendsinceittakesnotablebutible,withthefinale

dropped,togivereducible.The adjectivepracticable, though related to thenounpractice and theverb

practise, is not directly derived from either, and cannot readily beaccommodated inanyof theword-groupswehavebeenconsidering. It shouldbe remembered that it does not mean quite the same as practical, which,however, is sometimes used when practicable would be more suitable. (SeeChapter10,“NotesonSelectedWords”.)

Itmay seem anomalous that although resolvemakes resolvable the similarverbdissolvemakesnot “dissolvable”butdissoluble.Thismeansvirtually thesame as soluble, which is used in chemistry. (It is of incidental interest thatresolvable has an archaic form, now never used, resoluble.) We shall beexaminingnegativeformsofwordslater,but it isappropriateheretopointoutthatbothdissolubleandsolubletakethenegativeprefixin-tomakeindissolubleandinsoluble.

Legitimateattemptshavebeenmadetodifferentiatebetweentheuseof-ableand-ibleonetymologicalgrounds,buttheattemptshavepartlybrokendowninthe face of established tradition. Tradition may have been influenced bycarelessness, but sometimes consistencymayhavebeen sacrificed to themorepleasantsoundorattractiveappearanceofaword.Theconclusionseemstobethatthe“correct”choicebetween-ableand-ibledependslessonrulesthanonagoodvisualmemory,andfor thebenefitof thereadera list is includedlater inthis section giving some fairly common -able and -ible adjectives made fromverbsandnouns.

-OUS

Afewverbs (notmany)canbeconverted toadjectivesby the suffix -ous.Wehavealreadyseen(page197)howtheverbpretendcanformthreenouns,oneofwhich,pretentiousness,isanextensionofthederivedadjectivepretentious(thatis,derivedfrompretence).Most-ousadjectives, infact,aremadefromnouns,asdiscussedonpage228.

Oneoftheverbstaking-ousisponder,which,originallymeaning“toweighcarefully in the mind”, has gradually come to be applied to deep thoughtgenerally and so given rise to the adjective ponderous. An irregularity isimmediately evident, however, when it is realised that wonder (as a verb),thoughsimilartoponder,doesnotmake“wonderous”butwondrous(withoutane).

Asimilarconstruction isseen incumbrous, fromcumber (anearly formofencumber), for which another adjective is cumbersome. The noun disasterfollowsthesamepattern,leadingtodisastrous(not“disasterous”,aspellingofwhichevensome journalists areguilty).Theadjectivepiteous isderived frompity,whichcanbeanounoraverb,theyhavingbeenreplacedbye.(Anoteonthemisusedpityadjectiveswillbefoundonpage301.)

Theverbtrembleshouldperhapsformaneasyadjective“tremblous”,butitsadjectiveistremulous,whichsoundsmorepleasant.Asimilartreatmentisgivento the verb bib (to tipple, as in “wine-bibber”), of which the adjective isbibulous.

-ORY

Thesuffix-orycanbeappliedtosomeverbsandsomenouns.Appliedtoverbs,itisusually,butnotalways,partof-atory,asin:declaim,declamatory;exclaim,exclamatory; explain, explanatory; retaliate, retaliatory. It is seen from these

wordsthatwherethereisaitheiisdropped,andwheretheverbendsinethisisdropped.

A verb needing no alteration before the suffix is inhibit, which makesinhibitory.Compelneedsmodificationtomakecompulsory.Itmightbethoughtthatrepel,asimilarverbtocompel,shouldmake“repulsory”,buttheadjectiveis repellent, which is also a noun. (The suffixes -ant and -ent are discussedlater.)Inpromisetheeisdroppedtoformpromissory.

There is a strange inconsistency with verbs ending in ide. Consider threerather similar verbs: decide, divide and deride. Decide makes the adjectivedecisive,dividemakesdivisive,andonlyderidenicelyfitsintothissectionwithitsadjectivederisory.

-IVE

Therearemanyverbswhichcanbeconverted toadjectivesby the suffix -ive.Where the basic verb ends in e the e is dropped to give, for example, thefollowing: cumulate (an archaic form of accumulate), cumulative; cure,curative; decorate, decorative; indicate, indicative; restore, restorative;speculate, speculative. Irregularities, where d is replaced by s, include:conclude, conclusive; decide, decisive; divide, divisive; exclude, exclusive;include,inclusive.

Twooftheverbsendinginke(mentionedonpage199inconnectionwiththeconversion of verbs to nouns), evoke and provoke, can also be converted toadjectiveswiththeaidofthesuffix-ive.Theeisdropped,butinadditionthek,strangely,isreplacedbythehardctogiveevocativeandprovocative.Althoughtheverbsinvokeandrevokearesimilartothetwojustcited,theydonotmake-iveadjectivesbutinvocableandrevocable.

Wherethebasicverbendsinaconsonantthesuffixissimplyadded,insuchcases, for example, as construct(ive), express(ive), instruct(ive), possess(ive)and prevent(ive). “Preventative”, referred to elsewhere in this book, is to bediscouraged as the repetition of the t makes the word less euphonious thanpreventive,andyetrepresent(ative)hasonlyoneform.Thesuffixislegitimatelyextended to -ative inaffirm(ative) andconfirm(ative), butno repetitionof t isinvolved.

The -ative adjectives listed in the firstparagraphof this sectionarederivedfromverbswhichthemselvesendinate.Conserveandpreserve,however,whichdo not end inate, also form -ative adjectives (and nouns) – conservative andpreservative. Twoother -erve verbs take different suffixes tomake adjectives,

the adjective from deserve being the present participle deserving and theadjectivefromreservethepastparticiplereserved.

Othercasesconcernverbsendinginend,inwhichthedisreplacedbysivetogive the following: apprehend, apprehensive; comprehend, comprehensive;defend,defensive;offend,offensive. (Defensiveandoffensivearealsonouns.)Thesuffix-iveisalsotakenbysomeverbsendinginit,thetbeingreplacedbyss toform:admit,admissive;permit,permissive;submit,submissive.Thefirsttwoexamplesdonotmean the sameas theother relatedadjectivesadmissibleandpermissible.

-AL

Wehavealreadyexamined the conversionofverbs tonounsby the suffix -al,andthesuffixcanalsobeusedtoconvertverbstoadjectives.Ithasbeenpointedout that practical (as well as practicable) is associated with, but not directlyderivedfrom,thenounpracticeandtheverbpractise.Otheradjectivesformedwith-al,whicharedirectlyderivedfromverbs,includethefollowing:criticise,critical; equivocate, equivocal; pontificate, pontifical. The suffix is morecommonlyusedintheconversionofnounstoadjectives,however,andthisusewillbeconsideredlater.

-ANT,-ENT

Wehaveseenhowthesuffixes-antand-entcanbeusedtoconvertsomeverbsintorelatednouns,andthesamesuffixescanbeusedintheformationofsomeadjectives.Someadjectivesare formedfromnounsending in-anceand -ence,but it cannot be concluded that all the derived nouns listed on page 205 canautomaticallybechanged intoadjectivesby the replacementof -ance or -enceby-antor-ent.Ofthederivednounslisted,onlythefollowing(inalphabeticalorder)make-antor-entadjectives:

Other-antadjectives(besidesthosementionedabove)are:defy,defiant;please,pleasant; repent, repentant; vibrate, vibrant. Some are independent of verbs,such as adamant, brilliant and constant. (Adamant was originally a nounmeaningdiamond.)

Adjectives ending in -ent made from verbs are commoner. Besides thosealready mentioned there are: decay, decadent; deliquesce, deliquescent;effervesce,effervescent;andothers.Theadjectiveconfident(havingconfidenceinsomethingorsomeone)isdifferentfromtheadjectiveconfidential(secret,nottobedisclosed).Coincidentalismerelyalongerformofcoincident.

Included in the listonpage205are the threesimilarverbsdefer, infer andrefer,whichformthenounsdeference, inferenceandreference.Thesenouns,however, do not lead to -ent adjectives but to deferential, inferential andreferential.

-SOME,-FUL

Thereareseveraladjectivesendingin-some,butnotallarederivedfromverbs.One is cumbersome, noted earlier as an alternative to cumbrous, which isderived from the verb cumber (or encumber). Others derived from verbs arefear(some),grue(some),quarrel(some), tire(some)andwin(some).Thereare -some adjectives derived from nouns and others derived from other adjectives.Someofthese,whichhavebeenwithusforcenturies,havetherespectabilityofage;othersofmoremodernoriginsoundartificial.

Thefollowingisalistof-someadjectiveswhicharenotderivedfromverbsbutareincludedhereforwantofasuitableplaceelsewhere:awesome,fulsome,gladsome,handsome,lightsome,lonesome,wholesome.Asamatterofinterest,gruesomeisfromaverbgruewhichmeans“toshudder,tofeelhorrorordread”.

Although the suffix -ful is attached tomany nouns to form adjectives andothernouns,itisattractedbyfewverbs.Oneismourn,whichmakesmournful.Vengefulisrelatedtorevenge(verbandnoun)andtovengeance(noun).

CONVERSIONOFADJECTIVESTONOUNSAdjectivesareconvertedtonounsbyuseofthefollowingsuffixes:-ness;-ity;-ion; -acy; -ery, -ry; -ment; -ism; -ance, -ancy; -ence, -ency; -escence (anexpansionof-ence);-iety.

Thesewillbeconsideredinturn.

-NESS

Mostadjectivescanbeconvertedintonounsbythestraight-forwardadditionofthe suffix -ness. To give examples would be unnecessary were it not for theopportunitytomakeseveralobservationsandpointoutexceptions.

Adjectives ending in y have the y replaced by i to give, for example,beastliness,happiness,saintlinessandsprightliness.Theadjectivebusyfollowsthesamerule;itsderivednoun,business,isnowhardlyever,ifatall,connectedwiththeadjective,beingusedasanisolatednouninitself.

It ispossible to formtwoseparatenounsfromthesamebase.Forexample,therearepersuasivenessandpersuasion,but theyhavedifferentmeanings, thefirstbeingfromtheadjectivepersuasiveandthesecondfromtheverbpersuade.The verb consider gives consideration, while the adjective considerate givesconsiderateness. Faithful gives faithfulness, but it also gives fidelity whichmeansthesame.

-ITY

Fidelity,fromtheLatinformoftheadjectivefaithful,bringsustothesuffix-ity.Where the adjective does not end in e, the ity is normally a straightforwardappendage,as influid(ity),humid(ity), infirm(ity),morbid(ity) and senior(ity).Inthetreatmentofmostnounsendinginitheiremainssingle,asinjovial(ity),normal(ity)andplural(ity).Anexceptionistranquil,wherethe l isdoubled togivetranquillity.

Irregular,ofcourse,leadstoirregularity,andwefindanirregularity in theconversionoftheadjectiveprofoundtothenounprofundity,wheretheoislost.Oddformsoddnessandoddity, thefirstbeingageneralstateofbeingoddandthesecondaparticularpeculiarity.Itisstrangethatwhilethenounlongevityisinfairly common use, the adjective fromwhich it is derived, longeval,meaninglong-lived,ishardlyeverheard.

Where the basic adjective ends in e the e is dropped, as in the followingexamples:agile, agility; diverse, diversity; ductile, ductility; infinite, infinity;profane, profanity; pure, purity; senile, senility; suave, suavity. Crude andnude,bythesamerule,makecrudityandnudity,but tantalisinglyrudemakesnot“rudity”butrudeness.

Thereistheratherlongprocessbywhichtheoriginalbasicverbisconvertedtoan-ableor-ibleadjectivewhichinturnisconvertedtoanounendinginthesuffix-ity.Insuchcasesthefinalleisdroppedbeforereplacementbythesuffix.Examples are innumerable (this word would give innumerability), and ratherthan have examples here the reader is referred to the list of -able and -ible

adjectives,madefromverbsandnouns,onpages267–268.

INTERPOLATION:ADJECTIVESENDINGINOUS

Where an adjective ends in ous it may be derived from the noun but notnecessarily.Iamsurethattheadjectivemonstrous(withu)appearedbeforethenoun monstrosity (without u), curious before curiosity, ferocious beforeferocity,andporousbeforeporosity,andthatintheformationofthenounstheuwasdroppedforconvenience.On theotherhand thereare instanceswhere thenounprobably appeared before the -ous adjective; for example, fury probablycamebeforefuriousandparsimonybeforeparsimonious.

The following -ous adjectives are given the benefit of any doubt and it isassumed that they appeared before their corresponding nouns: ambiguous,ambiguity; ambitious, ambition, ambitiousness (not quite the same asambition); devious, deviousness (not the same as deviation); fortuitous,fortuity; hilarious, hilarity; ingenious, ingenuity; ingenuous, ingenuousness.(It is fortuitous that the similar adjectives ingenious and ingenuous makedifferentnoun-forms,asotherwisetheywouldbeevenlessunderstoodthantheyare.)Another adjectivewhichmakes twodifferentnouns isprecocious, whichleadstoprecociousnessandprecocity.

-ION

Although, as we have seen, there are many verbs which can be converted tonounsbythesuffix-ion, thedirectprocess isapplied toonlyafewadjectives.For example, abject gives abjection and contrite gives contrition. The noundiscretion isfromtheadjectivediscreet,but there isalsoanadjectivediscrete,whichmeans“distinct,discontinuous,detached,separate”,thenounfromwhichisdiscreteness.

The-ion suffix isalsopartof the involvedprocessseen in theformationofwordslikeresolution.Thisbeganasaverb,resolve,whichledtoanadjective,resolute, which in turn led to the noun resolution. The adjective and nounderived from dissolve (mentioned on page 201), however, – dissolute anddissolution–haveconnectionsfarremovedfromthescientificsenseofdissolve.Theverbsdevolve,evolveandrevolvemiss the intermediateadjectivalstage toresultinthenounsdevolution,evolutionandrevolution,butthesecanbecarrieda step further and form the adjectives devolutionary, evolutionary andrevolutionary.

-ACY

The suffix -acy can be applied to adjectives and verbs to form nouns and tonounstoformothernouns.Forthepresent,however,weareconcernedwiththeconversion of adjectives. We may be on delicate ground here, for in someinstancesitisquestionablewhichcamefirst,theadjectiveorthenoun.

Diplomacyperhapsprecededdiplomatic,andfallacycouldhavebeenonthescene before fallacious. In other cases, however, there is no doubt that theadjective came first, examples of these being: accurate, accuracy; delicate,delicacy;obstinate,obstinacy;profligate,profligacy;supreme,supremacy.

-ERY,-RY

Thesuffixes-eryand-ry,whichwehavealreadyseenintheirassociationwithverbs, can also be used occasionally in the conversion of adjectives to nouns.Examplesarebraveryfrombraveandgreeneryfromgreen.Thesuffix -rycanalsobeusedtoconvertnounstoothernouns,asweshallseelater.

-MENT

Thesuffix-mentreadilyattachesitselftoverbstoformnounsbutisnotgreatlyattractedtoadjectives.Theadjectivemerryformsthenounmerriment,butsomedictionariesallowmerrinesstoexist.

Anotherexampleoftheuseof-mentintheconversionofadjectivestonounsis in betterment, but a note of caution is necessary.Better is an adjective ofcomparison(“good,better,best”),andhenceconversiontothenounbettermentseemslegitimate.Thewordisalmostinvariablyappliedtoproperty,however,inthe sense of “improvement”, and betterment could be derived not from theadjectivebutfromaback-formationverbtobetter.

-ISM

Apart from its use in converting nouns to other nouns (considered later) andverbstonouns(page206),thesuffix-ismisusedinseveralcasesforconvertingadjectivestonouns.Someofthe-ismnounsthusformedarenamesofpractices,theories,cultsandattitudes,butothersaremoreordinarynouns.Inmanycasesthesuffixisasimpleappendagetothebasicadjective,butinothersmodificationis required. The following examples include both kinds: altruistic, altruism;American(ism); archaic, archaism; colloquial(ism); didactic(ism);monetary,monetarism;mystic(ism);spiritual(ism);true,truism;witty,witticism.

There are inconsistencies. If didactic and mystic make didacticism andmysticism why do not altruistic and archaic make “altruisticism” and“archaicism”?Intheformationofwitticismtheadjectivewittyhasbeentreated

asifitwere“wittic”.

-ANCE,-ANCY,-ENCE,-ENCY

Intheconversionofsomeadjectivestonounsthesefoursuffixesarecommon,-anceand-ancyreplacing-antand-enceand-encyreplacing-ent.Spellersoftenfinddifficultyindecidingwhethertouseaore,but,asinmanyotherspellingproblems,agoodvisualmemoryhelps.Thefollowingareshort listsof typicalconversions.

Afewobservationsarenecessary,forthereisacertainlaxityaboutsomewordsof this kind. For example, attendant, clairvoyant and infant can be nouns aswellasadjectives.Thereisanounascendantused,forexample, inastronomy,but there are two adjectives, ascendant and ascendent, which areinterchangeableandformbothascendancyandascendency.Brilliantformsbothbrillianceandbrilliancy,eminentbotheminenceandeminency, and repellentbothrepellence and repellency. (For a note ondependent anddependant, seepage285.)

-ESCENCE

Agroupofattractivewordswhichcouldbeplacedinthe“-entto-ence”seriesisthat in which adjectives ending in escent form nouns ending in escence, theadjectivesthemselvesbeinginmostcasesderivedfromverbs.Alistofexamplesfollows.

Verb Adjective Noun

acquiesce acquiescent acquiescence

coalesce coalescent coalescence

convalesce convalescent convalescence

deliquesce deliquescent deliquescence

effervesce effervescent effervescence

evanesce evanescent evanescence

fluoresce fluorescent fluorescence

iridescent iridescence

obsolescent obsolescence

opalesce opalescent opalescence

phosphoresce phosphorescent phosphorescence

recrudesce recrudescent recrudescence

senescent senescence

Wherenoverbisshown,averbdoesnotexist.

-IETY

Alittle-usedsuffix forconvertingadjectives tonouns is-iety,whichgives, forexample, the following: anxious, anxiety; dubious, dubiety; pious, piety;proper,propriety;sober,sobriety;various,variety.

OTHERADJECTIVE-NOUNSUFFIXES

Thereareseveralothersuffixesbywhichadjectivescanbeconvertedtonouns,some bymeans of simple appendage and others bymodification of the basicword.Thus, falsemakes three nouns by the use of different suffixes, allwithdifferent meanings. The suffixes -hood and -ness are added to false to givefalsehoodandfalseness,butinthecaseoffalsitythee isdropped.Thesuffix-hoodisusuallyappliedtonouns,andexampleswillbegivenlater.

Also applied to nouns is the suffix -dom, but it, too, can be applied toadjectives,asintheproductwisdomfromwise,theebeingdropped.Thesuffix-ship is usually applied tonouns, but one adjective,hard, giveshardship. Theadditionof-stertoformnounslikeyoungsterhaslittletorecommenditexceptincertaincases,andthepracticesoundssomewhatcontrived.Ishallsaynomoreaboutithere,asmostofthe-sterwordsareformedfromnouns.

Thesuffix-ure,usedmainlyforconvertingverbstonounsandnounstoothernouns, is used also for converting a few adjectives to nouns.One example israpture,anounformedfromtheadjectiverapt.Thereisanobviousconnectionbetween the noun literature and the adjective literate, but evidence of actualconversionislacking.

CONVERSIONOFNOUNSTOADJECTIVESTherearemanywaysofcarryingoutthereverseofthelastprocess–insteadofconverting adjectives to nouns, converting nouns to adjectives. We haveexaminedthedelicatequestionofdecidingwhichcamefirst,andthefollowingnotestrytoconcentrateonexamplesinwhichthenounprecededtheadjectivesothattheadjectivewasgenuinelyformedfromthenoun.

Thesuffixestobeconsideredare:-y,-ly;-ish;-ous;-ic,-ics,-ical;-ary;-ar;-ful;-less;-al,-ial,-eal;-ate;-ine;-ian,-ean,-ese;-en;-esque;-able,-ible;-ose;-iac.

-Y,-LY

Thesimplestmethodofconversioninthenumerouscaseswherethenoundoesnot end in e is that of adding y to the noun to give, for example, greed(y),meat(y),rubber(y)andweight(y)–thelistisalmostendless.

Ifthebasicnounendsinetheeisdroppedbeforethey,togive,forexample,the following: haze, hazy; lace, lacy; sauce, saucy; shale, shaly; treacle,treacly.Thewordclay isawkwardas itends iny,but theacceptedgeologicaladjectiveisclayeywithaneinserted.Daycouldhardlygive“dayey”,however,andsoitsadjective(asdescribedbelow)isdaily.

A variation of the -y suffix in the formation of adjectives is -ly, which isattracted to somenouns in the sense of “having the quality of”.Examples arebeast(ly),curmudgeon(ly), friend(ly), king(ly),mother(ly) and rascal(ly). Stillas an adjectival suffix it is applied to nouns to give a sense of “at regularintervals”,suchashourly,dailyandweekly.

Theadjectivaluseof-lyisnottobeconfusedwithitsadverbialuse,whichisreferredtolater.

-ISH

Another suffix for noun-adjective conversion is -ish, which in most cases issimply added to the basic noun, as in book(ish), boy(ish), fever(ish) andfiend(ish). In the caseof nouns ending ine practice varies; for example, bothrogueishandroguishareacceptable.Thesuffixisalsoattachedtoadjectivestoform other adjectives in the sense of “not quite”, as in reddish, smallish andyoungish. There are also adjectives derived fromno particular nouns, such asoutlandish.Mostcommonly,ofcourse,thesuffixisappliedtonationality,asinBritish,PolishandSpanish,andtolanguage.

-OUS

Thesuffix-ous,alreadynotedasanagentforconvertingverbstoadjectivesandadjectives to nouns, can alsobeused for convertingnouns to adjectives.Hereagain, in the simplest cases, the suffix is added to the basic noun to give, forexample,bulb(ous),cretin(ous),peril(ous),poison(ous)andportent(ous).

Ifthebasicnounendsinytheyisdroppedandreplacedbyous,iousoreous,asinthefollowing:anomaly,anomalous;calamity,calamitous;glory,glorious;parsimony,parsimonious;pity,piteous.Pity,itisimportanttoremember,givesthreedifferentadjectives,theothertwobeingpitifulandpitiable,andforfurtherdiscussion the reader is referred to page 301.Beauty, which ends in y, givesbeauteous as an adjective as well as beautiful. Atrocity should form“atrocitous”,but theadjective isatrocious.Efficacy should form “efficacous”,butforsmoothnessanihasbeeninsertedtomakeefficacious.

Inthecaseofnounsendinginourtheu isdroppedbeforether togive,forexample, the following: clamour, clamorous; dolour, dolorous; glamour,glamorous; humour, humorous; odour, odorous; tumour, tumorous; vapour,vaporous.Itwasremarkedelsewherethat,inrelationtothenounamour,therearetwoadjectives,amorousandamatory.

Twoothernounswhichneedamendmentbefore thesuffix-ousarenumberandmischief. Innumber the b is dropped andous added to givenumerous.Withmischief,thefisreplacedbyv toresult inmischievous.UnfortunatelyinsomepartsoftheBritishIslesthemispronunciation“mischievious”isheard.

Innounsendinginerthee isdroppedinsomecasesandretainedinothers.With the e dropped we find the following: disaster, disastrous; idolater,

idolatrous;leper,leprous;monster,monstrous;wonder,wondrous.Withtheeretainedbeforetherwefollowthepracticealreadymentionedfor thesimplestcasesanddirectlyaddthesuffixtothebasicnoun,therebyreachingsuchwordsas cancer(ous), danger(ous), murder(ous), slander(ous) and thunder(ous).Boisterousandobstreporousarenotrelatedtoanynouns.Thereisareferencetoponderousonpage215.

Where the noun ends in ge the e is retained and the suffix is a simpleappendage,sothatwefindcourage(ous)andadvantage(ous).

Nounsendingincetakevarioussuffixestoformadjectives,but,asfaras-ousisconcerned,theusualtreatmentistoreplacetheebyioustogive,forexample:avarice, avaricious; caprice, capricious; malice, malicious; space, spacious;vice, vicious. The adjective from the noun licence is not “licencious” butlicentious.

In nouns ending in re the e is dropped to give, for example: adventure,adventurous; fibre, fibrous; lustre, lustrous; pore, porous. An exception isochre,theadjectivefromwhichisochreous.

Nounsendinginvowelsseldomtake-oustoformadjectives,butwhentheydo the construction is not simple.Vertigo, for example, could lead to a directadjective“vertigous”,buttheadjectiveisthelongvertiginous.

Fromthenountumulttheadjectiveshouldbe“tumultous”butanextrauhasbeeninsertedtomakeittumultuous.Anextrauhassimilarlybeeninsertedintocontemptuousfromthenouncontempt.Thisadjective,incidentally,isdifferentfromcontemptible, which applies to the personwho, or the behaviourwhich,deserves the contemptuous person’s contempt. Then there is the splendidadjectivetempestuousfromtempest.

The adjective from the noun science is scientific.Yet ifwe addcon at thebeginning, to make conscience, the adjective is not “conscientific” (whichsounds horrible) but conscientious. Contagion (meaning contact) leads tocontagious.

Therearemany-ousadjectiveswhicharenotrelatedtonouns,orarerelatedto nouns only by tenuous association or etymological connection. Suchadjectives include conspicuous, deciduous, horrendous, illustrious, scabrous,stupendous and tremendous. Not included in this list are two interestingadjectivesdextrousandvicarious,onwhichtherearespecialnotesonpages287and310.

A few lines above, the adjective tenuous is used. The associated noun istenuity, but it is difficult to decide which appeared first. In the case of

pusillanimity this could be the basic noun which gave rise to the adjectivepusillanimous.

Therearetwoextended-oussuffixes,-iferousand-aceous,theuseofwhichispractically limited to scienceand technology.Adjectives incorporating theseareeitherderiveddirectlyfromnounsorhavestrongetymologicalconnections.They include arenaceous (sandy), carbonaceous (carbon-bearing),Carboniferous,Cretaceous,farinaceous (floury)andmetalliferous (associatedwith metals). The third and fourth words in this list are given capital initiallettersastheyarethenamesofgeologicalperiods.

There are also -ous adjectives derived from nouns which themselves arederivedfromverbs.Forexample,theverbcontendleadstothenouncontentionwhich in turn leads to the adjective contentious. Similarly we find presume,presumptionandpresumptuous(not“presumptious”).

Fromthesemanyexamplesitisclearthat“rules”forconversionofnounsinto-ousadjectivesapplyonlyinsomecases,sothatineffecttherearenotanyrules.Therewillbefurthernecessarydiscussionofthesuffixafterthenextsection.

-IC,-ICS,-ICAL

The suffix -ic for conversion of nouns to adjectives is found inmanywords.Where the basic noun ends in e the e is usually dropped, so that we find:aesthete,aesthetic;athlete,athletic;metre,metric;oolite,oolitic; tone, tonic.Science, pedagogue and romance happen to end in e, but the adjectives arescientific,pedagogicandromantic.

Wherethebasicnounendsinaconsonantthesuffixmaybesimplyadded,togive, for example, alcohol(ic), choler(ic), lithograph(ic), magnet(ic) andmonotheist(ic). Exceptions include horrific from horror, terrific from terror,andchaoticfromchaos.

Nounsendinginvowelsotherthaneusuallytakethestraightforwardsuffixtoform adjectives without any modification, as in algebra(ic), delta(ic) andhero(ic).Aromashouldgive“aromaic”,buttheadjectiveisaromatic,justastheadjectivefromdogmaisdogmaticandtheadjectivefromdrama,dramatic.Theadjectivefromgiantshouldbe“giantic”,butanunnecessaryghasbeeninsertedtomakegigantic. (Theadjectivepragmatic is derived fromaLatinword, andthereisnoEnglishnoun“pragma”.)

With nouns ending in y the y is dropped and replaced by ic to give (forexample)thefollowing:economy,economic;geography,geographic;geometry,geometric; harmony, harmonic; history, historic; melody, melodic; strategy,

strategic.Exceptionswithnounsendinginyinclude:fantasy,fantastic;poetry,poetic; tragedy, tragic. Biology and geology attract the extended formsbiologicalandgeological.

Some-icadjectivesarederivedfrompropernouns,ornames,andshouldnotreallybecountedaslegitimatewordsuntiltheyhavebecomefirmlyestablished.BythisismeantthatByronicandMiltonic(withcapitalinitials)donothavethesame status as plutonic (small p), a geological adjective applied to certainigneous rocks. Hebrew is an established proper noun giving the adjectiveHebraic.Mosaic,applied to theLawofMoses, isnot tobeconfusedwith thedesignofsmallstonescalledmosaic.

The suffix -ic is part of some adjectives that are not directly derived fromnouns, such as automatic, bucolic, comic, domestic, exotic and linguistic.ElectricisderivedfromtheGreekworkforamber,elektron,theancientGreekshavingdiscoveredthatifamberisrubbeditproducesstaticelectricity.

Applied to some special studies the suffix -ic is pluralised, as in the nounsacoustics, economics, ethics, logistics, mathematics, physics and politics.Adjectivesformedfromsomeofthesepluralisednounsdropthesandextendthe-ic suffix to -ical, giving, for example: acoustical, ethical, mathematical,physical and political. Economical has a sense of its own (thrifty) notnecessarilydirectlyconnectedwiththestudyofeconomics.Thereisnoacceptedadjective“logistical”,theusualwordbeinglogistic.

Thesuffix-icalcanalsobeappliedtosomeadjectivesalreadyattracting-ic,as in comic(al), historic(al) and geographic(al). Liturgy does not make anadjective “liturgic” but liturgical. Theatre makes theatrical. The nounpharmacyobviouslycauseddifficultyintheformationofaconnectedadjective,andeventuallythepeculiarpharmaceuticalappeared.

Althoughagrammaticalratherthanaspellingmatter,asubjectforinterestingdebateisthetreatmentofthosenounsendinginthepluralformics.Shouldwesay“Mathematicsarehisstrongpoint”or“Mathematicsis...”?Shouldwesay“Politicswasthemaintopicofhisconversation”or“Politicswere...”?Thereisnofixedrule.Logically,asubjectoranacademicsphereoflearningisregardedas singular, and takes the singular verb form. Our Canadian and Americanfriendswonderwhywe abbreviate “mathematics” to the plural “maths”whentheycallthesubject“math”.Thewondermentismutual.

INTERPOLATION:-OUSAND-IC

Although laymen may be hazy about the suffixes -ous and -ic, in chemistry

scientistshavebeenverycunninginseizingbothtoindicatedefinitedifferencesin certainmatters. For instance, most people know about sulphuric acid, andsomemayhaveheardaboutsulphurousacidandthoughtitwasthesamething.There is a distinct chemical difference, however, just as there are differencesbetween ferric and ferrous iron compounds, cupric and cuprous coppercompounds, nitric and nitrous nitrogen compounds, and phosphoric andphosphorousphosphoruscompounds.Forthebenefitofthosereaderswhomayfollow newspapers in the matter of spelling, I emphasise that the element isphosphorus,notphosphorous.

Besides the adjective metalliferous mentioned earlier, there is anotheradjective,metallic, and in both the i is doubled. In some applications there islittle or no difference; thus, a metalliferousmineral is the same as a metallicmineral,butifthenoun“substance”isusedratherthan“mineral”theadjectiveisnormallymetallic.Amineproducingoresisametalliferousmine,notametallicmine.Itiscustomarytospeakofametallicsound,ametallictaste,orametallicthread,whentheotheradjectivewouldbeunsuitable.

-ARY

It has been pointed out (page223) how from the nouns devolution, evolutionand revolution we can obtain the adjectives devolutionary, evolutionary andrevolutionary.Intheseexamplesthesuffix-aryisdirectlyattachedtothenounto form the adjective, and, indeed, this is the usual practice, other examplesbeing budget(ary), diet(ary), element(ary), inflation(ary) and unit(ary). Inexemplarythereisaslightmodificationofthenounexample,andinvoluntarythereismodificationofvolunteer.

Someother-aryadjectivesarenotdirectlyformedfromnouns–forexample,contrary,culinary,literary,military,necessary,pulmonaryandsumptuary.Thesuffixalsofindsitswayintonouns,byassociationoralongetymologicalroutes,examplesbeingantiquary,apothecaryandluminary.

-AR

Thesuffix-arispartofsomenounsbutisalsoattachedtoanumberofnounstomakeadjectives.Someconversionsareregular,thesuffixbeingsimplyaddedtothenoun,as incolumn(ar)and line(ar),withoutanyamendment.Othernounsending in e, however, unlike line, lose the e to give, for example:molecule,molecular; nodule, nodular; vehicle, vehicular. Some nouns ending in e notonlyloseitbutadoptau,makingangularfromangleandtitularfromtitle.In

thecaseofsomenounsendinginusthesetwolettersarereplacedbyar,asin:annulus,annular;nucleus,nuclear.

Peninsulamakespeninsular,anadjectivewhichunfortunatelymanypeople,andsomenewspapers,useas thenoun.Thenounspatulamakesspatular, butanother version of the adjective with the same meaning is spatulate. Theadjectiveregular isnotformedfromanounandasuffixbut isderivedfromaLatinrootmeaning“rule”.Lunarisderivedetymologicallyfrommoon,andanadjective not found in older dictionaries is sonar, which is derivedetymologicallyfromsound.

-FUL

Therearemanyadjectivesendingin-fulderivedfromnouns,thestraightforwardpracticebeing to add the suffix to thebasicword.Therewasa timewhen thesuffixwasgivenadoublelasinthewordfullitself,butconvenience–perhapsprinters’ convenience – led to its elimination. Examples are not hard to find.Here is a short list: art(ful); boast(ful); care(ful); doubt(ful); event(ful);fear(ful);joy(ful);master(ful);sin(ful);taste(ful);wonder(ful).

Awfuloriginallymeant“inspiringawe”(withtheedropped),butbecauseofitsmoderncolloquialsensethewordisnowsometimesspelt“aweful”whentheoriginalmeaningisrequired.Dreadfuloriginallymeant“inspiringdread”ratherthan,asnow,“disagreeable”or“horrid”.

Inthecaseofsomenounsendinginytheyisreplacedbyibeforethesuffix,togive:beauty,beautiful;bounty,bountiful;fancy,fanciful. Ineachofthese,ofcourse,theadjectivemeans“fullof...”.Wherethenounreferstoacontainer,toformanothernoun,however,theyisretained,asinlorryful.

Wilfulistheacceptedformof“will(ful)”withanleliminated.Hatefulshouldmean“fullofhate”,but itsapplicationhasbeen transferred to the thinghated.Grateful, from the noun gratitude, is simpler than “gratitudeful”. It, too, issometimestransferred;apersonreferstohis“gratefulthanks”whenitishewhoisgrateful.Themisapplicationofpitifulisdiscussedonpage301.

Meaningful shouldbeas respectable asmeaningless, but theword has gotinto the wrong hands and is used indiscriminately by people who indulge inmeaninglessverbiage.

Thesuffix-fulcanbeappliedalsotonounstomakeothernouns,asweshallseelater.

-LESS

The common suffix -less, attached to nouns to make adjectives, gives theoppositemeaningtothesuffix-ful.Notthatevery-fuladjectivecanreadilytake-less.Considerthefirstlistintheprevioussection.

Artless,careless,doubtless,fearless,sinlessandtastelessareallacceptable.But there are no commonly recognisable words “boastless”, “masterless” and“wonderless”. Nor can we recognise the existence of “awless”, “dreadless”,“beautiless”,“bountiless”,“willess”and“hateless”.Theoppositeofgrateful isnot “grateless” but ungrateful. Meaningless, as explained, is itself full ofmeaning.

-AL,-IAL,-EAL

The suffix -al is not only an extension of -ic to form -ical in the mannerexplainedonpage233,togivewordssuchascomicalandhistorical.Itcanalsobeindependentof-icandbeasuffixinitself.

Unlessthebasicnounendsinethesuffixisusuallyasimpleaddition,asinautumn(al), exception(al), function(al), hexagon(al), incident(al),sensation(al) and verb(al). Interesting exceptions include: abdomen,abdominal; benefit, beneficial; contract, contractual; crux, crucial; foetus,foetal; glottis, glottal. In glottis there is a double t already, and although theverbsacquitandrebut(page206)endinasinglet, this isdoubledtoformthenounsacquittalandrebuttal.Thenoundigit alsoends ina single t,but in theconversiontotheadjectivedigitalthetremainssingle.

Wherethebasicnounendsinetheeisusuallydroppedtogive,forexample,the following: adjective, adjectival; agriculture, agricultural; anticline,anticlinical; centre, central; doctrine, doctrinal; spectre, spectral. Line is anexception; besides making an adjective linear (already discussed) it makesanother,lineal,whichpertainstoalineoffamilydescent.

Some nouns ending in ce behave as in the following examples,with the edropped: face, facial; finance, financial; province, provincial; race, racial;sacrifice,sacrificial;truce,trucial.

Yet other nouns ending in ce are given adjectival endings in tial, as in thefollowing examples (again with the e dropped): consequence, consequential;deference, deferential; essence, essential; influence, influential; palace,palatial;providence,providential;space,spatial;substance,substantial.

Asadirectsuffix,-ialisfoundintangent(ial)andtorrent(ial);yetthesimilarmonumentformsmonumental.Thedirect-ealsuffixisfoundinether(eal).

Theconstructionof spatial fromspace is curiouswhen the adjectives from

face and race are facial and racial. As noted earlier, another adjective fromspace isspacious.Spatialpertains to thesubjectof space ingeneral;spaciousimpliesthatthereisplentyofroom.

Inthecaseofsomenounsendinginytheyisdroppedandreplacedbyial,asin:actuary, actuarial; artery, arterial; industry, industrial; remedy, remedial.(Industry forms another adjective industrious, which is different fromindustrial.)Peripheryisanexception,makingnot“peripherial”butperipheral.

Thereareseveraladjectivesendingin-al,-ialor-ealwhicharenotdirectlyformed fromnounsbut have strong etymological connections, examplesbeingarboreal, diurnal, dual, fiscal, floral, funereal, legal, maternal, prandial,radial,siderealandterrestrial.

-ATE

Spatulate, mentioned earlier as an alternative to spatular, is one of the fewadjectives ending in the suffix -ate which are directly derived from nouns.Anotherisroseate(colouredrose-pink)asin“Theroseatehuesofearlydawn”(C.F. Alexander). There are, however, several -ate adjectives which are notdirectlyconnectedwithnouns,suchascognate,desolate,duplicateandoblate.Pulmonate,meaning“equippedwithlungs”,isdifferentfrompulmonary,whichmeans“pertainingtothelungs”.

-INE

Adeltaisonekindofriver-mouth,anestuaryisanother.Yettheadjectivefromdelta (page 231) is deltaic, and the adjective from estuary is estuarine. Thesuffix-ine is perhaps themost attractive of all, and gives rise to some lovelywords;forexample:adamant,adamantine;alkali,alkaline;alp,alpine;coral,coralline; crystal, crystalline; Florence, Florentine; lake, lacustrine.Admittedly asinine from ass is not very attractive. Sanguine is now onlyremotely connected with blood, its usual modern meaning being “hopeful,optimistic”, this state ofmind having originally been attributed to the state ofone’sblood.Sanguinary(“bloody,bloodthirsty”)isadifferentwordaltogether.

-IAN,-EAN,-ESE

Referencehasbeenmadeto thesuffix-ish in itsapplication tonationalityandlanguage. The suffix -ian, also, can be attached to proper nouns – names ofpeopleorplaces–toformadjectivesofnationality,ofgeography,oflanguage,ofkind,orofsomeconnection.Suchadjectivesinclude:ofpeople:Christ(ian),Churchill(ian),Georg(ian)(edropped);andofplaces:Boston(ian),Eton(ian),

Paris(ian),Mar(t)(ian)(sofMarsreplacedbyt).Where theaor ia isalreadypartof thepropernoun,nonly isadded,as in

Africa(n),Australia(n),Russia(n).This isespecially thecasewith theEnglishnamesoflanguages,suchasPersia(n)andYugoslavia(n).InthedevelopmentofEnglish special treatment has been given to the English spelling of suchadjectivesasNorwegian (fromNorway)andFlemish (fromFlanders).WheretheEnglishequivalentofanameendsinytheadjectiveisformedbyreplacingtheybyian,asinItalianandHungarian.

Inhabitantsof someBritishcitieshavegiven themselvesnameswhichhaveno direct spelling connection with the city-names but which are usuallyunderstood, examples being Dundonian (Dundee), Glaswegian (Glasgow),Liverpudlian (Liverpool), Mancunian (Manchester), and Novocastrian(Newcastle).

Greek,appliedtonationalityandlanguage,isnotthesameasGrecian,whichmeans “pertaining to Greece” or “having the characteristics of a Greek”. Forexample,we speak of “aGrecian vase” and “aGrecian nose”. The people ofEtruria,incidentally,werenot“Etrurians”butEtruscans.

The suffix -eau does similar work to -ian, but is largely restricted toadjectivesconnectedwithplacesandpeople.Wherethebasicpropernounendsinesthisendingisreplacedbyean,asin:Antipodes,Antipodean;Archimedes,Archimedean; Hebrides, Hebridean. Where the basic noun ends in e, an isadded,asinEurope(an).Wherethebasicnounendsinaconsonantthesuffixisa simpleaddendum,as inTyrol(ean).Jacobean is aderivativeofJacobus, orJames.

Theexistenceoftwosimilarsuffixescanbeconfusing,especiallyassomeofthe adjectives formed can be spelt either way. Shakespeare, for instance canformShakespearianorShakesperean.Themasterhimselfsometimesusedthespelling“Shakespere”.

Another suffix used in adjectives of nationality and language is -ese, as inChinese,Japanese,Portuguese.Itisalsousedinadjectivespertainingtostylesofwritingorofdiction,asinjournalese.

Apartfromitsuseasasuffixintheformationofgeographicalandlinguisticadjectives,-ianisusedintheformationofmanyotherwordswhichcanbeeithernounsoradjectives,suchasvegetarianandoctogenarian,butmoreoftenintheformationofnouns.

Itissometimesthoughtthatbecauseofitsmeaning,andthespelling,riparianisderivedinacorruptwayfromthenounriver.Itistruethattheadjectivemeans

“associatedwithrivers”,butthewordisderivedfromaLatinrootmeaningthebankoftheriver,nottheriveritself;hencewehave“riparianrights”.

-EN

The suffix -en attached to a few nouns conveys a meaning of “made of”,“consisting of” or “of the nature of”. Usually it is a simple addendum, as inearth(en),flax(en),gold(en),hemp(en),wheat(en)andwood(en).Inthecaseofwool the l is doubled to givewoollen, and brass gives the irregular brazen.Archaic examples of the use of the suffix are lead(en), leather(n) (no e),oak(en), oat(en), silk(en) and wax(en), words which are so pleasant that itseemsapitythattheyarenotseenmoreoften.

-ESQUE

Thereareafewadjectivesconvertedfromnounsby theunusualsuffix-esque,whichmeans “in themannerof”or “reminiscent of”.The following examplesare commonly seen or heard: arab, arabesque; picture, picturesque; statue,statuesque. Arabesque, when used as a noun, can refer to a fanciful type ofdecoration, to an elaborate musical composition, or to a ballet position.Grotesque was originally a noun applied to an extravagantly ornamental ordistorteddesign,anditsuseasanadjectivecamelater.

-ABLE,-IBLE

These two suffixes, aswe have seen, attach themselves to numerous verbs toform adjectives. They are attracted also to a great number of nouns, as in thefollowing examples: -able: action(able), fashion(able), honour(able),marriage(able);-ible:access(ible),contempt(ible),forc(ible).

It should be noted that the e ofmarriage is retained but the e of forcedropped. The adjective contemptible (as explained earlier) does not mean thesameascontemptuous.

Some -able and -ible adjectives are connected only etymologically, notdirectly, with verbs and nouns, but in view of the number of adjectives withtheseendingsalistisgivenlaterinthebook.

-OSE

Thesuffix-ose(denotingfullness,abundance,orpossessionofaquality)formsadjectives from bases which can be nouns (occasionally), other adjectives, orrelatedLatinroot-words.Forexample,bellicose(warlike)isfrombellum(war);comatoseisfromthenouncoma;grandioseisfromtheadjectivegrand;jocose

is from jocus (joke);morose is frommorosus (sullen, peevishly self-willed);verboseisfromverbum(word).Exceptforcomatose,theseadjectivescanformnouns:bellicosity,grandiosity,jocosity,moroseness,verbosity.

Theotherapplicationof-oseisinchemicalwordssuchascellulose,dextroseandglucose.

-IAC

Thesuffix-iac isfoundinadjectivesderivedfromnounsandinnounsderivedfrom other nouns. Adjectives from nouns include demoniac from demon,elegiacfromelegy,andiliac(iliacartery)fromilium.Nounsformedfromothernounsincludeinsomniacfrominsomnia,kleptomaniacfromkleptomania,andmaniac frommania. Cardiac, which can be adjective or noun, has only anetymological connection with heart, and maniac leads to the adjectivemaniacal.Inchemistry,salammoniacisacompoundrelatedtoammonia.

PARTICIPLESASADJECTIVESThepresentparticipleofaverbisoftenusedasanadjective.Usuallyitendsining,asincharming(lady,forinstance),doting(parents),frightening(incident),moving (experience), spelling (problem), travelling (salesman). Almost anypresentparticiplecanbeusedasanadjectiveinsomeconnection.

Pastparticiplesalsocanlendthemselvestoadjectivaluse,butlesscommonlythan present participles. Past participles ending in ed, for example, givecancelled (appointment),enthralled (audience), lapsed (subscription), rejected(suitor),unparalleled (magnificence). Past participles ending in en give suchexpressionsasbitten(apple),cloven(hoof),stricken(deer),stolen(purse).

The use of participles as adjectives, briefly outlined here for the sake ofcompleteness,isgenerallyunderstood,andnomoreneedbesaid.

CONVERSIONOFNOUNSTOVERBSWehaveseenhowverbscanbeconvertedtonounsbytheadditionofsuffixes.Conversely, some nouns can be converted to related verbs by the addition ofothersuffixes,suchas-en(or-n),-ify(or-fy),-ise(or-ize),and-ate.Nottobeforgotten,however,aretheprefixes,en-,em-anddis-.

-EN(OR-N)

Thesuffix-enismoreusuallyattachedtoadjectivesthantonouns.Itistruethat

thenounlengthproduceslengthen,andstrengthproducesstrengthen,butitcanbe argued that the basic words are the adjectives long and strong. The verbheighten is legitimatelyregardedasbeingderivedfromthenounheight ratherthan the adjectivehigh. The constant use of this suffix does not warrant anymorediscussion,buttheobviousrulemaybementionedthat,ifthebasicnounendsine,nonlyisaddedasinhaste(n).

-IFY(OR-FY)

Intheuseof-ifymodificationof thebasicnounissometimesnecessary,as in:beauty, beautify; example, exemplify; fruit, fructify; glory, glorify; stupor,stupefy.Nomodificationisneededincaseslikeperson(ify)andsolid(ify).Notesontheverbsderivedfromliquidwillbefoundopposite.

Some-ifyverbs,thoughnotdirectlyderivedfromEnglishnouns,havestrongetymologicalconnections,suchasdeify,magnify,petrifyandsanctify.

Thenounmodification is derived from theverbmodify (“to alter, but onlymoderately”),andthisinturnisderivedfromthenounmode(“manner,wayofdoing”),thefinalebeingdropped.

-ISE(OR-IZE)

Examples of the use of the suffix as a direct appendage are: carbon(ise),idol(ise),liquid(ise).Inglamourandvapourtheuisdroppedtogiveglamoriseandvaporise.

Thequestionofchoicebetween-iseand-izedoesnotexistinallcases,andisdiscussedatgreaterlengthonpage253.

Synthesis,synthesise,andanalysis,analysewouldbereluctantlyincludedasexamplesasitisprobablethattheverbsappearedbeforethenouns.

-ATE

Mostverbsendinginatearenotdirectlyderivedfromnouns,butthereareafewwhich are. Such direct conversions, in which the suffix is added to the basicnoun,include:carbon(ate),hyphen(ate),liquid(ate).(Carbon forms twoverbs,carbonateandcarbonise,butcarbonateisusuallyanoun.)

Conversionsinvolvingslightmodificationofthebasicnouninclude:action,activate; motion, motivate; vaccine, vaccinate. Acid forms acidulate. Aninterestingexampleofunexpectedconstruction isfiltrate,which isnot a verb.Theverbisfilter,andthefiltrateistheliquidwhichpassesthroughthefilteringmedium.

Itiscuriousthatalthoughtheverbconsolidateisunderstoodtomean“make

solid”(solidbeinganounoranadjective),thereisneitheranoun“consolid”noraverb“solidate”.Theverbdecorate isnotderivedfrom,but isetymologicallyrelatedto,theFrenchnoundécor, theadoptionofwhichinEnglishisoffairlyrecentorigin.Many-ateverbs,infact,haveonlyetymologicalconnectionswiththeir basic nouns, such as adumbrate, exculpate, legislate and terminate.Fenestrate(“makeawindow”)isderivedfromtheFrenchnounfenêtre.

A great many verbs ending in ate are not derived from nouns at all, andthereforehavenoplaceinourpresentdiscussion.

INTERPOLATION:LIQUID

Fromthenounliquidarederivedthreedifferentverbswithdifferentmeanings,each of which forms a secondary noun: liquefy, liquefaction; liquidise,liquidisation;liquidate,liquidation.Brief(notnecessarilycomplete)definitionsofthethreeverbsareasfollows:

liquefy:convertsolidtoliquid,melt;liquidise: convert solid to liquid by physical means, as in a mixer or

pulveriser;liquidate:bringtoanend,payoff,windup.Liquidisalsousedasanadjective,and,inalinguisticsense,isfoundinsuch

expressionsas“liquidl”.(Seecarillon,page282.)

PREFIXESEN-,EM-

Many nouns can be converted to verbs by the prefix en-, which is always asimple addition. Examples, not hard to find, are en(case), en(courage),en(danger),en(joy),en(snare)anden(trust).

Alliedtoen- is theprefixem-,which,attracted toappropriatenouns, forms(for example) the verbs em(balm), em(bank), em(body), em(brace) andem(power).

PREFIXDIS-

Dis-,anexceedinglyversatileprefix,canbeattachedtonounstoformverbs,toverbstoformotherverbs,andtoadjectivestoformotheradjectives.Essentiallyit is a negative-forming prefix, usually conveying ameaning of “opposite” or“away from”, and as examples of its attachment to nouns to form verbs thefollowing should suffice for illustration: dis(band), dis(bar), dis(courage)(opposite of encourage),dis(cover), dis(grace),dis(honour) and dis(illusion).Otherexamplesaregivenonpage264.

CASESWHERETHENOUNANDTHEVERBARETHESAMEWORD

Therearenumerouscaseswhereanouncanbeusedasaverb,examplesbeingattack,cook,honour,manufacture,noise(“noiseitabroad”),paper(“papertheroom”),polish, service and sound. Summons is a singular noun with a legalconnotation giving a similar verb meaning “to issue a summons”. The verbsummonhasadifferentmeaning.

CONVERSIONOFNOUNSTOOTHERNOUNSSeveralsuffixesareusedtoconvertnounstootherwordswhicharestillnounsbutmeansomethingdifferent.Thefollowingwillbeconsidered:-age,-ful,-ryand-y,-cy,-hood,-ship,-ate,-ure,-ic,-ster,-dom,-ism,-eeand-eer.

-AGE

Sometimes the suffix is a direct addition, as in acre(age), broker(age) andfront(age).Inusagetheeofthebasicnounusehasbeendropped.(Usecanalsobeaverb.)Assemblycanbeconvertedtoassemblage,whichadmittedlymeansmuchthesame.

-FUL

Afullspoon (adjectiveandnoun)containsaspoonful (noun).Therearemanysuchwords,allendinginonel. If thereisaproblem,it lies indecidingonthepluralform.Isitspoonsfulorspoonfuls?As thederivednoun isameasureofquantityitshouldbespoonfuls,justaswespeakofpints,tonsandmiles,or,tofall in with metric custom, of litres, tonnes and kilometres. Other -ful nounsderivedfromothernounsincludecupful,handful,housefulandmouthful.Theconstructionof-fuladjectivesfromverbsandnounshasbeenconsidered(pages220and235).

-RY,-Y

Examplesoftheuseofeitherofthesesimilarsuffixesspringreadilytothemind.Usuallythesuffixisasimpleadditiontothebasicnoun,evenwhenthisendsine, as bigot(ry), burglar(y), citizen(ry), knave(ry), machine(ry), pageant(ry),rock(ery), rook(ery), scene(ry) and weapon(ry). Exceptions include: grain,granary;statue,statuary.

-CY

Thissuffixisseldomappliedtothebasicnoun,somemodificationusuallybeing

necessary. Examples are: lunatic, lunacy; magistrate, magistracy; president,presidency; pirate, piracy; primate, primacy; resident, residence, residency(threenouns); tenant, tenancy; truant, truancy. Nomodification is needed inthe following examples, where the suffix is a straightforward addendum:bankrupt(cy),captain(cy),chaplain(cy),colonel(cy),viscount(cy).

-HOOD

Thesuffix-hoodhasa limitedapplicationtocollectivehumanity,andisaddeddirectly to the basic noun to form, for example, boy(hood), child(hood),girl(hood),man(hood), priest(hood), andwoman(hood). We saw earlier thatattachedtoanadjectiveitcanformfalsehood.

-SHIP

Another suffix applied to nouns of humanity to form other nouns, usually toindicateastateoranoffice,is-ship,whichisaddedtothebasicnoundirectly,asin friend(ship), head(ship), judge(ship), owner(ship), scholar(ship) andtrustee(ship).

-ATE

AnemirrulesoveranArabemirate.TheRomantriumviratewascomposedofthreetriumvirs.Anopiatewasoriginallyadrugpreparedfromopium,and thewordisnowappliedtosubstanceswhichhavesimilareffectsbutnotnecessarilysimilarorigins.Abodyofelectorsisanelectorate.Theseareallexamplesoftheuseofthesuffixintheconversionofbasicnounstoothernouns,andalthoughithasother uses (for example, in the conversionof nouns toverbsdescribedonpage 243), they do not concern us in this section. It should perhaps bementioned, however, that the suffix is a useful indicativepart of thenamesofsomechemicalcompounds;forinstance,thesulphateofanelementisdifferentfromthesulphideandthechloratefromthechloride.

-URE

Unlessthebasicnounendsine,thesuffixisadirectaddition,asinforfeit(ure)andportrait(ure).(Forfeitusedasaverbhasalreadybeenreferredto.)Theeofcandidateisdroppedtogivecandidature.Apapalambassadorataforeigncourtisanuncio,andhe isamemberof thenunciature.Imposture is theactofanimpostor.Nomenclature,althoughnotderiveddirectlyfromanEnglishnoun,isbasedontheLatinwordnomen(name).

Theadditionofthesuffixtoverbstoformnounsisdiscussedonpage208.

-IC

The suffix -ic forms adjectives more readily than it forms nouns, as I haveexplainedatsomelength.Althoughthereareseveralnounsendingin-ic,fewofthemarederiveddirectlyfromothernouns.Oneisphilippic,andevenherethebasicwordisapropernoun,Philip.Thewordwasoriginallyappliedtoorationsof Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon, but now is applied to anyacrimoniousdeclamation.

AnotherpropernounisMuse,oneof theninefrommythology, fromwhichthenounmusicisderived.Ratherobscurely,theMuseswerealsoresponsibleforthenounmosaic,adesigncomposedofsmallstones.Etymologicalconnectionsarefoundinlogic(anoun-nounconnectionfromaGreekwordmeaning“speechor reason”) and rubric (an adjective-noun from a Latinwordmeaning “red”).Rubrics are the instructions printed in red in some editions of the Book ofCommonPrayer, and this ecclesiastical connection prompts a reference to thenoun-nounconversionbishopric,awordforabishop’sofficeordiocese.

-STER

On page 227, writing about the word youngster, derived from the adjectiveyoung,itwassaidthatthesuffix-sterwasusuallyappliedtonounstoformothernouns.As a direct addition it formswords likeprankster, punster, rhymester,songsterandtrickster.Sometimessuchnounsareusedfacetiously,butthesuffixhas a few worthier applications. A maker of malt, for example, could be a“malter”,butsomehowmaltstersoundsfarmoreinteresting.Theattachmentofthe suffix to theverbspin to form thehard-workingspinster has alreadybeendealtwith.

-DOM

Nouns ending with the suffix -dom are formed from basic nouns to denotepower,jurisdiction,officeorcondition.Thereisnoneedforanyalterationofthebasicwordinconversionto(forexample)duke(dom),earl(dom),king(dom)orofficial(dom).Wisdom, as noted elsewhere in this book, is derived from theadjectivewise.“Bymyhalidom”wasanoldoathnowoftenquotedinhistoricalnovels,halibeingOldEnglishforholy.

-ISM

Theadditionof thesuffix-ism toadjectives to formnounshasbeendiscussed(page224),but therearecases inwhichitcanbeattachedtonouns.Examplesare cannibal(ism), journal(ism), pauper(ism) and Quaker(ism). Criticism

should perhaps be regarded as derived from the verb criticise rather than thenouncritic.Thenoundogmatismisrelatedtothenoundogma,butpragmatism(as already pointed out) can be derived only from the adjective pragmatic asthereisnoEnglishnoun“pragma”.

-EE

TheFrenchoriginofthesuffix-eeinitsrelationtoverbswasexplainedonpage211.Thesuffixalsoisappliedintheconversionofnounstoothernounsusuallytodenotearecipient,examplesbeinggranteefromgrant (usedasanoun)andlegatee from legacy. There is one case, however, where the suffix does notdenotetherecipient.Onpage212mortgagewasusedasaverbinthesenseofmortgaging one’s property, but it could equally be a noun, as the borrower(mortgagor ormortgager), by means of amortgage (noun), borrows moneyfromthemortgagee.

Thesuffixisusedalsotoindicatesomeconnectionbetweentheformednounandthebasicnoun;thus,abargeeisconcernedwithabargeandadevoteefeelsdevotiontowardshishobbyorinterest.

-EER

Thesuffix-eerdenotesapersonwhoisconcernedwith,orisresponsiblefor,thethingformingthebaseoftheword.Examplesarechariot(eer),musket(eer)andpamphlet(eer).

CONVERSIONOFADJECTIVESTOVERBSWhenanadjectiveisappliedtoanounthesenseofapplicationmaybeconveyedbymeansofaverbwhichisformedbytheadditionofasuffixoraprefixtotheadjective.

A common suffix for the purpose is -en (or -n), which gives such directconversions as:black(en),bright(en), deep(en), loose(n), sweet(en), tight(en),white(n). Modification of the basic word is found in: high, heighten; long,lengthen; strong, strengthen. (These examples were discussed on page 242,“ConversionofNounstoVerbs”.)

With fat the t is doubled to make fatten, the archaic fatted (calf) beingretained in the parable of the Prodigal Son. In adjectives ending ind thed isdoubled,asingladden,madden,reddenandsadden.

Someadjectives,inexplicably,canbeusedasverbswithouttheadditionof-en, examples beingblind, cool, dry, foul, free, lame and thin. The refusal of

someadjectivestoacceptthesuffixisalsoinexplicable:thuswesaymoistenbutnot“wetten”,quickenbutnot“slowen”,thickenbutnot“thinnen”,sharpenbutnot “blunten”. The adjective hot gives the verb (and the noun) heat. Theexpression“hottedup”isacolloquialismfrequentlyused.

Thesuffix-ifyismorecommonlyattachedtonouns,aswehaveseen,butinafewcasesitcanbeattachedtoadjectivestoformverbs,asinfalsifyfromfalseanduglifyfromugly.Thereismodificationoftheadjectiveintheconversionofclear to clarify. In the verb rectify the base is from a Latin word meaning“right”.

Someadjectivesareconvertedtoverbswiththeaidofprefixes.Forexample,theprefixen-producesen(dear),en(feeble),en(large),en(noble)anden(rich).Encumber, asmentioned elsewhere, is the verb from the adjectivecumbrous.Rarerprefixesgiveus:dense, condense; strange, estrange;new, renew; fine,refine.

ADVERBSMostpeopleknowwhatanadverbisandwhatitdoes.Asanadjectivequalifiesa noun (as discussed on page 21), an adverb qualifies a verb to describe themannerorcircumstancesinwhichtheactionisdone,andthecommonestwayofforminganadverbistoaddthesuffix-lytotheappropriateadjective.Thusweget curious(ly), economical(ly), faithful(ly), occasional(ly), pleasant(ly),strong(ly)andslow(ly).Anadverbcanalsobeusedtodescribeanadjective,asin“tremendouslyhappy”.

When the adjective ends in y, this is replaced by i before the ly, examplesbeing: gay, gaily; happy, happily; merry, merrily. Confusion is sometimescausedwhentheadjectiveitselfendsinly,butthesameruleapplies,withsuchresultsas:friendly,friendlily;jolly,jollily;lovely,lovelily;naughty,naughtily;wily,wilily;ugly,uglily.Itistruethatsomeadjectivesofthistypedonotreadilylend themselves to adverbial construction. In such cases, for example, “Hebehavedinacowardlyway”ispreferableto“Hebehavedcowardlily”.

Fromtheadjectivekindanunusualextensionkindlyhasbeenformed,whichbesidesbeinganadverbisalsoanadjectiveanditselfproducesanotheradverb,kindlily. Sickly is a similar extension of sick, but never seen is an adverb“sicklily”. A peculiar adjective is likely (“a likely story”), which veryoccasionallyyoumayfindasthebaseforanadverblikelily.

Adjectivesendinginedonotallreceivethesametreatment.Inmostcasesthe

e is retained and the suffix added normally as in: active(ly), brave(ly),sincere(ly), strange(ly). The e is dropped from adjectives ending in le after aconsonant, to give the following: ample, amply; forcible, forcibly; humble,humbly;simple,simply;single,singly;subtle,subtly;terrible,terribly;treacle,treacly.Whenlecomesafteravowelthee isusuallyretained,as indocile(ly),hale(ly), sole(ly) and vile(ly).Whole, however, as an exception, makes not“wholely”butwholly.

Threewordswhich are both adjective and adverb are fast, hard and tight.“Run fast”, “Work hard” and “Hold tight” are legitimate commands, but youshould say “Screw it tightly”. There is no adverb “fastly” but there is awordhardly, the adverbial use of which should be confined to the meaning ofscarcely, so that “hardly any money” is the same as “scarcely any money”.Occasionally“hardlyearned”maybeseen,but,perhapsbecausethesenseofthiscanbeambiguous,“hard-earned”withthelinkinghyphenispreferable.

ApeculiarityofEnglishisthatalthoughthereisanadverbbadlythereisnoadverb“goodly”.Theword for this, thedirectoppositeofbadly, iswell, as in“Doitwell”.Goodlyisanarchaicadjectivewhichhadvariousvaguemeaningsconnectedwithgood(“agoodlysum”,forexample),butitisnotanadverb.

Thereisafairlycommonpracticeofadding-lytopast-tenseorpast-participleformations to produce adverbs like admitted(ly), alleged(ly), hurried(ly),supposed(ly) andundoubted(ly). Care should be taken, however, to avoid thepracticeiftheresultsoundsunwieldyorunnatural.Somepresentparticiplesalsocan take ly to form adverbs, as in joking(ly), laughing(ly), loving(ly) andmenacing(ly).

Aswehavediscussed,theadjectivesquickandslowareveryoftenmisusedasadverbs,eitherthroughignoranceorlackofspace.“Getrichquick”isasbadastheofficialwarningseenonroads,“Goslow”.Asfor“newlaideggs”–well,perhapsonlyafussypedantwouldinsiston“newly-laideggs”.

9

SPELLINGRULESANDCONVENTIONS

Inthischaptersomespellingmattersareexaminedindetail.Todevisealogicalsequence,however,wouldbe futile as there ismuch in the subjectof spellingthat is illogical. The fact that one section of this chapter precedes another,therefore,doesnotnecessarilymeanthatitisthemoreimportant.

-ISEOR-IZE?Etymologists have tended to add to the confusion that exists in the vexedquestionofchoice,ifany,betweenthesetwosuffixes.SomehaveassertedthatasmosttraditionalEnglishverbsareultimatelyofGreekcomposition,inwhichtherootcontainstheequivalentofizo,theizespellingshouldbeusedformostverbs, ise beingadopted for thoseverbswhicharenotofGreekorigin. If thisweretobea“rule”toberemembereditwouldbeuselesstomostpeople,whohavetowritecountlessthingseveryday.

The French changed the z into s long ago, and those French infinitives(mainly derived from Greek through Latin) which correspond with our ownalwaysendiniser.Whilenearlyallizewordsmaybespeltisetheconversedoesnot hold. In British English some words are now never spelt with z, such asadvertise, advise, chastise, comprise, compromise, devise andexercise. In theeighteenthcenturymanywritersfavouredsurprizeandenterprize.

If you use ise in nearly all cases you will be safe.Recognise can take s,thoughrecognize ismore common.The verbmakes the noun recognition,or,muchlesscommonly,recognizance(alwayswithz)andcognizance.Thereisaslightdifferenceinmeaningbetweencognition(theactorfacultyofperceiving)andcognizance(knowledge,notice,awareness).

It is interesting toobserve thatalthough theverbcriticise canbe speltwitheithersorz,thenouncriticismhasnoalternative,allismnounsbeingspeltwiths. In words in which there is a British choice between s and z, Americansnormallyusez.Inwordsinwhichthereisnochoice,andarealwaysspeltwiths,America follows British practice. Although analyse, catalyse, paralyse andsynthesise are spelt with z by Americans, our friends agree with our noun-

spellingsanalysis,catalysis,paralysisandsynthesis.

EIANDIETherearenumerouswordsinwhichtheletterseandioccurtogether,eitheraseior ie. In some words the combination produces the sound ee, and it is thesewhich are our immediate concern. The hundreds of others in which the twoletters occur together but which are not pronounced with a definite ee soundhavenopartinourpresentdiscussion.

Oneofthemostcommonly-rememberedspellingrulesinEnglish,whichweweretaughtinourfirstschooling,is:“ibeforeeexceptafterc”.Thisruleappliesonlytothewordsinwhichthecombinationproducesthesoundee,asinbelief,chief,field,frieze,grief,niece,relief,retrieve,thiefandtier.

Innoneof thesewords is there ac before the i.Otherwords, inwhich thevowelsound isprecededbyc, includeceiling,conceive,deceive,perceiveandreceive,inallofwhichecomesbeforei.Theexceptions–allwordswithaneesound–aresofewthattheycanbeeasilyremembered,andincludecounterfeit,seize,weirandweird.Eitherandneithercanbepronouncedaseeoreye,butifyoupreferaneesoundthesewords,too,canbenumberedwiththeexceptions.

LORLL?Words ending in l or ll sometimes give rise to doubts when they have to beconverted tootherwordsorpartsof speech.The rules andcustomsgoverningthe spelling of such words have been simplified here by listing the variouspossiblechangesforselectedwords.Thissectionisanextensionofthenotesonpage187.

Conversionsof–lladjectivestonounsinclude:dull,dullness;full,fullness;ill,illness; small, smallness.Although the adjectivesdull and fullmakedullnessandfullness,occasionallydulnessandfulnessareseen.Dullcanalsobeaverb,making dulled and dulling. Full, too, can be a verb, in the sense of dressingclothwithfuller’searth.

The noun instalment has no connection with the verb install, instalmentsbeing periodic payments (by hire-purchase, for instance) or parts of a serialstory.

The single l after the e in paralleled will be noted.As pointed out earlier,however, thispast tense (andpastparticipleusedasanadjective) is seldomorneverheardwithoutitsnegativequalification,asin“unparalleledmagnificence”.Another interesting fact is that although the verb propel makes the nounpropellant,repelmakesrepellent.

As a suffix for converting nouns to adjectives, -ful,meaning “full of”, hasonlyonel,andinskilfulandwilfulonelisdroppedfromthebasicwordsskillandwill.

Thereisthegroupofwordsprefixedbyal-whichisanabbreviationofall,asinalmighty,almost,already,altogetherandalways.Thefact thatall theseare“correct”doesnotmeanthatyoucanwrite“alright”,whichisallwrong.Ifyoucan remember to useallright you are showing your awareness of thewrittenword.

WoolinBritishEnglishmakestheadjectiveswoollenandwoolly.InAmericathe first adjective is woolen and the second can be wooly or woolly. Thedropping of one l where we use a double l is common practice in AmericanEnglish,togivesuchspellingsasequaled,leveledandtraveler,andjewelleryisjewelry.MoreissaidlateraboutAmericanspelling.

-ECTIONOR-EXION?Incertainnounsthereisachoicebetweentheendings-ectionand-exion,somephilologists defending -exion as being sometimes correct on etymologicalgrounds.Connection issometimeswrittenconnexion,yet“correxion” isneverseen.Inflexionisthenormalspelling,andinflectionisacceptable.Reflexionisseldomseen,butcomplexion isstandard.Bisection,dissectionandsectionareneverspeltwithx.

PLURALSMostEnglishnounsformpluralsendinginsores.Thereare,however,severalother ways of indicating plurality, and representative lists of nouns andapplicablepluralendingsaregivenbelow.

Although thearchaicbrethrenhasbeen included in the list for illustration, theusualplural,ofcourse,isbrothers.Notincludedinthelistaretwo-implurals,cherub(im)andseraph(im).

Inthecaseofnounsendinginyafteraconsonanttheyisreplacedbyies,asinbeauties,cities,cries,ladiesandskies.Afteravowelthey is retainedandsadded,asinboys,keys,quays,traysandmonkeys.

Plurals of nouns ending in o vary in their treatment. Cargoes, echoes,grottoes,heroes,potatoes,tomatoes,tornadoes,vetoesandvolcanoesalltakeebetween o and s. Plurals omitting the e include avocados, autos, dynamos,folios,radios,andratios.

Nouns of Italian origin are sometimes given their native plural form, as ingraffiti(fromgraffito),libretti(fromlibretto)andsoli(fromsolo),butthepluralofsolo is often expressed as solos. Imbroglio also is of Italian origin, but itsEnglishpluralisusuallyimbroglios.FrenchiswellenoughknowninBritaintojustifybureauxandtableaux.

Nounsendinginf(orfe)areinconsistent.Sometakeanendingfs,othersves,andotherscantakeeither,asshowninthefollowingtable.

Despite the plurals of gladiolus and narcissus – gladioli and narcissi – theplural of crocus is crocuses. Other -us nouns which take the -es plural arecircuses, lotuses, prospectuses, hiatuses, ignoramuses and octopuses. Forhippotamus, both hippopotami and hippopotamuses are acceptable, and forrhinoceros the plural is either the same singular word or rhinoceroses. Irismakesirises.

Nounsendinginch,sh,ssorxtakees,asinchurches,flushes,crossesandfoxes. (Already referred to is the exceptionaloxen.)Nouns ending in ix orexvary in treatment, giving, for example: annex(e), annexes; apex, apexes orapices; appendix, appendices; index, indexes or indices; matrix, matrices.(Annexcanbespeltwithorwithoutthefinale.)

Threeexamplesofnounsending inonwhich take thepluralaarecriteria,octahedraandphenomena.Manyothernounsendinginon,however,takes,asin aeons, chameleons, lexicons, neutrons, polygons, pantechnicons andrhododendrons.

Most nouns ending in s take es for the plural, even lens (lenses) andsummons(summonses),whichseemtopuzzlemany.Insomecasesthesingularandthepluralarethesameword,examplesbeingcorps,innings,mews,seriesandspecies.Somenounsarenaturallypluralandcannotbegivensingularforms,suchaspincers,pliers,pyjamas,scissors,shearsandtrousers.

Finally,therearethoseirregularandinconsistentpluralswhichinfuriatemanypeoplebutaddtotherichdiversityofEnglish:booth,booths,but tooth, teeth;house, houses, but louse, lice, andmouse, mice, noose, nooses, but goose,geese,andmongoose,mongooses;boot,boots,butfoot,feet.

Surnames ending in s can perplex people when plurals are required, butneedlessly so.They shouldbe treated asmost other normalnouns ending in sandgivenes,sothat“theJones”iswrongand“theJoneses”isright,asalsoare“theMosses”and“theBlisses”.Wherepossessivesareconcernedpeopleoftenget themselves intoamuddle,butmore issaidabout this in thesectionon theapostrophe.

Oneof themostseriousmistakes,which is foundregularly in thePress,ontelevisionandradio,isthetreatmentofpluralnounsassingular,suchascriteria,data,media,phenomenaandstrata.

FEMININEFORMSWhereanounisdefinitelymasculineitcanusuallybeconvertedtothefeminineformbyadditionofthesuffix-ess,or-ss,asinauthoress,mayoress,priestess,princess and shepherdess. The basic noun is modified in the followingexamples: abbott, abbess; actor, actress; ambassador, ambassadress; duke,duchess; emperor, empress; governor, governess; hunter, huntress; marquis(marquess),marchioness;master,mistress.

Itshouldbementionedthatalthoughamayoressisthewifeofamayor,and

thus always feminine, a mayor need not be a man. The chief citizen notuncommonlyisawoman,whoisthemayororeventhelordmayor.Similarlyachairmancanbeawoman(“MadamChairman”),thetitleapplyingtotheofficeandnottotheindividual.

AclerkessisknownonlyinScotland,oramongScotsabroad.Besides theess (or ss) ending there are the irregular endings shown in the

following examples: administrator, administratix; draughtsman,draughtswoman; executor, executrix; hero, heroine; rajah, ranee; testator,testatrix;tsar,tsarina;yachtsman,yachtswoman.

Where there isnospecial feminine formof thenoun,and it isnecessary tosignify the sex of the person concerned, it is usual to refer, for example, to awomandoctor,awomanpainter,awomanteacher.

Thefemininityofsomeanimalsisdenotedby-ess,asinlionessandtigress.Otherfemaleshavespecialnames,suchasbitch,mareandvixen,butthisisnottheplaceforacomprehensivelist.

COMPARATIVEFORMSOFADJECTIVESAfewadjectiveshavetheirspecialformsofcomparatives,easyexamplesbeingbad, worse, worst, and good, better, best. The second and third words of thegroupsmean“morebad”and“mostbad”and“moregood”and“mostgood”.

Someadjectivesmaketheircomparativesbythedirectadditionoferandest,asin:hard,harder,hardest;quiet,quieter,quietest;slow,slower,slowest.

Wherethebasicadjectiveendsiny treatment isvariable.Afteraconsonantthe y is usually dropped to give, for example: dry, drier, driest; gloomy,gloomier,gloomiest;happy,happier,happiest;ugly,uglier,ugliest.Gay,wherethey follows a vowel,makesgayer andgayest. Shy can follow two patterns,shyerandshyestandshierandshiest.

Whereanadjectiveofonesyllableendsinasingleconsonantaftera“short”vowel theconsonant isdoubled togive, for example:big,bigger,biggest; fat,fatter,fattest;hot,hotter,hottest.

Anexampleofa“long”vowelisprovidedbytheadjectivefar,andherethisinsertedforconvenienceofdictiontomakefartherandfarthest.

Afterotherlongvowelsthefinalconsonantstayssingle,asin:clear,clearer,clearest; fair, fairer, fairest; poor, poorer, poorest. When the long-voweladjective ends in e, r or st is simply added, as in: cute, cuter, cutest; large,larger,largest;rare,rarer,rarest.

Manyadjectivesdonotreadilyaccepttheerandesttreatment,andforthoseitisnecessarytousemoreandmost.“Themostbeautifulwoman”isobviouslymorepleasanttohearthan“thebeautifullestwoman”.Althoughmorepleasantiswrittenhere,pleasanterwouldhavebeenacceptable.Someadjectives,indeed,can take both er-est andmore-most forms, the choice depending on euphony,rhythmandcontext.

Adjectivesendinginousrefusetoaccepterandest,andwhenLewisCarrollmakes Alice observe “curiouser and curiouser” the remark is confined toWonderland.

COMPARATIVEFORMSOFADVERBSIn theory there isnothingwrongwith thesentence,“James runsquicklier thanJohn”,butinpractice“Jamesrunsmorequickly”issmoother.The-lierformisarchaic but may have poetic or deliberately unusual applications. Adverbsendinginlyalmostinvariablyneedthemoreandmostformations.

The -erand -est formationsare restricted to thoseadverbsnot ending in ly.Weshouldthereforesay,“Herunsfaster”(or“fastest”),“Sheworksharder”(or“hardest”).

Theindependentadverbsooneasilymakessoonerandsoonest;butoftenandseldomtakemoreandmost.

Althoughearlier,onthesubjectofadverbs,itwassaidthat“Holdtight”wasas legitimate as “Work hard” and “Run fast”, “Screw itmore tightly”, is stillpreferable to “Screw it tighter”. “Easier said than done” is an ungrammaticalcolloquialism,buttripsoffthetonguemoresmoothlythan“Moreeasilysaid...”oreven“Easiliersaid...”.

NEGATIVEFORMSOFWORDSPrefixes making negatives are applicable to verbs, adjectives, nouns andadverbs.Examplesoftheirusearelistedbelow,anditwillbeseenthatinmostcases(modificationbeingnotedwherenecessary)theprefixissimplyaddedtothebase.(Appropriatenegativeprefixesfor-ableand-ibleadjectivesaregiveninthelistonpage267–8.)

Verbswith-un Verbswith-misunbend misapply

undo misbehave

undress miscalculate

unfasten misconstrue

unhinge miscount

unlatch misjudge

unmask mislead

unquote mismanage

unroll misplace

unseat misquote

misspell

misunderstand

Verbswithdis- Verbswithde-disagree decipher

disarm decompose

disarrange deconsecrate

discourage decrease

disenchant defame

disjoint deform

dismount degenerate

disown degrade

displease dehydrate

disqualify dissuade Adjectiveswith-un Adjectiveswith-disunattached disadvantageous

unattractive disagreeable

unhappy discontinuous

unnatural disgraceful

unpopular dishonest

unreasonable disillusioned

unremitting disloyal

unrepentant disobedient

unsteady disorderly

unwanted displeased

Adjectiveswith-im Adjectiveswithir-immaculate irredeemable

immaterial irreducible

immature irrefutable

immoderate irregular

immodest irrelevant

immoral irreligious

immovable irremediable

impermeable irreparable

impolite irresistible

irreverent

irrevocable

Adjectiveswithmis- Adjectivewith-igmiscast ignoble

misled misused Adjectiveswithil- Adjectiveswithin-illegal inaccessible

illegible inactive

illegitimate inaudible

illiberal incoherent

illimitable indecent

illiterate inefficient

illogical inexperienced

inhuman

innocuous

insignificant

Adjectiveswithnon-non-commissionednon-ferrousnon-playingnon-returnablenon-staticnon-stickNounswithdis- Nounswithmis-disadvantage misadventure

disaffection misalliance

disagreement misconception

disarmament misdeed

disarray misdemeanour

disbelief misfire

discomfort misfortune

discontent misrule

discredit misuse

disgrace

Nounswithde- Nounswithnon-decomposition non-acceptance

defoliation non-aggression

deformation nonconformist

dehydration non-delivery

demerit non-payment

nonsense

non-starter

ADVERBS

In themain, the same prefixes are used for negative forms of adverbs as fornegative adjectives.Where possible, the suffix -ly is a simple addendum, andwherenecessaryslightchangesaremadetothebasicforms.Afinaleisdropped,andafinalyisreplacedbyi.Examplesofnegativeadverbs(oneforeachprefixexcept non-) are: unsteadily, disloyally, misguidedly, improbably, illegally,irrevocably,inaudibly,ignobly.

NOTES

Indiscourage,dis-replacestheen-ofencourage.Indissuade,dis-replacestheper- ofpersuade.Unquote (verb) is “to close the quotation”.Misquote is “toquoteinaccurately”.

Adjectives include adjectival participles.Adjectiveswith the prefix de- areexcludedfromthe listsas theyarederivedfromverbswhichalreadycarry thenegativede-prefix,suchasdeform(ed)anddehydrated(d).

Mostnon- adjectives at present take the hyphen, exceptions beingmade inthe caseof establishedwords likenonsensical.Nonstick is an adjectivemadefromtheverbstick.Non-nounstakingthehyphenareofcomparativelyrecentorigin,unlikeestablishednounslikenonconformistandnonsense.Someofthedis-andmis-nounsarealsoverbs.

-ABLEAND-IBLEADJECTIVESAsmanyadjectivesendinginthesuffixes-ableand-iblecancausedoubtsastowhichsuffixtouse,youwillfindhereaselectiondividedintofiftyofeachofthetwocategories.Theappropriatenegativeprefixesalsoareshown.

-able inalienable unalterable inappreciable

unbelievable incalculable incapable

inconceivable inconsolable uncreditable

incurable undebatable indefinable

undemonstrable indispensable uneatable

inestimable inexcusable inexplicable

inhospitable inimitable unjustifiable

unlikeable illimitable unmanageable

immeasurable immovable innumerable

unobtainable impassable unpayable

impenetrable impermeable impracticable

improbable unquestionable irreconcilable

irredeemable irrefutable irremediable

irreparable irrevocable inseparable

unserviceable insufferable insupportable

untouchable unusable unviable

invulnerable unwearable -ible

inaccessible inadmissible inaudible

incombustible incompatible incomprehensible

incompressible incontrovertible inconvertible

incorrigible incorruptible incredible

indefensible indelible indestructible

indigestible indiscernible indistensible

indivertible indivisible inedible

ineligible inexhaustible inexpensible

inexpressible inextensible infallible

inflexible infrangible infusible

ingullible unimpressible unintelligible

illegible inmiscible inomissible

impassible imperceptible impermissible

implausible irreducible irremissible

irrepressible irresponsible irresistible

irreversible insensible insusceptible

intangible invisible

NOTES

Passible (as distinct from passable) means “capable of feeling or suffering”.Incorrigible is commonly used, but its base, corrigible (“capable of beingcorrected”)isseldomused.

Invaluableisnotthenegativeformofvaluable;itmeans“abovevaluation,ofinestimablevalue”.

Thenounforceleadstotwoverbs,forceandenforce.Theverbforceleadstotwoadjectives,forcibleandforceful–negativesinforcibleandunforceful.Theadjectivefromtheverbenforceisenforceable–negativeunenforceable.

Fornotesoninflammable,seepage213.

PUNCTUATIONPunctuation being a matter for only written language, like the use of capitalletters,itshouldbeconsideredwithspelling.Remarkshereareconfinedtotwopunctuationmarkswhich are intimately connectedwith spelling – the hyphenandtheapostrophe.

THEHYPHEN

Formoredetailsseepages110–114.Hyphens should generally be avoided in favour of oneword or two and a

moderndictionaryconsultedincaseofdoubt.Spelled out numbers between 21 and 99, excluding multiples of ten take

hyphens:“Thenumberissixhundredandtwenty-five.”“Thereactionlastedthirty-onesix-hundredthsofasecond.”Militaryranksandfamilyrelationshipsaregenerallyhyphenated:“Brigadier-GeneralBellingham-Smytheisvisitingthebarrackstoday.”“Mydaughter-in-lawhashergreat-grandmother’sname.”Hyphens are customary in some verb-based noun compounds such as: do-

gooder, cure-all, make-believe, runner-up, go-between and passer-by. Butothersarespelledsolid:rundown,shutdown,breakthrough,flypast.

Adjectives like air-cooled, devil-may-care, far-flung, life-giving, never-endingandquick-actingarealwayshyphenated.

Examplesoffixedphrasesthatalwayshavehyphensarethefollowing:

“JoanandBernardarehavingaheart-to-heart.”“We’rehavingaget-togetheratmyhouseonFriday.”“Theforget-me-notslooklovelyinthespring.”Such phrasal nouns as go-as-you-please, give-and-take, and the old-

fashionedn’eer-do-wellalsohavehyphens.Two awkward words are cooperate and coordinate, with their derivatives

cooperation, cooperative and coordination. The hyphen is no more justifiedherethaninotherco-wordssuchascoagulateandcoincidence;itmaybeusedto avoid any suggestion of an oo sound, but it also produces anomalies likeunco-ordinatedandunco-operative.There is nothingwrong in simplywritingcooperateandcoordinate.

THEAPOSTROPHE

Theapostrophehastwofunctions–toindicatepossession,andtotaketheplace,for the sake of abbreviation, of omitted letters, and for a full explanation seepage19andpages120–122inChapter5.

THEUSEOFCAPITALLETTERSSpelling isentirelyamatter for thewritten language.Theuseofcapital letters(or upper-case in printers’ parlance) is also amatter for thewritten language.Anystudyofspelling,therefore,wouldbeincompletewithoutanexaminationoftheuseofcapitals,aboutwhichthereseemstobesomeconfusion.Somepeoplesprinkle capitals indiscriminately over their writing without realising howirritating the practice is to the reader. Some omit capitals when their use isjustified.Someapparently think that allnouns requirecapitals.Some limit theuseofcapitalstonounstheyregardasimportant.

Forthecorrectuseofcapitallettersseepage124inChapter5.

DIPHTHONGSANDDIAERESESThe definition of a diphthong has been gradually altered over the past fewcenturies.Evenaslateasthenineteenthcenturyitwasappliedtoasoundlikeouin sound andmouse, which is produced by a rapid contraction of two vowelsoundsahandoo.Today,however,adiphthong(not“dipthong”) isunderstoodtobedefinedasacombinationoftwovowelstoproduceasinglesound,whichisnot the same as a rapid contraction of sounds. There are now only twodiphthongsinEnglish,aeandoe,twocombinationswhicharebothpronounced

ee.Itneedhardlybesaidthatthesecombinationsoccurwithouttheeesoundinnumerouswords,butthesecasesarenotdiphthongsanddonotconcernusnow.

Words containing the diphthong ae include the following – aegis, aeon,aesthetic, anaemia, archaeology, diaeresis, (en)cyclopaedia, haematite,haemoglobin,mediaeval – as well as the proper namesAegean, Caesar andMycenae. In Aegean the Ae is the diphthong, the ea after the g being twoseparatesyllables.

Wordscontainingthediphthongoearelesscommon,andseemtobelargelyconfinedtothevocabulariesofscience,medicineandclassicalmythology.Theyinclude coelacanth, diarrhoea, foetid, foetus, oenophile, oesophagus,oestrogen, and thenamesOedipus andOenone. It is interesting that thewordpeople contains thediphthong in reversebutwith the sameeffect.Manoeuvre(notaneesound)isanoutsider(Americanmaneuver).

TheAmericans have discarded the diphthong ae in favour of a single e inmostinstancesexceptpropernamessuchasAegeanandCaesar,althoughtheyhave retained oe. In both British and American English the a has entirelydisappearedfromaetherandtheofromoecumenical.

Printers sometimes use a character called a ligature which combines twoletters,andamongtheligaturesinusearethediphthongsæandœ.

Adiaeresis (pluraldiaereses) isamark,consistingof twodots,placedoverthe second vowel of a pair of adjacent vowels to indicate that it is soundedseparately. The diaeresis should be used only where otherwise there may besome doubt about pronunciation. Its use in aërate, for example, is to beencouragedifonly toactasabrakeon those innumerablepeoplewhowant tomispronounce theword“areate”. Itsuse seems justified indaïsandnaïve, butone could reasonably argue that chaos is equally deserving. Incidentally, it iscurious that thefeminineformofnaïve (masculinenaif)persists inEnglish tocoverboth sexes.Thenoun,naïveté, is sometimes expressed in the anglicisedformofnaïvety.

Some proper names usually take the diaeresis where two adjacent vowelsappear,asinAïda,ChloëandThaïs,buttheBrontëfamily’sinsistenceonitinthesingle finale seems tohavebeenhardly justifiedwhenanacuteaccent (é)wouldhavehadthesameeffect.SirNoëlCowardusedthemarkonlyinhislateryears.

AMERICANSPELLING

The following is a list of the commoner words in which American spellingdiffersfromBritishspelling.

As a general rule, all nouns which in British English end in our (such ascandourandhumourintheabovelist)endinorinAmericanEnglish.However,the following words are the same in both: glamorous, meter (instrument),coloration,honorific,humorist,humorous, laborious, license (verb),Saviour(intheChristiansense),stuporandtremor.InBritishEnglishpavior(page210)isfoundmoreoftenthanpaviour.TheAmericansusebothpracticeandpractisefortheverb.

The differences betweenaluminium (British) and aluminum, and betweenspeciality and specialty (American) are differences not in spelling asmuch as

differencesinthewordsthemselves.Itmaybeusefulheretogivealistofwordsofwhichthespellingcanvaryin

both British and American English: cider, cyder; cipher, cypher; fantasy,phantasy; fuse, fuze; lichgate, lychgate; mortice, mortise; pygmy, pigmy;silvan,sylvan;siphon,syphon;siren,syren;sty,stye(ontheeyelid);wych-elm,witch-elm.

10

NOTESONSELECTEDWORDS

Thissectionofthebookisalistofwordsintendedmainly,butnotwholly,asaspelling guide. There are hundreds of words, however, which, instead ofcondemnationtomereinclusioninacoldlist,deservecomment,observationanddiscursivetreatment.Inthefollowingpagesthereisaselectionofsuchwords.Itisintendedthatthissectionisusedwithagooddictionarytohand.Ifyouarenotquitesureofthemeaningofaworditissuggestedyouconsultyourdictionary.Inthiswayyouwillbuildupyourvocabularyaswellasyourspelling.

abjureTheinfrequencywithwhichthiswordisusedmayperhapsbeattributedto the rather horrific finality of its meaning, “to renounce, recant, retreat, orabrogateanythinguponoath”.Itissometimesmisusedinasenseofcommandorappeal,asin:“Iabjureyouto...”,whenthewordtobeusedisnotabjurebutadjure.

accept, except Tomany people these sound alike,with the unfortunate resultthat“Presentcompanyaccepted”issometimesheard(insteadofexcepted).

accessary,accessoryFewpeopleseemtobeawarethatthelegaltermaccessary(asin“accessaryafterthefact”)isdifferentfromthewordaccessory,whichisappliedtoapieceofequipmentoracontribution.

adapt, adopt The noun from the first verb isadaptation. The noun from thesecondisadoption.

“Weshalladopt,asourmotto,‘Nildesperandum’.”“Atlasttheydecidedtoadoptachild.”“TheplayisadaptedfromtheGerman.”“Wecouldadaptthecurtainstofitthewindowsofthenewhouse.”Hardly anyone finds any trouble in the use of the verbs adopt and adapt.

There is evidence of confusion, however, in the derived nouns adoption andadaptation. It isnotuncommontoseeorhear“adaption”, theonlyfault in theuseofwhichseemstobealackofobservation.

adjureSeeabjure.

adopted,adoptiveWhen a child isadopted his newparents becomeadoptiveparents.

advice,advise, adviser,advisory Toadvise is to give advice. A person whogives advice is an adviser (occasionally spelt advisor), and he serves in anadvisoryfunction.

affect, effect The confusion between these is not diminished by the fact thatalthough thefirst isalways averb thesecondcanbeverbornoun.Somethingwhichhasaneffectonyouaffectsyou.Whenyouachievesomething,orbringsomethingabout,youeffectit.

Affect isaverb,andonlyaverb.Whenused transitively itmeans“haveaneffecton”.

“The onlymatter now affecting the issue is the legal right of the lessee toentertheland.”

“Onionsdonotaffectmyeyesastheydootherpeople’s.”“Shewasvisiblyaffectedbythesadproceedings.”Affectcanalsobeusedintransitivelytomean“pretend”,butinthissenseitis

alwaysfollowedby“to”,asin:“Heaffectstobeawealthyman.”“Sheaffectstobeawomanofnoimportance.”Thismeaningofaffectgivesthenounaffectation(pretence).Effectcanbebothanounandaverb.Hereitisasanoun:“Theeffectofthespeechwastoelectrifytheaudience.”“Certaindrugshave

asoporificeffect.”“Independencemayhavetheeffectofarrogance.”Hereiseffectasaverb,meaning“bringabout”:“The judge said he hoped the arrangement would effect a reconciliation

betweentheparties.”“Aftermuchheateddiscussionthedisputantsappealedtothechairman,who

recommendedthatacompromisebeeffectedwithoutdelay.”“Effectingtherightdegreeoftemperatureinthefurnaceisamatterofgreat

skill.”Itshouldbenotedthattheverbeffectisalwaystransitive.

affection,affectationThefirstisawordforfondness,emotionalattachment;the

secondsignifiespretence,artificiality.

albumen,albuminThefirstisthewhiteofanegg,thesecondaclassofprotein.

alignThederivationisFrench(aligner,arrangeinline),andunaccountablythisformisusednearlyalwaysinpreferencetotheacceptablealine.(Seegnwords.)

allrightAlwaystwowords.Seepage149.

ambidextrousSeedextrous.

amend,emendThesearenotquitethesameinmeaning.Toamendistocorrecterrors ormake improvements. To emend is to remove errors from a book ormanuscript.

amokYoucanrunamokbutnot“amuck”,whichisacorruption.AmokisoneoftheseveralMalayanwordsinEnglish.

analyst,annalistThese twosoundalike.Ananalyst isonewhoanalyses. Anannalistisonewhocompilesannals,orrecordsofhistoricalevents.

animus, animosity The first, though literally an animated spirit, is oftenwronglygiventhesameinterpretationasanimosity,afeelingofenmity.

ante-,anti-Theprefixante-meansbefore,asinantedate,antediluvian (beforethe flood), antechamber, and antecede (precede). The prefix anti- showsopposition,asinanticlimax,anticyclone,antidote.Antipathyistheoppositeofsympathy.Anantimacassarwasplacedoverthebackofanarmchairtoshielditfromtheeffectsofmacassaroilwithwhichhairwasdressed.

apogee It is remarkablehowcertain scientificwordshave crept into everydayspeech,oneexamplebeingtheastronomicalwordapogee–thehighestpointofanorbitinitsrelationtotheearth–whichispopularlyusedforaculminationorthehighestattainment.

apophthegmThiswordisincludedinthissectionasitissuchatongue-twister.Itmeansaterseorwittysaying,amaxim.(Seegmwords.)

aposiopesisYoumayneverusethiswordorhaveevenheardit.Itisarhetorical

term meaning a sudden breaking-off in speech for dramatic effect, a devicefavouredbysomepoliticians.

apposite, opposite In a sense these two adjectives are antonyms (words ofoppositemeanings).Appositemeansfit,apt,appropriate,sothatifitismisreadormisprintedasoppositeameaningcontrarytothewriter’smaybegiven.

archiepiscopalOf themanywords startingwitharch this is probably theonemost likely to bemisspelt. The conjunction of the two vowels i ande can beconfusing,andeitherisliabletobeomitted.

artefact,artifactArchaeologistsusebothspellings.

artiste The use of the French word to describe, for example, a professionalsingerordancerwasanEnglishaffectation.Atleastitdistinguishesaperformerfromanartist,awordwhichisproperlyappliedtoonewhopractisesoneofthefinearts.

asphaltThismaterialisoftenmiscalled“ashfalt”oreven,strangely,“ashfelt”.Ithasnothing todowith ash, andcareless spellers and talkersmust take carefulnoteoftheword.

assurance This has two connectedmeanings: (1) guarantee that something istrue,certainty,self-confidence;(2)inacommercialsense,insurance,sothataninsurancecompanymaycallitselftheXAssuranceCompany.

auger,augurLiabletobeconfused.Anaugerasanounisadrill,orasaverbtheworddescribestheactofdrillingwithanauger.Anaugurisanomen,orasaverbitmeanstoprognosticatefromsignsandomens.

aural,oralThesetwosoundalmostalike.Auralpertainstotheear,oraltothemouthorspeech.

balmy,barmyTheseareveryoftenconfused.Thespellingofthefirstshouldberemembered by its association with balm, a soothing ointment, so that it hascometomean“soft,soothing,fragrant”,asin“abalmyevening”.Barmisyeastformed in fermentation, and as its vapour is said to induce lightheadednessbarmyhascometomean“crazy,volatile”

The correct usages are shown in the following sentences: “You must be

barmytobelieveeverythinghetellsyou.”“Isn’titawonderfullybalmyevening!”(The second sentence, although couched as a question, is meant as an

exclamation, and therefore receives the exclamation mark rather than thequestionmark.)

bark,barqueIreferheretothefloatingkindofbark,neitherthebarkofatreenorthebarkofadog.Barkisusuallyapoeticwordforanyshiporboat.Barqueisatechnicaltermforashipofspecialrig.

behest“Thedarknessfallsatthybehest.”ThelovelylineofJohnEllertoncallsattentiontoawordwhichisnowseldomusedintheharshworldofcommands,ordersandrequests.

biannual, biennial The first means “twice a year”, the second “every twoyears”.

billionTraditionally, abillion in theUnitedKingdomandmanyotherpartsoftheworldwasamillionmillion. In theUnitedStatesandFrance itwasonlyathousand million. A few years ago it was decided, mainly by internationalfinancial interests, thathenceforthabillionshouldbeinterpretedasa thousandmillion. Obviously, to such organisations as the oil industry and other hugebusinessescontinentalbarriersdonotexist,andconsistencynowseemshighlyessential.

bonanza Amining term for a rich ore-deposit, first used in Nevada after theSpanishwordforprosperityorfairweather.

Itisnowappliedindiscriminatelytoanypieceofgoodfortune.

boycott In 1880 Captain C. C. Boycott made himself unpopular by evictingmanyofthetenantsofhisemployer,LordErne,inCountyMayo.Inretaliationhisneighboursand theother tenantry thenceforthavoidedall contactwithhimandhisfamily,oragreedtoboycottthem.

broadcast It is occasionally forgotten that the -cast ending in this and similarwords is past tense and past participle. We hear dreadful solecisms like“broadcasted”,“forecasted”,but‘Theskyisovercast”neverpresentsproblems.

bucolicInthemindsofmanythisfineoldwordisassociatedwithgoodcheer,heartydrinking.Asanadjective,however,allitmeansispastoral,rustic,andasanounitisapastoralpoem.

bunkumStudentsofhistorywillknowthatthisisacorruptionofBuncombe,acountyinNorthCarolina,therepresentativeofwhichmadeaspeechinCongressin1820merelytopleasehisconstituents.Hisspeechwassoworthlessthatthewordhasclung,albeitinadifferentform,andhasevenledtothemodernverbdebunk.

by-law,by-productTheseareoftenmisspelt“bye-law”and“bye-product”.

cadaverYoumaynotoftentodaycomeacrossthiswordforacorpse,butitstillhasitsusesandisnotyetdueforabolition.Theadjectivecadaverousmeansnotonly“corpse-like”butalso“deathlypale”.

cannon,canonThoughsoundingexactlythesamethetwoareverydifferent.Acannon isabigfirearm.Acanon is (1)aChurchdecree; (2)ageneral laworprinciple; (3) a list of works by a particular author; (4) part of amass; (5) amemberofacathedralchapter.

canter Pilgrims to Canterbury rode their horses at a gentle pace called theCanterbury,graduallyshortenedtocanter.

canvas,canvassThe coarsematerialwhich is used for innumerable purposes,and on which artists paint, has one s, the plural being canvases. The verbdescribing a search for support (in elections, for example) has a double s, itsotherformationsbeingcanvasses,canvassedandcanvassing.

carat Two meanings: (1) a unit of weight for precious stones, equal to 200milligrammes;(2)a24thpart,sothat22-caratgoldis22/24thspure.

carcase,carcassAlternative spellingsof the sameword.Theplural forms arecarcasesandcarcasses.

carillonBecausethisisaFrenchwordwithaliquidlmanypeoplewanttoinsertaniandmispronounceit“carillion”.

carnelianAlthough there is analternative spellingcornelian, themineralogist

spells the name of this semi-precious stone with an a. This spelling is morelogicalastheLatinderivation,carnea,meansflesh-coloured.Anotherwordforthesamemineralissard,fromSardisinLydia,oneofitsancientsources.

causalOftenmisprintedormisreadascasual,withwhichithasnoconnection.Itisanawkwardadjectiveformedfromthenouncause.Apersonaddictedtoitsusemightsay:“Inflationandhighwagesarecausalonewiththeother”.Thereisanevenmoreawkwardextendednoun,causality.

censer,censor,censureAcenserisavesselforburningincense.Acensorisanofficialwhoexaminesdocumentsinsearchofobjectionalmaterial.Censureasanoun means “disapproval”; as a verb it means “to disapprove, reprimand,blame”.

charismaOneofthemostabusedwordsofmoderntimes.Itmeans“adivinelyconferred power or talent, a capacity to inspire followers with devotion andenthusiasm”. The noun, and its adjective charismatic, are now applied topersonswhosequalificationsaredubious.

chauvinism Napoleon’s faithful soldier Nicolas Chauvin little knew how hisnamewouldbeperpetuated.Inhisunquestioningdevotiontohisemperorhewasaccused of excessive patriotism, a sentiment which came to be calledchauvinism inaderisorymanner.Themeaninghasshiftedsomewhat to implymalesupremacy,and todaychauvinismandchauvinist areclichés flungaboutbypeoplewhoknownothingabouttheirorigin.

choir,quire The pronunciation of both isquire, although the spelling is nownearlyalwayschoir.Thearchaismispreservedinthe1662editionoftheBookofCommonPrayer,“InQuiresandPlaceswheretheysing”(rubricafterthethirdcollect,MorningPrayer).(Seealsoquire.)

climax,anticlimaxThetruemeaningofclimax–progressiontothetopratherthan the top itself – is seldom appreciated, but the Greek word for ladder,klimax,makesitobvious.Theassociatedadjectivesareclimactic(nottobereadasclimatic)anti-climactic.

commentAsanounthiscallsfornodiscussion.Itsextendedformcommentary,however,hasledtotheestablishmentofcommentator,thepersonwhodelivers

thecommentary.Thishas led toaverb“commentate”,which isa farcryfromthesimpleverbcomment.

compass The magnetic needle indicating magnetic north is a compass. Theinstrumentusedfordrawingcirclesorarcsisapairofcompasses.

complacent,complaisantThese twowords,which soundalmostalike, canbeconfused.Complacentmeans self-satisfied, toowilling to let things take theircourse or stay as they are. Complaisant means excessively courteous,obsequious.

complement, compliment It is quite common for compliment to be writteninstead of complement; the reverse is less common.Complement means thecompletionofsomething,aquantityrequiredtomakeupanexistingquantitytoagiventotal.Figuratively,awell-chosenwinecanbesaidtocomplementagooddinner. A compliment, as everyone knows, is an expression of courtesy, ofapprobation.

compriseThis,atransitiveverb,isnotthesameascomposeorconsist,anditisill-treated every day. You can say “composed of” or “consist of’ but never“comprised of”. Correct use lies in the following example: “The UnitedKingdomcomprisesEngland,Scotland,WalesandNorthernIreland”.Youmustnotsay:“TheUnitedKingdomiscomprisedof...”

contumely,contumaceousTotreatsomeonewithcontumely is to treathiminaninsolentandreproachfulmanner.Itisanunusualsortofnounbecauseofits-elyending,anddeservesanoccasionalairing.Theendingoftheadjectiveisoneof the standard adjectival suffixes, giving the word – despite its unpleasantassociation–arichpoeticalsound.

council, councillor, counsel, counsellor A councillor serves on a council. Acounsellor gives advice, or counsel. As a barrister representing a client he iscalled counsel (as in “counsel for defence”). In the United States the lawyerrepresentingaclientisacounselor.Counselisalsoaverb,meaning“advise”.

credible, creditable Credible means “believable” and is the opposite ofincredible.Creditablemeans“worthyofcredit”.

crevasse,creviceAcrevasseisadeepfissureintheiceofaglacier,orafissureintheembankmentofariver.Acreviceisanyfissureornarrowopening.

criteriaThis,thoughthepluralofcriterion,issometimesmisusedasasingularnoun,inthesamewayascarelesspeoplemisusemediaandphenomena.

currant, current The fruit is the currant. The flow of electricity, water oranything else that flows is the current. There is also the adjective current(meaningpresent,prevailing,asin“currentprices”),fromwhichisderivedtheadverbcurrently.

cygnet,signetThese twowordswhichsoundalikerefer,ofcourse, to (first)ayoungswan,and(second)aseal(nottheaquatickind).

dalmatianThedog,originallynativetoDalmatia,isnota“dalmation”.

data Itmustberemembered that this is theplural formof thenoundatum, sothatyoumustsay“thesedata”.

decimateOriginally thismeant tokill one in ten,but corruptionhas led to itspresentassociationwithgeneralmassacre.

dependant,dependent These words are often confused, the greater tendencybeingtousedependantfordependent.Dependantisanoun,beingsomeoneorsomethingdependent on someoneor something else.Adependant is a personwhodependsonanotherforsupport.

“AsamarriedmanandafatherIhaveseveraldependantswholooktomeforsupport.”

Dependentisanadjectivemeaning“dependingonsomethingorsomeone”.“Heisdependentonme.”“TheDailyReflectionisindependentofparty,creedandsectionalinterests.”“Theprisonerwasdescribedasofindependentmeans.”

deprecate,depreciateLiterally,todeprecate is to try toavertbyprayer,but ithas come to mean “to express disapproval of something, to plead earnestlyagainst, to regret”.Depreciate means “to fall in value”, but thismeaning hasbeen stretched somewhat to include “disparagement”. As expression ofdisapprovalcanbeequatedwithdisparagementtherearesensesinwhichthetwo

verbscanbeinterchanged,andtheyareoftenconfusedbecausetheycanbeverysimilarinmeaning.Considerthissentence:

“The City Architect deprecated the tendency of the Works Department toallowfamousbuildingstogetintobadstatesofneglect.”

TheCityArchitectcouldhavebeeneitherprayingagainstthetendency–thatis, wishing that the tendency was absent – or disparaging it. In this case,therefore,eitherdeprecatedordepreciatedcouldbeusedwithsimilareffect.

If,insteadofprayingforourenemies(asmorallyweshould),weprayagainstthem,wedeprecatethem,justaswedeprecateallthethingsweshouldnotprayfor – war, disease, famine, suffering. Yet often deprecate (or one of itsderivatives) is used instead of depreciate (or one of its derivatives), as in thefollowingtwoexamples:

“Self-deprecationisavirtueofthehumble-minded.”“The chairman, publicly deprecating the committee’s rash action, rose and

lefttheroom.”Askyourselfthemeaningofeachsentence.Does the first mean that the humble-minded pray against themselves or

disparage themselves?They are not likely to pray against themselves, and theobviousmeaningisthattheydisparagethemselves.Thecorrectexpression,then,is“self-depreciation”.

In the second sentence, is the chairman praying against the committee’sactionordisparagingit?Heiscertainlydisparagingit,sothat thewordshouldbe“depreciating”.

Depreciate, in one sense, means disparage. In another sense, of course, itmeansdeclineinvalue,butthenitisusedintransitively,asin:“Thevalueofthemachine depreciates by 20 per cent, each year, andwill thus bewritten off infiveyears.”

depute The noun deputy is well enough known, and so is the verb depute(“appointasdeputy”).Thisword is includedhere inrecognitionof itsScottishuseasasynonymfordeputy,asin“deputetreasurer”,withtheemphasisonthefirstsyllable.

derring-do “Deeds of derring-do”. What a strange expression! The originalform of this, dorrying don, “daring to do”, is attributed to Chaucer, butapparentlyitwasinterpretedbySpenserasanoun,

derringdoe (without thehyphen),andin thisformithasbeenassimilatedinto

thelanguageasanexpressionfordesparatecourage.

desiccateItistemptingtomisspellthisas“dessicate”.

dextrous, dexterous These are variants of the same word, the first (thecommoner)formbeingacontractionofthesecond.Dextermeans“pertainingtoorsituatedontheright-handside”,andinheraldryitsignifiesapositionontheright of the shield (the viewer’s left). Dexterous originally meant “right-handed”, but now means “skilful with one’s hands, adroit, clever”. Theassociatednoun isdexterity, and a personwho canusebothhandswith equalfacilityisambidextrous.

didactic If you are lecturing someone, perhaps unconsciously, you are beingdidactic.Thewordisnolongerappliedtotrueteaching,andmanypeopleresentdidacticisminothers.

dietician,dietitianBothspellingsareaccepted.

digit,digitalTheLatindigitushascomealongwayfromitsoriginalmeaningoffinger.Becausepeoplecountedontheirfingersdigitwasappliedtonumbersunder ten.When thenewmathematics firstappeared thewordwas impoundedand then adopted by the computer wizards. Now we have digital computers,digitalclocksanddigitalwatches.

dilapidate Usually encountered in the adjective dilapidated and the noundilapidation,whichareoftenmisspelt“delapidated”and“delapidation”.

dilettante Thisword, of Italian origin (the final e pronouncedwith an accuteaccent), refers toa loverof theartsbutmoreparticularlyanamateurwhotoyswithseveralinterests.

diphtheria Common mispronunciation usually makes this “diptheria”.Rememberthatthepisfollowedbyh.

diphthongNot“dipthong”.

discomfit,discomfortThese twoareveryoftenconfused.Discomfit isaverb,meaning “to defeat, put to rout, frustrate, thwart” (see rout). Its noun isdiscomfiture.Discomfortasanoun(itsusualform)istheoppositeofcomfort;

asaverbitmeans“todepriveofcomfort,causeuneasiness”.

discompose Not to be confused with decompose. Meaning “to disturb thecomposure of”, it is the opposite of compose, so that you could say: “Don’tdiscomposeyourself”.

discreet,discreteTheseadjectivesareexplainedonpage222.Discreetmeans“circumspect inspeechoraction; tactfulandtrustworthy”or“unobtrusive”.Itsassociatednounisdiscretion.Discretemeans“distinct,discontinuous,detached,separate”.Itsassociatednounisdiscreteness.

disinterested,uninterested There is somemisunderstanding about these two,whichdonotmean the same.Disinterestedmeans“neutral,withoutprejudice,unbiased, impartial, unselfish, not caringonewayor theother”.Uninterested,the direct opposite of interested, is more vehement than disinterested andimpliestheholdingnotofanimpartialviewbutofadefinitelynegativeview.

dissectRememberthedoubleshere.Withasingles thewordwouldbedisect,anobsoleteformofbisect.

disassociate, dissociate As these two verbs mean the same, the second andshorteroneispreferable.Itiseasy,however,toflounderoverthespellings,andthepositionsofthelettersmustbenoted.

draconian Adjective originally applied to harsh punitive measures directedagainst the Athenians by the legislator Dracon about 620 BC. Now usedgenerallyforanysevereimposition.

egoist,egotistThesearenotquitethesame,althoughineffecttheycanbe.Anegoist is a self-centred person,while an egotist (awordwhich appeared afteregoist)isonewhotalksabouthimselfexcessively.

elicit, illicitThese twosimilar-soundingwordscan trap theunwary.Elicit isaverbmeaning“extract”, as in: “Youmust elicit the information”. Illicitmeans“unlawful,notpermitted”.

eligible, illegible These are easily confused. Eligible means “suitable, fit ordeserving to be chosen, qualified to apply” (perhaps for an appointment).Illegiblemeans“unreadable”.

embarrassThisissometimesmisspeltwithasinglerontheanalogyofharass.

emendSeeamend,emend.

emigrant, emigrate, immigrant, immigrate An emigrant is a person wholeaveshiscountrytoemigratetoanothercountry.Animmigrantistheopposite,a person who arrives in a country, or immigrates, with the object of settlingthere.

enquire,inquireSeeinquire,enquire.

ensure, insure These are not the same. Ensure means “to make sure” ofsomething. Insure means “to pay a premium against the possibility ofmisfortune”,andleadstothenounsinsuranceandassurance.Seeassurance.

entrepreneurThisisgivenseveralshadesofmeaningbytheFrench,whoapplyit even to a funeral undertaker. InEnglish an entrepreneur is amiddleman, anagent,acontractor,onewhoundertakesanenterprise(notethesimilarity)inthehopeofmakingaprofit.

envelop,envelopeTheverbisenvelop,thenounenvelope.

epicureThetroubleaboutwordscoinedfrompeople’snamesisthatthepeoplethemselvesareoftenforgotten.Epicurus,anAthenianphilosopherwhodied in270BC,taughtthevirtuesofperfection,of thehighest tasteinone’schoiceofpleasure, especially the pleasure of food. Hence someone who is extremelyparticularanddelicateinhiseatinghabitsisanepicurean.

erupt, irrupt These can understandably be confused. To erupt is to breakthrough violently, as in a volcanic eruption, or burst out. To irrupt is theopposite, to burst inwards, so that an irruption is an invasion from outside,perhapsbytheenemy.

esotericIfthisadjectiveisseldomuseditmaybebecauseitisjustwhatitis–esoteric.Thewordmeans“restrictedtotheinitiated,notgenerallyintelligible”.

etiolateAnattractiveverbwithunattractiveassociations.Itmeans“toblanch”,andisappliedtoplantswhichturnwhiteifkeptinthedarkandtopeoplewho

becomeunhealthilypale.

eupeptic Despite its esoteric appearance this adjective has quite an earthymeaning–pertainingto,orhaving,agooddigestion.

euphemism, euphuism Each of these can be misused for the other. Aeuphemism isadelicateexpressionforsomethingthatcouldbeoffensive,orapolitewayofsayingsomething.Aeuphuismisapedanticaffectationofelegant,high-flownandwould-bewittylanguage.

euphoriaOneofthosewordswhichsleepforalongtimeandarethensuddenlyrediscoveredandoverworked.Generallyitisusedpartlyinitspropersenseofafeeling of well-being, but the fact that the feeling has to be based on over-optimismisoftenoverlooked.

except,acceptSeeaccept,except.

exculpateThisverb,meaning“tofreefromblame”,hasbeenlargelysupersededbyexonerate.

exiguous A pleasant adjective (meaning small, slender) which deserves to bemorepopular.

exotic Simply thismeans “foreign, attractively strange or unusual, introducedfromabroad”.Itdoesnotnecessarilyhaveanyromanticassociations,butithasbeenknowntobeconfusedwitherotic.

factitiousAlthoughadifferentwordfromfictitiousthisbearssomeresemblancetoitinappearanceandinmeaning(“artificial,notgenuine,contrived”).

farther, further Ingeneral there is littledistinctionbetween these, althoughachoicemaylie in thecontext.Further isexemplified in“At thefurtherendoftheroom”and“Afurtherreasonexists”.Furtherisalsoaverb,asin“Tofurtherhisownends”.Fartherismoresuitableinthesentences:“ManchesterisfartherfromLondonthanBristol”and“Thesoundwentfartherandfartheraway”.

ferment,fomentTheseareoftenconfused.Fermentistheverbtodescribethechemical process known as fermentation. To foment is (1) to apply a hotpoulticeordressing–a fomentation–and (2) toencourage, topromote,as in

“fomentarevolution”.

filibusterOriginallyanounofDutchandSpanishoriginmeaning“freebooter”,oronewhoengagesinunauthorisedwarfareagainstaforeignstate,thisisnowapplied to one who tries to obstruct legislative proceedings by prolongedspeaking.Itisalsousedfortheactitself(“afilibusteronthepartofMrX”),andhasgivenrisetoaverbtofilibuster.

forbear,forebearPeopleoftenconfusethesetwosimilarwords.Forbear(verb,accent on the second syllable) means “to abstain or refrain from doingsomething, tobepatient”.A forebear (noun, accenton the first syllable) is anancestor.

forgo,foregoTheseareconfusedfartoooften.Forgomeans“todenyoneself,toabstain,todecline”(“Idecidedtoforgothepleasureofhercompany.”).Ithasapasttenseforwent,apresentparticipleforgoing,andapastparticipleforgone.Foregomeans“precede” (“gobefore”). Ithasapast tense forewent, a presentparticipleforegoing,andapastparticipleusedasanadjectivein(forexample)“foregoneconclusion”.

Veryfrequentlyforegoiswronglyusedinsteadofforgo,asin:“Will you promise to forego your half-holiday if I grant you this favour?”

Here,foregoshouldbeforgo.Perhapsthereasonfortheerroristhefactthatforegoinitscorrectsensehas

fallen intodisuse.Therearesomanyotherfore-words thatpeoplemayforgetthatfor-wordsexistaswell.Forgetisoneofthem.

former,latterIfyoumustusethesewordsrememberthattheycanrefertoonlyoneoftwoitems.Ifyouarelistingmorethantwoitems,thecorrectandlogicalexpressionsarethefirstandthelast.

fuchsiaAnydoubtastothespellingofthenoundescribingthisfloweringshrubshould be dispelled by the realisation that it was called after the sixteenth-centuryGermanbotanistL.Fuchs.

furore Many people seem to be rediscovering this old Italian word without,however,givingitthefullvalueofitsthreesyllables,furor-ay.Ifitislimitedtotwosyllables it losesmuchof theforceof itsmeaningof“greatexcitementorenthusiasm”.

further,fartherSeefarther,further.

gamble,gambolThesehaveasimilarsound,exceptfor theslightemphasisoftheo ingambol. The first is understood; the second is associatedwith springlambs.

gipsy,gypsyAlternativespellings.ThesecondispreferableasthesewanderingpeoplearebelievedtohaveoriginatedinEgypt.

gmwordsThere are noEnglishwords startingwithgm, but there are severalcontainingthecombination.Paradigm(listedlater)isoneofthoseinwhichthegm occurs at the end, inwhich case theg is silent. It is silent inphlegm,butsoundedinphlegmatic.Itissilentinapophthegm(listedearlier),butsoundedinapophthegmatic.Indogma,wherethecombinationdoesnotfallattheend,thegissounded,as it isalso indogmatic.Thesameconstruction is seen inenigma(enigmatic)andmagma(magmatic).

gnwords There are severalwords startingwithgn (such as gneiss, gnomon,gnu)inwhichthegissilent.Wherethegnfallswithinawordthegisusuallysounded,asinbigness,cygnet,malignant,signatory,signet,butanexceptionisphysiognomy,wherethegissilent.Wherethegnfallsattheendofaworditissilent,asinalign,deign,feign,impugn,malign,reignandsign.

griffin,gryphon,griffonAgriffinisthesameasagryphon,afabulouscreaturewith an eagle’s head andwings and a lion’s body. A griffon is (1) a kind ofvulture,and(2)acoarse-hairedbreedofdog.

grisly,gristly,grizzlyThreeadjectivesliabletobeconfused:(1)causinghorrorordread;(2)applicabletomeat;(3)grizzlybear.

gubernatorialAcuriousadjectivemeaning“ofagovernor”.AsthetwowordsarefromthesameLatinwordforgovernor,gubernator,thereisnoreasonwhywedonotsay“governatorial”or“gubernor”.

harassUnlikeembarrass,thishasonlyoner.

haywire“It’sallhaywire”,wesay.Apparentlythewireforbalinghaywasoftenused in attempted makeshift repairs to various kinds of farm equipment, butsometimestheresultwasaconfusedtangleofwire–henceouridiom.

hersThispossessivepronoundoesnotcarrytheapostrophe.

hoard,hordeThefirst isappliedto things,as in“hoardofgold”.OriginallyahordewasatribeofTurkishclansmen,andthenounhascometobeappliedinaderogatorysensetoamultitudeofpeople,asin“hordesoftourists”.

homogeneous This is sometimes misspelt and mispronounced as“homogenous”,perhapsonthebasisof“homogenisedmilk”.

hubrisAwordusedbysomewriters,ignoredbyothers,andpossiblyskippedbyreaderswhohavenotimetothinkaboutit.ItisaGreekwordforinsolentprideor presumption, and in Greek tragedy its indulgence inevitably led to anunfortunatefate.

hypercritical,hypocritical To behypercritical is to be excessively critical ofsomething.Tobehypocriticalistoexhibithypocrisy,apretenceofvirtue.

illegible,eligibleSeeeligible,illegible.

illicit,elicitSeeelicit,illicit.

immanent, imminent Two distinct words. Immanent means “inherent, in-dwelling”.Ifaneventisimminent,itwillhappenverysoon.

immigrantSeeemigrant,emigrate,immigrant,immigrate.

inflammableSeepage213.

influenza This common word is included merely because of its interestingderivationfromLatinthroughItalianandSpanish.Itsfirstrecordedappearancein Europe was apparently in 1510, when the disease was attributed to theinfluenceofthestars.

ingenious, ingenuousThese twowords,oftenconfused,havenoetymologicalconnection.Ingenious, associatedwith thenoun ingenuity andwith engineer,means “inventive, good at organising, or specially skilful”. As a “switched”adjectiveitcanbeappliedtosomethingwhichistheresultofingenuity,suchas“aningeniousdevice”or“aningeniousexplanation”.Ingenuousmeans“open,

frank,innocent,artless”,anditsnounisingenuousness.

innocuousAtrapforspellers.Notethedoublenandthesinglec.

inoculateOn thestrengthof innocuous it is tempting todouble then,but thetemptationmustberesisted.

inquire, enquire These are broadly alike in meaning, but enquire usuallyconveys a meaning of simply asking. Which to use is a matter of personalchoice, but inquire is the more common, just as inquiry seems to be morefavouredthanenquiry,especiallyinthecaseofaninvestigation.

insure,ensureSeeensure,insure.

interregnum Literally this is a period between two reigns, and the double rwouldbemoreobviousifthetwopartsofthewordwereseparatedbyahyphen.Besides periods between reigns of monarchs the word is applied to intervalsbetween service periods of two governments or two functionaries. It has nowcometobeused,notalwaysstrictlycorrectly,forasuspensionofoperations,apause.

invalidAs sometimes occurs in English, the twomeanings of thisword havedifferentpronunciations–“invalid”(noun)fortheunwellperson,and“invalid”(adjective)describingsomethingofnoweight,forceorcogency,theoppositeofvalid.

invidiousThisisawordusedbypeoplewhomaynotknowitsmeaninganduseit in the wrong sense. Literally it means “envious”, but it has two otherinterpretations – (1) tending to provoke envy or ill-will, and (2) offendingthroughrealorapparentinjustice.Inshort,itisratheravaguewordandisbetterleft alone.Anyonewho says “My positionwas invidious” probably could notexplainwhathemeant.

inviteThisisaverb.Thosepeoplewhouseitasanouninsteadofthemusicalinvitationhavenodefence.

isthmusThisishardtopronounceandawkwardtospell.

its,it’sTheinstructionsrelatingtothesetwolittlewordscannotberepeatedtoo

often.Thepossessiveitsneverhasanapostrophe.Theabbreviationit’sforit isneedstheapostrophe.

jejuneThisisincludedherebecauseoftheunconsciouswishofsomepeopletoconnect itwith theFrench jeune. Ithasnothing todowithyouth, itsmeaningbeing(1)“meagre,scanty”,and(2)“devoidofinterestinlife,depressed”.

latter,former.Seeformer,latter.

lay, lie, laid, lain (See page 45.) The commonmisuse of thesewordsmakesgrammariansprematurelygrey.Youcanlaysomethingdown,andahenlaysanegg.Inthepasttense,youlaiditdownandthehenlaidanegg.Youlieonthebed(present)andyoulayonthebed(past).Youmustneversay“I laiddown”butyoucansay“Ilaiditdown”.Youmustneversay“Iwaslayingdown”butyoucansay“Iwaslyingdown”and“Iwaslayingitdown”.Youmustneversay“Iwentforalay-down”butyoucansay“foralie-down”.IfAliesunderoroverB,BisoverlainorunderlainbyA–not“overlaid”or“underlaid”.Overlayandunderlayarenouns–thusacoverletoraveneerisanoverlay–andasverbscanbeusedinthepasttenseasin“Thecarpetoverlaythefloor”.

liaisonThereisatendencytoomitthesecondiinthespelling.Itisregrettablethat thenounhas led toa colloquialback-formationverb liaise (make liaison)(followedbywith),theuseofwhich,thoughsometimesconvenient,isnottobeencouraged.

licence, license InBritishEnglish licence is the noun and license the verb.Alicensed house can have a seven-day licence. The landlord is the licensee. InAmericanEnglishbothnounandverbarelicense.

lineal,linearThesetwodemandtobeconfused.Lineal,anadjective,means“tobeinthedirectlineofdescentorancestry”,andgivesthenounlineage.Linear,also an adjective,means “to be in line or on line”, giving such expression as“linear perspective”, “linear extent”. It is applied also to two related forms ofancientwritinginCreteandGreece,LinearAandLinearB.

loath,loathe,lothThreesimilarwordsoftenpresentingdoubt.Loatheisaverb,so that you can detest or hate something. Loath is an adjective, meaning“unwillingorreluctant”.Lothisanotherformofloath,andisusedmainlyinthe

strange idiom, “nothing loth”. “When asked if he would like a holiday, Jim,nothingloth,acceptedtheoffer.”

Itisquitecommontofindloatheandloathconfused:“Iloathtravellingbytrain”(insteadofloathe).“Though loathe to leave home, he went abroad to seek work” (instead of

loath).Loathing isapresentparticipleoftenusedasanoun,asin:“Heviewedthe

scenewithloathing”.

magniloquent A splendid word combining “magnificent” and “eloquent”,defined as “lofty in expression”.Used in an oratorical sense itmay convey asuggestionofboastfulness.

marquess, marquis These are the same, spelling being dependent on thepersonalpreferenceoftheholderofthetitle.Hiswifeisamarchioness.

mat,mattOneofour illogicalities is thatwhilewenowfavournet insteadofnettprofitweclingtoamattsurfacedespitethelegitimacyofmat.

mediaReadersmustneverbeguiltyofthecommonerroroftreatingthisnounassingular.Itis,ofcourse,thepluralformofthenounmedium.

miscibleThereisnothingwrongwiththeadjectivemixablefromtheverbmix,butasitisaback-formationfromtheoldermiscible(itselffromaLatinroot)thesecond is rather more acceptable and, in science, is the standard word. Thenegativeformisimmiscibleandthenounmiscibility.

mootpointItisamysterythatsomanypeoplesay“mutepoint”whenthetwowords moot and mute are utterly different. A moot point, something to bedebated,discussedandponderedover,derives itsname from theAnglo-Saxontown assembly, or court of justice, which was a moot or mote, while themeeting-placewasthemoothall.Thereshouldbenodoubtaboutmute,whichsimplymeans“silent”.

mortice, mortise Applied to a lock, a joint or a chisel, either spelling isacceptablebutthesecond(withs)ismorecommon.

nadirAnastronomicalword(oppositeofapogee)whichhaspassedintonormal

speech.Itisthepointoftheheavensdirectlyoppositethezenith,andthewordisusedpopularly for the lowestpossibleattainment, theplaceor timeofgreatestdepression.

naphthaCommonmispronunciation andmisspelling often turn thisword into“naptha”.Rememberthatthepisfollowedbyh.

naught,noughtBothmean “nothing”.Nought is the numerical expression ofthefigure0,whilenaughtisusedmostlyinanarchaicorpoeticway,asin“setatnaught”,“bringtonaught”.

netAsanalternativetonett,thishasbecomethestandardspellinginBritainasitisinAmerica.

news This is now singular, although inmany nineteenth-centurywritings youwillfinditusedasaplural,asitisinFrench(lesnouvelles).

noisome Unless it is realised that this adjective has nothing to do with noisedoubtful spellersmaywant to insert an e. Thewordmeans “hurtful, noxious,offensive, disgusting”, the essential point being that the thing annoys (fromMiddleEnglishnoy).

nought,naughtSeenaught,nought.

onomatopoeia This is a favourite trap in spelling games, a tendency being tomisspellthefinalsyllableas“-aeia”or“-eia”.

oral,auralSeeaural,oral.

orientAsnoun,Orientmeans,geographically andwitha capitalO,TheEast.Orientalmeans“easternorpertainingtoTheEast”.Asaverb,orientmeans(1)to place something in a known relation to the cardinal points, and (2) todetermineone’spositioninsuchrelation.Thenounfromtheverbisorientation,and this has unfortunately led to a back-formation verb “orientate”which is amodernandclumsyformoftheverborient.

oursThispossessivepronoundoesnotcarryanapostrophe.

outwithAScottishformofoutside.

overlookThiscanbeanambiguousverb.Yourhousecanoverlookthesea,youcanoverlookmistakes, you canoverlook instructions, and as a superintendentyoucanoverlook(oversee)somebody’swork.

overlyOneof the less pleasantAmericanwordswhich shouldbe avoided; anunnecessaryextensionofover,asinoverlyanxious,overlyluxurious.

paean A cheerful noun from the Greek, originally meaning “a choral songaddressed to Apollo” (one of whose names was Paian), but now given widerapplicationtoincludeanytriumphantsong(“apaeanofpraise”).

paradigmAwordsometimesusedirritatinglybypeoplewhodelightinsuperiormystification.Itmeansapattern,anexample,amodel,and,ingrammar,atableofdifferentformstakenbyaparticularword.(Seegmwords.)

parameterOneofthosescientificwordswhichhavewanderedintotheordinaryspeechofpeoplewhomisusethem.Inmathematicsaparameterisdescribedas“aquantityremainingconstantforaparticularcase”.Inpopularusageitseemstohavevariousvagueapplications,onebeingtodescribeaframeworkonwhichtohangideas,anotheraprescriptionoflimitssurroundingasetofconditions.

peninsula This is the noun. The adjective is peninsular, which some peoplethinkisthenoun.

perpendicularTomany thismeans“vertical”,and toarchitects it representsastyleofarchitecture.Geometrically,anylineatright-anglestoanyotherline,orany plane at right-angles to any other plane, is perpendicular to it, though itneednotbevertical.

phenomenaYouoftenhear“thisphenomena”,butthiswordisthepluralformofthesingularnounphenomenon.

phlegm,phlegmaticSeegmwords.

phosphorus Some people seem to have a compulsion to spell this nounphosphorous.Thereissuchaword,butitisanadjective.(Seepage233.)

piteous, pitiable, pitiful The person who pities is full of pity and thereforepitiful. The object of his pity, or the condition of the object, is piteous or

pitiable.“Apitifulsight”isthereforenonsense.

pnwordsInwordslikepneumaticandpneumonia thatbeginwithpnthep issilent.

portentousThisadjective(fromthenounportentandtheverbportend)isoftenmisspeltandmispronouncedas“portentious”,perhapsinthemistakenbeliefthatitshouldrhymewithcontentiousandpretentious.

potation, potion There is some similarity between these. A potation is adraught,abeverage,theactofdrinking.Apotionisalsoadraught,butisusuallymedicinal.

practicable, practical Although the meanings are not quite the same thedifferenceissometimesnegligible,andifyouuseonewheretheotherwouldbemore suitable nobody will be shocked. Practicable means “capable of beingeffected”.Practical has several associatedmeanings, but the best are perhaps“efficient” and “suited to conditions”. The solution to a problem or course ofactioncanbepracticable.Aperson,methodortoolcanbepractical.Anideacanbeeither.

practice,practiseInBritishEnglishpracticeisthenounandpractisetheverb.InAmericanEnglishpracticeisboth,butpractisealsoisoccasionallyusedasaverb.Itisoddthattheverbisappliednotonlytotraining,orlearning,ortryingone’s skill, but also to the carrying-out of a profession. The noun has twomeanings corresponding with those of the verb; thus, a doctor conducts apractice,andacquisitionofaskillneedspractice.

practitionerAseveryoneknows,thisnounisappliedtoapersonwhopractisesa profession, or who conducts a professional practice. The ending probablydeveloped when it was realised that the word practiser did not cover a wideenough field; thus, anyone constantly practising upon a musical instrumentwouldbeapractiser,notapractitioner.

pragmatic One of thosewordswhich are constantly on some people’s lips –especially politicians’ lips – whether or not they understand it. It has severalassociatedapplications,thecommonestbeingtothelearningofpracticallessonsfrom history and to the judging of matters according to their practical

significance.Apragmaticapproachtoaproblemisonewhichshouldyieldthemostpracticalresult.Itsassociatednounispragmatism.

premise,premissThewords,pronouncedsimilarly,bothrefer toapropositionlaiddown,assumed,orproved,fromwhichanotherisinferred.Thepluralsarepremisesandpremisses,thefirstofwhichisappliedtobuildingsandadjoiningland.

prescribe,proscribeToprescribe is to laydownor imposeauthoritatively,or,inamedicalsense,toadviseonacourseoftreatmentormedicine.Toproscribeis to prohibit, to reject, to publish the name of something as doomed orcondemned,tooutlaw,tobanish,toforbidortodenounceasdangerous.Thus,anorganisationorapublicationcanbeproscribedbyagovernment,anauthorityoranyoneelsewhoconsiders it isdangerous,subversiveorseditious.Bymoderngeneralusage,however,thereisnoimplicationthattheproscribedorganisationorpublicationmustceasetoexist.

prestidigitator This, a favouriteword for spelling-bees (literally “onewho isquick-fingered”), ismerelya longandpretentiouswordforaconjurorandhasnothingtorecommendit.

principal, principle These two words have been responsible for countlesserasuresandalterations.Ifyouwanttousetheadjectiverememberthattherightword is that containinga:principal.Unhappily the sameword is applied as anountotheheadofacollege,aleadingactor,acapitalsumcreatinginterest,andan authority who gives orders. Principle is always a noun, and refers (forexample)toafundamentalphilosophy,adoctrine,aruleofactionorlaw,andacodeofbehaviour.

prophecy,prophesyThenounisprophecy,asin“Hemakesaprophecy”,or,inthecaseoftheplural,“Hemakesprophecies”.Theverbisprophesy,asin“Hewillprophesy”or“Heprophesies”.Therelatedadjectiveisprophetic.

proven This form of the past participle of the verb prove is an alternative toproved.Itisnolongercommonlyused,butisstillapplied,forexample,towills.InScottishlawaverdictof“notproven”inacriminaltrialispermissible.

pswordsTherearemanywordsinEnglishstartingwithpsbutwithanssound.

All are of Greek origin, and some examples are: pseudonym, psoriasis,psychiatry,psychicandpsychology.

pt words Some pt words (silent p) are: ptarmigan, pterodactyl, Ptolemy andptomaine.

pusillanimous An alternative adjective for faint-hearted, cowardly, lackingstrengthofpurpose.

putative You may not hear or see this very often, but it is a good adjectivemeaning“reputed,supposed,commonlyregardedas”.

quash An abstract verb meaning “to annul, make void, suppress”, oftenconfusedwiththeverbofphysicalaction,squash.

quasi-Thisprefixisgrowingrelativelypopular.Meaning“seemingly,notreally,almost”, it finds application in such expressions as quasi-cultural, quasi-international,quasiscientific.

quire, choir See choir, quire. Apart from its choral association, a quire is aquantitative papermeasure (twenty-four sheets, or a set of four sheets foldedintoeightleaves).

rarefyThisverb,meaning“tomakerare, lessdense”, isnot“rarify”.Itmakestwonouns,rarefactionandrarefication.

receiptBesides itsusual senseofacknowledgmentofpayment, this is anold-fashioned termforaculinaryrecipe.DrSamuel Johnson introduced thep intoreceiptinhisDictionaryof1755,butstrangelykepttoconceitanddeceit.

recipeSeereceipt.

refuseThetwosensesofthiswordhavenothingincommonexceptthespelling.Eventhepronunciationsdiffer.

remonstrance Noun from the verb remonstrate, but much more. The GrandRemonstrance was the statement of grievances presented by Parliament toCharles I in1641,andsubsequently thewordremonstrance by itselfhasbeensometimesappliedtoanysetofpublicgrievances.

renege,renegueAlternativespellingsofthesameword.Althoughitistheverbassociatedwiththenounrenegade,thenounisheardfarmoreoften.

resetThisfrequentlyappearsinreportsofScottishlegalproceedings.Itisbothverbandnoun,meaning“toreceivestolengoods”and“theactofreceiving”.

resin,rosinTwonounsmeaning almost the same, except that rosin is usuallyappliedtothesolidformofthetreesecretionresin.

reverend,reverentThefirstmeans“worthyofveneration”,andwhenusedasatitleforclergymenisusuallyabbreviatedto“TheRevd”.Itshouldneverbeusedfor the surname alone, as in “TheRevd Jones”, butwith aChristian name orsomeothertitleasin“TheRevdSilasJones”or“TheRevdDrJones”.Withoutthe title a clergyman should be addressed as “Mr Jones”. Reverent means“feelingorshowingreverence”,theoppositebeingirreverent.

rh words In words starting with rh, such as rhapsody, rheostat, rhetoric,rheumaticandrhombus,thehplaysnopartinthepronunciation.

rhododendron The ending of this Greek word is -on, not (as many peoplemispronounceit)“-um”.

rhyme,rimeRimeisanarchaic,almostobsolete,formofrhyme,andisalsoawordforhoar-frost.

rout, route A rout in the eighteenth century was an evening party, orassemblage.It isalsoapplied to thedisorderlydefeatofanarmy,as in“put torout”.Asaverb,meaning“todigout”,itisusedingardeningandinwoodwork,arouterbeingaspecialgroove-cuttingtool.Arouteisacoursetakentoarriveatadestination.

scrumptiousOriginally applied to anythingwhichwas considered to be first-class,stylishorexcellent, thisadjectivenowseemstobeconfinedinitsusetothedescriptionofdeliciousfood.

semanticsThe studyof themeaningsofwords.The late entranceof thenouninto the common vocabulary may be due to its absence from some olderreputabledictionaries.Itisoneofthosewordswhichenjoyphasesofpopularity;somepoliticians(whohaveadopteditalmostastheirown),whenconfrontedby

something not to their liking, are apt to dismiss it with: “It’s just amatter ofsemantics”.

sentient Worth inclusion in this section as it is an expressive word seenoccasionally,meaning“havingasenseoffeeling”.Asentientpersonshouldthusbeasympatheticperson.

separate It is a common mistake to write “seperate”, “seperating” and“seperation”,perhapsbecausetheainthemiddleisusuallyanindistinguishablesound.

sequacious It is a pity that this archaic word is seldom seen, for it is trulyexpressive,meaning“lackingindependenceororiginality,showinginclinationtofollowinaservileway”.

sergeant,serjeantSergeantisthemilitaryorpolicerank.SerjeantisappliedtoofficialfunctionariessuchasCommonSerjeant,Serjeant-at-Arms.

seriesBothsingularandplural.

sheriffDespitethefrequencywithwhichthiswordhasbeenusedinthepastandis still used, in surroundings as far apart as ancient British cities, SherwoodForest and theAmericanWest, some peoplewant to give it a double r and asinglef.

signet,cygnetSeecygnet,signet.

sinisterThis,theoppositeofdexter,originallymeantleftasopposedtoright,sothatinheraldryanythingontheleftoftheshield(theviewer’sright)issinister.Theancientassociationofthewordwithevilhasnoobviousexplanation.

sovereign, sovran Alternative spellings of the same word, but the second ispracticallyobsolete.

speciesBothsingularandplural.

spoil,spoliationSpoliation (wartimeplundering, robberyordestruction) is thenoun of the verb “to spoil” or “to despoil”. Some people imagine that it is acorruptformof“spoilation”,butthisisnotso.Spoilisthewordatfault,asthe

Latinverbisspoliare.

stile,styleAstileis(1)partofadoor-frame,and(2)thedevicethathelpsyoutocross a fence. A style is (1) a manner, collective characteristics, and (2) anancientwritinginstrument.

subtle There is no satisfactory explanation for the b-less pronunciation.Sometimes you hear a pronunciation subtile, and although it is meant to befacetious there is,oddlyenough,anarchaicwordof thisspellingwhichmeansthesameassubtle.

sumptuaryThoughconnectedwithsumptuous inderivation thisadjectivehasonly a remote connection with it in meaning. It pertains to the regulation ofexpenditure,particularlystateorofficialexpenditure,sothata“sumptuarylaw”shouldhaverestrainedanyone’sdesireforasumptuousfeast,forexample.

sumptuousOriginally, anything sumptuouswas not only costly but it showedevidenceofextravagance.Now,ofcourse,itisappliedmainlytofeasting,asin“a sumptuous repast”. It is often confused in spelling and pronunciationwithscrumptious.

supererogationAdifficultwordtopronounce,meaning“doingmorethandutyrequires”.Theadjectiveisevenmoredifficult–supererogatory.

supersedeThere is no logical reasonwhy this shouldnot be speltwith ac tomake it conform with concede, intercede and recede, but this is one of thedelightfulinconsistenciesofEnglishspelling.Therelatednounissupersession.

surrogateAnounforadeputyorsubstitute,especiallyinanecclesiasticalsense.Forexample,aparishvicarorrector,asasurrogateofhisbishop,isauthorisedtograntmarriagelicenceswithoutthereadingofbanns.

swingeing Present participle of the verb swinge, which is seldom heard. It isetymologically connectedwith swing, as the verb originallymeant “to beat orstrike with a swingingmotion”. It is now used in such senses as “swingeingtaxation”, “swingeing cuts”, meaning taxation or cuts having the effect of aheavyblow.Todistinguishitfromswingingitispronouncedwithasoftg.

symposium This interesting word may not be generally appreciated as the

equivalentof theGreekwordforbanquet.ThephilosophersofancientGreeceobservedthefriendlycustomofprecedingadebateoralearneddiscussionbyaconvivialparty,butinmoremundanecenturiesthewordhascometobeapplied,ratherregrettably,tothediscussionitself.

tawdry This common word has had such a bizarre history that it deservesinclusioninthissection.ThefoundressofElyCathedralintheseventhcentury(accordingtotheVenerableBedewritingintheeighthcentury)wasEtheldreda,wifeofKingEgrid,whosenamewascorruptedtoAudrey,laterStAudrey.TheinhabitantsoftheIsleofElyinstitutedanannualfair,knownasStAudrey’sFair,wherecheapjewellery,gaudytrinketsandshowylace–StAudrey’slace–weresold. Apparently the lace was so terrible that its adjective was applied toanything in bad taste and of little value, and the description St Audrey’s wascorrupted to tawdry. InTheWinter’s TaleMopsa says to Clown: “Come, youpromisedmeatawdry-laceandapairofsweetgloves.”

tenterhooksAtenterisaframeonwhichclothisstretchedtodry.Atenterhookisahookforattaching thecloth to theframe.Byobscureassociation tobeontenterhooksistobeinastateofsuspense.

tenuityThisdelicatewordconveysasuggestionofslimness,slenderness,anditsadjective – used more often – is tenuous, as in “The tenuous relationshipbetweenthetwosciences...”

terminology Noun applied to the correct use of terms, or words, giving theadjective terminological.Mr (laterSir)WinstonChurchill ina speech in1906said: “It cannot in the opinion of HisMajesty’s Government be classified asslavery...withoutsomeriskofterminologicalinexactitude”.

terrestrialDozensofpeopleaskedtospellthiswordwouldspellit“terrestial”.

theirsThispossessivepronoundoesnotcarryanapostrophe.

their, there, they’reOf these three,which sound alike, only the first two areliabletobeconfusedinspelling.Thethird(acontractionoftheyare)isusuallyunderstood.

thresholdAsingleh.Contrastwithhold.

tinker’scussThiscuss is probablydifferent from the colloquial corruptionofcurse. Itwasprobably themetalpatchwithwhich the tinkerrepairedpotsandpans.“Notworthatinker’scuss”means“almostworthless”,andifhiscusswasacursewhyshouldhiscursebedifferentfromthecurseofanyotherhonourabletradesman?

tortuous, torturous The first, meaning “twisted, winding, crooked”, issometimesconfusedwiththesecond,whichmeans“causingtorture,cruel”.

traumaOneofthosewordswhichsomebodydiscovers,otherspickupandusetoooften,otherpeoplemisuse,andeventually,fromfatigue,retiresintooblivion.Itisamedicalnounsignifyingawoundorexternalinjury,andnowitsmeaningcan includesevereshock. Inpopular speech,however, it isusedasanoun foranythingunpleasant,theadjectivebeingtraumatic,asin“traumaticexperience”.

uninterested,disinterestedSeedisinterested,uninterested.

verisimilitudeThelengthofthiswordmayaccountforthefactthatitisseldomused.Thenearestapproachestoitsmeaningare“probability”and“likelihood”,butitsactualmeaningis“theappearanceoftruth”or“resemblancetoreality”.SirW.S.Gilbert’slinesinTheMikadoarefamous:“Merelycorroborativedetail,intendedtogiveverisimilitudetoanotherwisebaldandunconvincingnarrative.”

vicar, vicarious The close connection between these two words has beenforgotten.VicariusinLatinmeans“asubstitute”,and,verybriefly,thevicarofaparish was a substituted incumbent, or one who performed his ecclesiasticaldutiesonbehalfof somebodyelse,perhapsa religioushouseor an individual.The adjective vicarious thus means “substituted”; for example, a parent canvicariously enjoy his son’s success, or anyonewatching a lunar film can be avicariousastronaut.

victuals,victuallerVictualsareprovisions,andthevictualleristhepersonwhosuppliesthem.Theacceptedpronunciations–“vittles”and“vitteler”–mayowesomethingtotheOldFrenchvitailles,althoughthiswordisobsolete.

vilifyTheadjectivevilemakestheverbvilify(withtheereplacedbyi)andthenounvilification.

waive,waveAlthoughthesesoundalike,waive(forgo,relinquish,notinsiston)isusedmuchlessfrequentlythanwave.

whileThiswordisusedinpartsofthenorthofEngland,especiallyYorkshire,tomean until. This use can lead not only to ambiguity but also to danger.Somebody might instruct a child: “Do not cross the road while the light isgreen”.

who’s,whoseThefirstisanabbreviationofwhoisorwhohas,asin“Who’sthebestman?”and“Who’sgotthejob?”Thesecondisthepossessiveformofwho,asin“Whoseisthathat?”and“Theguards,whosedutyitwastoprotectthem...” The similar pronunciation leads to confusion and misspelling. Incidentally,whose is often used instead of of which the, despite the fact that who is apersonalpronoun.

wistaria,wisteriaGardenersandgardeningbooksdifferaboutthespelling,butit does notmatter as theAmerican scientist afterwhom the climbing plant isnamedspelledhisnameintwoways,WistarandWister,beforehediedin1818.

withhold It is easy to forget the second h, but the pronunciation should aidmemory.Contrastthreshold.

wont,won’t“Accordingtohiswont”means“Accordingtohiscustomorhabit”.Won’t is a contraction ofwillnot. It should be “willn’t” (likedidn’t), but hasbeencorruptedtoitsacceptedformperhapsbecauseitrhymeswithdon’t.

your, you’re Occasionally these are wrongly interchanged. Your is thepossessive form of you, and you’re is a contraction of you are. You’ve as acontractionofyouhavecannotbeconfusedwithanything.

yoursThispossessivepronoundoesnotcarryanapostrophe.

INDEX

AAbbreviations84–5,122,168Adjectives21–2,80,93,111–12,134–5,166,verbal37

Adverbs22–3,134–5,251–2“All”56,64right”149

“Also”77Americanspelling272–4“An”142“And/or”168–9Apostrophe19–20,63,66,120–2Articles22,141“As”28–9from”167–8regards”163–4to”163–4

“Assuming”151–2“Atabout”142“Attain”145“Aversefrom”149

BBrackets74,109–10,118–20“Build,to”170“But”24–5,26–8,147

CCapitalletters22,124–6“Centred”160“Christmas”149Circumlocution26,80“Circumstances”141“Chart”/”Charter”138Clause23Clichés161–2Colon97–9,108Comma74,85etseq.,106–8CommercialEnglish162–3“Compare”143–4Complement48Compoundadjectives80,114–15sentence71etseq.

subject49verb18words110–11

Conditional33,42–3,135Conjunctions23–9,73“Convince”160“Could”40,42–43

DDash74,115–18Definitearticle22Diaereses271–2“Differentfrom”145Digressions81Diphthongs271–2“Disinterested”160“Dueto”138–40

E“Each”129–32“Either”54–5,63,64,133–4Ellipsis35,49–50,166Enumeration87–9,93“Every”64,129Exclamationmark,101–3,109Exclamations32,101–3“Extendedtour”146–7

F“For”28“Former,the”164–6Fullstop83–5,106–8Futuretense33,39–42

G“GreatBritain”175

HH,silent22,142Hyphen80–1,110–14,118,269–70

IIdiom17Imperative33,44Imperfect36“Include”/”Including”137–8Indefinitearticle22,142Infinitive33–4,split34–5

Interjections32,101–3Intransitive45,70,71

Invertedcommas103“It”65Italics126

J“Judging”152

K“Kind,those”141–2

LLatinabbreviations168“Latter,the”164–6“Lay”45–7“Learn”147–8“Lend”147“Lie”45–7“Little”169“Loan”147“Lostto”167

M“Messrs”172Moods,verb33“Mootpoint”149

N“Neither”54–5,63,64,133–4“None”54,64Nouns18–20,collective48,121,proper18,121

Numerals82,93

OObject45,70–1,127–8Omissionmarks123–4“Only”76“Open”punctuation84“Oughtto”145

PPadding81Paragraphs77–82“Parallelwith”143Parenthesis74,81,89–91,116–18Participles36–9,150etseq.Partsofspeech17–18Pasttense33,36“Persuade”160Phrase23

Plurals19,48–9,54,132–3,170–2,257–60Possessives19–20,62–3,66,121–2,170Predicate69–70Prefixes112–13Prepositions29–31,142–3Presenttense33,35–6“Promise”144Pronouns51etseq.,demonstrative52–7,indefinite64–6,interrogative61–2,objective71,personal51–2,possessive62–3,relative57–61,subjective71

Punctuation83etseq.

QQuestionmark99–101,108–9Quotationmarks103etseq.Quotations93–4,98–9,103etseq.,interrupted109–10,123

R“Reason”140–1“Righthere”148–9

S“Scotch”/“Scottish”/“Scots”172–3Scottishusage173–4Semicolon94–7,108Sentences67etseq.,136–7,compound71etseq.,simple25,33,starting24–5

“Shall”39–42“Should”40,41,42–43“Since”28Singular48–9,132–3“Some”56–7,64Subject45,67,69–70,127–8,compound49

Subjunctive33,43–44Syntax75–6

T“Teach”147–8Tenses33“That”41,52,58–61,148

“Timesgreaterthan”146“Tobe”48–50Transitive45,70,71“Tryand”145–6

U“Uninterested”160“Usedto”144

V“Verbalagreement”160Verbs20,33etseq.,67,142–3

W“What”61,62“Which”58–61“Who”57–8,61,128–9“Whom”57–8,128–9“Whose”57,58,129“Will”39–42“Withregardto”163–4“Would”40