TheElements of StylebyWilliam Strunk, Jr.Professor of EnglishCornell University Privately PrintedIthaca, New York1918Copyright 1918By William Strunk, Jr.Press of W. P. Humphrey, Geneva, N.Y.AUTHOR:Strunk, William, 18691946.TITLE:The elements of style, by William Strunk, Jr.EDITION: 1st ed. PUBLISHED: Ithaca, N.Y.: Priv. print. Geneva, N.Y.: Press of W.P. Humphrey, 1918. PHYSICAL 43 p.; 19 cm.DETAILS:ISBN: 1-58734-060-7. CITATION: Strunk, William. Elements of Style. Ithaca, N.Y.: Priv. print. Geneva,N.Y.: Press of W.P. Humphrey, 1918; Bartleby.com, 1999.www.bartleby.com/141/. Date of Printout. ON-LINE ED.: First published May 1995; published July 1999 by Bartleby.com; Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc. (Terms of Use).I. INTRODUCTORY This book is intended for use in English courses in which the practice of composition iscombined with the study of literature. It aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. It aims to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention (in Chapters II and III) on a few essentials, the rules of usage andprinciples of composition most commonly violated. The numbers of the sections may beused as references in correcting manuscript. The book covers only a small portion of the field of English style, but the experience of itswriter has been that once past the essentials, students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work, and that each instructor has his own body of theory, which he prefers to that offered by any textbook. The writers colleagues in the Department of English in Cornell University have greatlyhelped him in the preparation of his manuscript. Mr. George McLane Wood has kindlyconsented to the inclusion under Rule 11 of some material from his Suggestions to Authors. The following books are recommended for reference or further study: in connection withChapters II and IV, F. Howard Collins, Author and Printer (Henry Frowde); Chicago University Press, Manual of Style; T. L. De Vinne Correct Composition (The Century Company); Horace Hart, Rules for Compositors and Printers (Oxford University Press);George McLane Wood, Extracts from the Style-Book of the Government Printing Office(United States Geological Survey); in connection with Chapters III and V, Sir ArthurQuiller-Couch, The Art of Writing (Putnams), especially the chapter, Interlude on Jargon;George McLane Wood, Suggestions to Authors (United States Geological Survey); JohnLeslie Hall, English Usage (Scott, Foresman and Co.); James P. Kelly, Workmanship inWords (Little, Brown and Co.). It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating merit,attained at the cost of the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules. After he has learned, by their guidance, to write plain English adequate for everyday uses, let him look, for the secrets of style, to the study of the masters of literature. II. ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE1.Form the possessive singular of nouns with s.Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charless friend Burnss poemsthe witchs maliceThis is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the OxfordUniversity Press.Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessiveJesus, and such forms as for conscience sake, for righteousness sake. But such forms as Achilles heel, Moses laws, Isis temple are commonly replaced by the heel of Achillesthe laws of Mosesthe temple of IsisThe pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.2.In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use acomma after each term except the last.Thus write,red, white, and blue honest, energetic, but headstrong He opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents. This is also the usage of the Government Printing Office and of the OxfordUniversity Press.In the names of business firms the last comma is omitted, asBrown, Shipley and CompanyThe abbreviation etc., even if only a single term comes before it, is always preceded by a comma.3.Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.The best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot.This rule is difficult to apply; it is frequently hard to decide whether a single word,such as however, or a brief phrase, is or is not parenthetic. If the interruption to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the writer may safely omit the com