Copyright: Exploring English 1.1® 1994-95 Greg Dixon


Style Elements

This section describes the mechanics and choices involved in writing well.

 Style Overview

 Capitalization

 Punctuation

 Spelling

 Elusive Words

 Exploring English Main Menu


Style Overview

Style refers to the mechanics and conventions of writing, and to the over-all quality or tone of a written work.  When we begin a new novel, it is our response to the style that usually determines whether or not we continue to read it (unless it is required reading, of course).

Most of us have discarded a book after the first chapter, too early to have a comprehensive sense of the content of the book.  The tone of the book does not appeal to us, so we turn to something else.  Potential employers and instructors do the same to a greater or lesser degree:  an employment manager may not read a messy resume to discover your excellent qualifications, and an instructor may not be receptive to your arguments if he is offended by a sloppy writing style.  A dull style can make even the most exciting topic dull.

Good style is not easily achieved, and exceptional style is arguably due to genius, rather than adherence to any one set of rules and formulae.  It is usually futile to take a great sentence from the work of a Conrad, Paine, or Tolstoy and explain why the sentence appeals to us in terms of rules and writing theory.  However, we can usually explain in terms of broken rules why a poor sentence does not appeal to us.  Thus it is our humble goal to eliminate poor sentences from our writing - and our earnest dream to write one or two great ones.

See Quotations


Capitalization

Capitalization, like spelling, is a set of conventions intended to clarify written  communication. The following guidelines for capitalization are generally accepted:

Sentences should begin with a capital letter:

        A boy brought home a penguin.

Proper names and adjectives derived from proper names should be capitalized:

       The penguin's name was Opus.
       He came from Antarctica.
       He hitch-hiked across the Arctic
       Ocean.

Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation:

      The instructor said, "Thou shalt not have fun in Physics."

Capitalize geographical names:

      Vancouver Island
      San Francisco
      the Grand Canyon
      the South Pacific

Note: do not capitalize directions that are not part of a regions name:

      northern California

Capitalize the main words and the first word of the titles of articles, books, poems, plays, songs, etc.:

      English Structure and Style
      The Brothers Karamazov
      Stairway to Heaven

Capitalize official names or names of groups or  organizations:

      Department of Redundancy Department
      House of Commons
      House of Senate
      Republicans
      Black Americans
      Lutherans

Capitalize personifications:

     Because I could not stop for Death -
     He kindly stopped for me -

Usually capitalize the first word of each line of  poetic verse:

     [see above example]


Punctuation

 Overview

 Apostrophe   '

 Comma  ,

 Colon  :

 Dash -

 Double Quotation Mark  "

 Exclamation Mark  !

 Hyphen  -

 Period  .

 Question Mark  ?

 Semicolon  ;

 Single Quotation Mark  '


Punctuation Overview

Punctuation refers to the use of punctuation marks (such as !?:;-'",.) to help give sentences meaning, clarity, and emphasis.

Punctuation choices are often difficult and based on subtle nuances of the language. Beginning writers should study the use of punctuation by good writers - such as Joseph Conrad - to get a sense of the range of effects that can be achieved through punctuation.


Apostrophe
Apostrophe - '

Used to indicate the omission of letters in a contraction:

     I'm
     isn't

Used in the contraction of a number:

     '57 Chevy

Used to indicate missing letters in dialect:

     I'm not goin' 'cause she's rainin'.

Used to denote possession:

     Milo's meadow
     Jones's house

Note: Use its for the possessive, not it's.

See Single Quotation Mark


Single Quotation Mark
Single Quotation Mark - '

Used to set off words in sentences:

      The word 'splivich' will not be found in a standard dictionary.

See Apostrophe


Comma
Comma - ,

Used to set off three or more elements of a series:

     The flag was red, white, and blue.

Note: Some writers prefer to omit the final comma. This is optional, at best, but beware that you do not stumble into a sentence like the following:

     The two-toned balloons were blue and red, yellow and
     purple and black and white.

Used to set off asides, or nonrestrictive clauses:

     The car, which happened to be red, drove through the kitchen.

Used to separate introductory and transitional words and phrases:

     However, all is not lost.

Used to separate clauses in a compound sentence:

     The task was great, but the rewards were even greater.

Used to separate quoted matter from the rest of the sentence:

     The instructor said, "Take a break."


Colon
Colon - :

Used to introduce a series, a list, or an example:

     The teams in the play-offs were as follows: New
     York, Cleveland, New England, and Denver.

Used to separate hours from minutes when indicating time:

     11:59 p.m.

Used to introduce a formal statement:

     This is the final Truth: The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.
     [Frank Zappa knew what that meant]

Used after a formal salutation:

     Dear Madam President:


Dash
Dash - -

Used to set off an appositive (aside) to give more emphasis to the appositive than commas would provide.

     The car - a collector's Rolls Royce - was gone!

Used to indicate an abrupt shift in thought:

     First, you place the flour in the bowl - Johnny,
     quit playing with the blender!


Double Quotation Mark
Double Quotation Marks - "

Used to set off quotations:

      The President's only memorable quote was "don't quote me on that".

Used to indicate dialog:

      "Help!", we cried.


Exclamation Mark
Exclamation Mark - !

Used to provide emphasis:

      Quick!  Turn left!  Now!

Note:  exclamation marks lose their effectiveness if overused.


Hyphen
Hyphen - -

Used in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine:

     thirty-seven

Used to express decades in words:

     nineteen-eighties

Used to indicate a range of numbers:

     pages 2-2000

Used to form compound nouns.

     Austro-Asiatic
     woman-child
     house-broken

Note: English is an evolving language.  The trend for new compound nouns is to join separate words with a hyphen, then to drop the hyphen when the compound noun is in common usage. Thus "house boat" became 'house-boat', then 'houseboat'.  Consult a recent dictionary for the current preference.

Used to spell out a word:

     c-o-r-r-e-c-t

Used to divide a word into syllables:

     en-cy-clo-pe-di-a

Used to separate double letters that may cause confusion in a prefixed word:

     co-operation
     non-native

Used to join the elements of a compound modifier when used before the noun it modifies.

     They ran a fly-by-night government.


Period
Period - .

Used to end a sentence:

      Binkly opened his closet.

Used after an abbreviation:

      'Blah blah blah etc.,' he said.

Used in a decimal number:

      14.23


Question Mark
Question Mark - ?

Used to indicate question?

     Is that a rabbit in your pocket?


Semicolon
Semicolon - ;

Used to separate independent clauses not joined by a conjunction:

     The Giants won the Superbowl; it was a good day for the bookies.

Used to separate independent clauses joined by conjunctive adverbs such as however, hence, therefore, conversely, consequently, and nevertheless.

     The Giants were heavily favoured; consequently, the payouts were small.
     [Note: A comma is required after the above conjunctive adverbs]

Used to separate long or complicated elements in a series:

     The guests were John, the dentist; Bill and Lucy; and Howard, the duck.

Used to separate closely related elements when joining them would create ambiguity:

     Studying is difficult; failing, insufferable.

Used to precede a word, phrase, or abbreviation introducing an explanatory or summarizing statement:

     Vehicles are machines for moving people and things; for example,
     cars, trucks, and boats.


Spelling

Spelling was mostly a matter of personal taste before the nineteenth century, and some of us are still rather loose in our spelling habits.  However, standard spelling conventions were introduced to provide greater clarity in the language.  The principal goal of writing is to communicate ideas to the reader, and communication is best accomplished without the distraction of unusual or incorrect renditions of words.

The first step in learning how to spell more accurately is to want to improve your spelling.  Consult a dictionary for the spelling of any word you are even slightly doubtful of.  This may seem like a lot of trouble now, but it will save you much grief in the future.  And while you are checking the spelling, check the meaning of the word too.  You may be surprised!

See British and American Spelling Differences

See Spelling Tips

See Elusive Words


British vs American Spelling
British and American Spelling

American spellings differ only slightly from British spellings for a few words.  The trend in American spelling is to drop letters that are not needed in a word, such as the 'u' in 'colour'.

One spelling convention is not more correct than the other.  Just keep in mind who is going to read your writing:  use American spellings for American readers, use British spellings for Canadian and other Commonwealth readers.  A good dictionary will indicate both American and British spellings when there is a difference.


Spelling Tips

There are no easy routes to perfect spelling in English.  However, your spelling skills will improve if you:

 - Write carefully and use a dictionary.

 - Repeat the proper pronunciation of the word in your head.

 - Visualize the syllable divisions:
    ac quaint ed
    dis appoint
    mis spelled
    val u a ble

 - Identify what part of speech the word belongs to:

    principle [noun]
    principal [adjective]

See Elusive Words


Elusive Words

Some words are more difficult than others to spell and use correctly.  The following list presents some words and word pairs that often cause a great deal of trouble.

Affect / Effect

Allude / Elude

Anybody / Any Body

Can / May

Disinterested / Uninterested

Principle / Principal

That / Which

The list of troublesome words is arguably the size of the English language itself!  The inclusion of any particular words here must be arbitrary and limited.  Please become familiar with the regular use of a good dictionary.  Most style manuals contain discussions of 'elusive' words.

 See The Gregg Reference Manual

 See The Elements of Style

 See Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage


Affect Effect
Affect - Effect

Affect is a verb meaning 'to influence', 'to change', or 'to assume':

    The new evidence will affect the outcome of the trial.
    The accused affects an innocent demeanor.

Effect can serve as a verb meaning 'to bring about':

    We must effect better government.

Effect can also act as a noun meaning 'result', or 'impression':

    The budget had a disastrous effect on the lives of citizens.


Allude Elude
Allude / Elude

Allude is a verb meaning "to refer indirectly.":

     He alluded to a secret lover.

Elude is a verb meaning "to escape or avoid.":

     He eluded detection by her husband.


Anybody Any Body
Anybody / Any Body

Anybody is pronoun meaning "any person":

   Anybody is welcome to watch the dissection.

Any is an indefinite determiner and body is a noun:

   Any body (except mine) will do for the demonstration.


Can May
Can / May

Can is a verb that indicates the ability to do a task:

     You can do it if you try!

May is verb used to indicate permission or possibility:

     You may leave the table.
     You may win the race, if you are fast enough.


Disinterested Uninterested
Disinterested / Uninterested

Disinterested is an adjective meaning "unbiased" or "impartial":

     The contract negotiations required a disinterested mediator.

Uninterested is an adjective meaning "not interested in":

     If you were uninterested in language, you would not be reading this.


Principle Principal
Principle / Principal

Principle is a noun meaning "standard or rule of personal conduct." [CED]:

     Honesty as a principle has its own rewards.

Principal is an adjective meaning "of the first rank or
importance":

   Ben was the principal runner in the meet.

Principal is also used as a noun meaning "the head of a
group, etc..":

   The principal spoke to us in the auditorium.


That Which
That / Which

That is a restrictive, or defining pronoun:

   The cab that hit me drove away.

Which is a nonrestrictive, nondefining pronoun:

   The cab, which happened to be yellow, drove away.


-

(punctuation). Dash.


-

(punctuation).  Hyphen.


.

(punctuation).  Period.


Affect

(verb).   'to influence', 'to change', or 'to assume'.


allude

(verb).  To refer to indirectly.


alluded

(verb).  Past tense of 'allude'.


any

(indefinite determiner).


anybody

(pronoun).  Any person.


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body

(noun).  Main mass of an entity.


Can

(verb).  Ability to accomplish task.


capitalization

Capitalization is a set of conventions that dictate when the first letter of words should be printed in upper case.  ('A' instead of 'a')


disinterested

(adjective).  Without bias or partiality.


Effect

(verb).   'to bring about'.(noun).  result, or impression


Elude

(verb).  To escape or to avoid.


eluded

(verb).  Past tense of 'elude'.


it's

Abbreviation for "it is".


its

Possessive.


may

(verb)   Indicates permission or possibility.


principal

1. (noun).  Head person.2. (adjective).  Main entity.


principle

(noun).  A general law, code of conduct, or underlying mechanism.


splivich

(verb).  To mess up.


style

Style refers to the mechanics and conventions of writing, and to the over-all quality or tone of a written work.


that

(pronoun).  Restrictive or defining.


uninterested

(adjective).  Without interest.


which

(pronoun).  Nonrestrictive or nondefining.