One of the most frequent style errors among writers is the omission of one or more hyphens in a phrasal adjective, a phrase consisting of two or more words linked to show that they’re teaming up to modify a noun that follows them. There’s an easy test to help you see that the hyphen is … Read more
Multiple definitions exist for sentence, and various sources differ in their interpretation of what constitutes a valid sentence and which forms are incorrect. Here’s a brief survey of what a sentence is. A sentence is generally understood to be a unit of one or more words distinct from preceding and following text. Sentences are categorized … Read more
You’ve heard that timing is everything. In writing, however, placement takes first place when it comes to conveying meaning. Consider these examples. 1. “So far, the book has only come out in Italian.” It has only come out in Italian? It hasn’t done anything else in that language? No, it is only in Italian that … Read more
A sentence can be fragmentary, but it shouldn’t be a fragment. What’s the difference? Writers should distinguish between fragmentary sentences and sentence fragments. The following sentences are fragmentary: “A virtuoso performance? Some virtuoso.” Despite the absence of a subject and a verb, which are considered standard components of a sentence, the reader fills in the … Read more
After launching a list of seafaring idioms on a previous online cruise, I discovered a cargo hold of additional expressions that originated on the high seas but have come to rest high and dry on land. Here’s the haul. 1. All at sea: lost because of lack of knowledge of one’s position (confused and disorganized) … Read more
Writers often have difficulty determining the word order in sentences in which the phrase “not only” appears followed by an example and then, subsequent to “but also,” another example. Here are fixes to five such sentences. 1. “Digital cameras are not only changing photography, but our lives.” The key to correct syntax in “not only … Read more
When you quote another person, be sure to avoid these pitfalls of quotation format. 1. “Sometimes, LaPierre said, ‘The only thing to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’” In this sentence, the writer has inserted the word sometimes, though the speaker did not utter it verbatim, into … Read more
Tried-and-true words and phrases are convenient, but they are also truly trying — as with clichés, when a writer relies too heavily on stock usage, the resulting prose is tired and uninspired. Watch out for the following deadly usages. 1. After having: “After looking around, I chose a seat” is fine, and so is “Having … Read more
When you write, think tight. The goal is not to reduce every sentence to its most concise form but to avoid distractingly extraneous wording and phrasing. Here are five sentences improved by a reduction in length. 1. “The teacher is speaking on a phone in his classroom between classes, and he breaks away for a … Read more
Expressions that figuratively to livestock and other animals and animal products abound in English idiom. Here are many such morsels. 1–2. To “bring home the bacon” is to earn money at a job, but to “save (someone’s) bacon” is to help or rescue someone when they are in trouble or risking failure. 3–5. To “beef … Read more
1. “Bank of America’s purchase of Fleet Boston for $47 billion will create the biggest bank in the United States with thirty-three million customers.” The lack of punctuation in this sentence invites the impression that of all the banks in the United States with thirty-three million customers, the Bank of America will be the largest. … Read more
Rules are made to be broken, but more often they are made to be followed, because violation of those rules, in writing as in any other human endeavor, often leads to unintended consequences. One case is the careless use of quotation marks for emphasis. Scare quotes, as quotation marks employed for this purpose are called, … Read more