THE

ELEMENTS OF STYLE

BY

WILLIAM STRUNK, Jr.

professor of english

in

cornell university

NEW YORK

HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY

copyright, 1918, 1919, by

william strunk, jr.

copyright, 1920, by

harcourt, brace and howe, inc.

CONTENTS

I. Introductory

II. Elementary Rules of Usage

1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding’s

2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last

3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas

4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing a coordinate clause

5. Do not join independent clauses by a comma

6. Do not break sentences in two

7. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject

III. Elementary Principles of Composition

8. Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic

9. As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning

10. Use the active voice

11. Put statements in positive form

12. Use definite, specific, concrete language

13. Omit needless words

14. Avoid a succession of loose sentences

15. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form

16. Keep related words together

17. In summaries, keep to one tense

18. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end

IV. A Few Matters of Form

V. Words and Expressions Commonly Misused

VI. Spelling

VII. Exercises on Chapters II and III

I. INTRODUCTORY

This book 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 and principles of composition most commonly violated. In accordance with this plan it lays down three rules for the use of the comma, instead of a score or more, and one for the use of the semicolon, in the belief that these four rules provide for all the internal punctuation that is required by nineteen sentences out of twenty. Similarly, it gives in Chapter III only those principles of the paragraph and the sentence which are of the widest application. The book thus covers only a small portion of the field of English style. The experience of its writer 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 may prefer to that offered by any textbook.

The numbers of the sections may be used as references in correcting manuscript.

The writer’s colleagues in the Department of English in Cornell University have greatly helped him in the preparation of his manuscript. Mr. George McLane Wood has kindly consented to the inclusion under Rule 10 of some material from his Suggestions to Authors.

The following books are recommended for reference or further study: in connection with Chapters II and IV, F. Howard Collins, Author and Printer (Henry Frowde); Chicago University ...