FAULTY DICTION A Immediately before a consonant sound, n. whatever the spelling (as, a peach, a song); an immediately before a vowel sound, whatever the spelling, or before a word beginning with silent h (as, an apple, an honor, an honest man). A word beginning with the long sound of u, where u has the sound of you, takes a (as, a unit, a university); the short sound of u takes an (as, an unknown quantity). "No man can be at the same time a patriot and traitor." Since "patriot" and "traitor" denote different persons, this sentence should read, either "No man can be at the same time a patriot and a traitor," or "No man can be at the same time patriot and traitor." ac-cept', To accept is "to take, receive"; to ex-cept'. except is to "take out, reject"; as, "All the specimens were accepted, except one." Avoid confusion of these two words. ad-mis'si-ble. Never spell this word admissable. adverbs should be kept as close as possible to the word or words they are to modify. Instead of. "I meant to write to Tom all day," say, "I meant all day to write to Tom." af-fect', Do not confuse these words, as is ef-fect'. frequently done. To affect is "to influence"; to effect, "to accomplish, achieve." a half an hour. "I will do it in a half an hour." If a is used, the expression should be, "in a half-hour"; but it is better to say, “I will do it in half an hour." So, half a minute, etc. ain't. A modification of am not or are not, always inelegant, becomes atrocious when used for is not, has not, or have not; as, "He ain't here," "Ain't you seen him?" "They ain't had it." Better say: "He is not,' "Aren't you?" "They're not." See AREN'T. all of. "He drank all of it." "I saw all of them." "Take all of it." All of is allowable, to emphasize totality when contrasted with a part of, some of, etc. The best literary usage, however, omits the of in most cases as needless, preferring "He drank it all," "I saw them all," "Take it all," etc. and. "A language like the French and German" implies that the same language is both French and German. epeat the article, and say: "A language like the French or the German "; or you may use the plural, and say: "Languages like the French and the German." an'y. Instead of "The mother is better than any of the family," say: "- better than any other one of the family" or "- better than all the others (or all the rest) of the family." aren't. A correct form, but harsh; to be avoided when possible. "We're not,' "They're not," etc., have a much pleasanter effect than "We aren't," " They aren't." back. Do not say, "He returned back." Back is included in return. Say simply: "He returned," or "He came back." bad or badly. Instead of "He felt badly,' better say: "He felt bad." Instead of "It needs to be mended badly," say: "It badly needs to be mended," or, better still: "It greatly needs to be mended." be back. Instead of "I'll be back in a moment," say: "I'll come back," or "I'll be here (or there) again, in a moment." between you and I. Say: "Between you and Between, as a preposition, is followed by the objective case. Similarly, say: "That will be good for you and me"; not" for you and I." me." bit. A bit is primarily a bite, and applies to solids. Say, "a bit of bread," "a bit of money," but not "a little bit of water"; "a bit of soap," but not "a bit of soup." blame on. Instead of "Don't blame that on me," say: "Don't blame me for that." bring, "Will I bring this plant into the house, car'ry. J sir?" Here" Will" should be "Shall" and "bring" should be "carry"; "Shall I carry it into the house?" If an object is to be moved from the place we occupy, we say carry; if to the place we occupy, we say bring. can, may. Instead of "Can I come in?" say: "May I come in?" Can refers to possibility. may to permission. can but, Both are correct, but with a difcannot but. ference of meaning. Can but is the feebler form. "I can but protest" means, "I can only protest" (that is all I am able to do). "I cannot but protest" means, "I cannot help protesting" (I must enter my protest.). considerable. An adjective often misused as an adverb; as, "considerable hot"; "considerable tired." The adverb considerably should be used in such connections. don't, a contraction of do not, should be used only in the first person singular or in the plural; as, "I don't (do not) know," "They don't (do not) care." Never say: "He don't," "It don't," but, "He doesn't," "It doesn't." In the interrogative form, do not say: "Don't he" or "Don't it," but "Doesn't he," "Doesn't it." 551 each sort of 552 in, in'to. Instead of "He fell in the pond," say: "He fell into the pond." In denotes position, state, etc.; into, tendency, direction, destination, etc.; as, "I throw the stone into the water, and it lies in the water." | know, Either is correct, but they mean know of. S different things. I know my friend; I may know of a stranger. each. Instead of "Each of the men were paid One should not say: "I expect it is," still less “I had have. Improperly used in such ex- OUGHT. Incorrect. See hope. "I hope he arrived in time." Better I If I were you. "Were" in this expression is not the indicative plural agreeing with "you," but the subjunctive singular agreeing with "I." It is employed also for the third person singular, "If I were, if he, she, or it were." were, so used, always implies that the fact is otherwise, "If I were a dog, I might bay the moon": "If he were here, I would tell him to his "I will lay down and rest." No: "I will lie down and rest." But one may say: "I will lay my head down on the pillow, and rest." The identity in form of the present tense of lay, a transitive verb, with the imperfect tense of lie, an intransitive one, has led to the frequent confounding of the two. The principal parts of the two verbs are: Present. Imperfect. Past Participle. lay, ut. lie, vi. laid laid lain Lay, in "I lay upon thee no other burden,'* is the present tense of lay, vt., having as its object burden; in "I lay under the sycamoretree," lay is the imperfect tense of lie, vt., having no object. Lay (imperfect of lie) never takes an object; laid (imperfect of lay) always takes an object. "The soldier laid aside his knapsack and lay down." Laid and lain are similarly distinguished. "The hen has laid an egg"; "The egg has lain too long in the nest." Lie, to falsify, is regular: lied, lied. learn, "If I set out to learn a man the teach. river, I'll learn him," said Mark Twain's Mississippi pilot. He should have said teach. The instructor teaches; the pupils learn. lit'tler, These are colloquialisms, and should lit'tlest. be avoided. Less and least are the approved comparative and superlative of little. lives. Instead of "I'd just as lives as not," say: "I'd just as lief as not." mile, In some parts of New England these mild. two words are confused, and persons The say, "He ran a mild," or the like. Mile is a noun denoting distance, mild an adjective signifying "moderate, gentle," etc. most. Never use most for almost. Instead of "most everybody," "most always," say: "almost everybody," "almost always." former use is a colloquialism. nei'ther. Do not say "Neither he nor his wife were there." Neither, like either, when it introduces two nominatives in the singular number, takes a verb in the singular; &8, "Either James or Henry was there":"Neither Germany or Italy is a republic." new beginner. In the sentence "I'm a new beginner," new is included in beginner, and the addition of the adjective is tautological. Say simply: "I'm a beginner." of Two prepositions often oddly confounded. off. Of properly denotes source; as, "I bought the horse of the farmer." Of denotes removal; as, "To take the crop of the land"; 553 cut a slice of the ham?" is correct; "Shall I get a steak off the butcher?" is ludicrous. off of. In "Cut a yard off of the cloth," the of is redundant, and should not be used. Say: "Cut a yard of the cloth." one. Instead of "Not one of our friends were present," say: "was present." We may say: "None of our friends were present,' since none can be used in the plural sense. or. When or connects subjects that require different persons or numbers of the verb, as, "Either you or I am (are) wrong"; "Either they or he was (were) here"; "This man or those men are (is) guilty," the rule is that the verb shall agree with the nearest subject; but then we seem to be saying "you am,' "they was," "this man are." It is better to change the construction, saying: "Either you are wrong or I am," etc. Then the verbs will take care of themselves. Or does not pluralize connected subjects, as and does; "A woman and a child (two persons) are lost, but "A woman or a child (one of the two) is lost." ought, the verb for duty, can never take have, be, do, or any other auxiliary; expressions like "I had ought," "I hadn't ought," "You don't ought," etc., are, therefore, erroneous. ΤΟ express past obligation use the simple ought followed by the perfect infinitive of the verb required; as, "I ought to have gone.' place. This noun is improperly used as adverb in some parts of the United States. Instead of "Are you going any place?" say, "anywhere." "Where have you been?" "No place." Say, "Nowhere." Some even say: "Go different places" instead of "Go to different places," which latter is the correct form. each sort of the possessive; thus, Dickens's novels, "Pepys's Diary," ""James's heir," etc. Some exceptions are commonly made; as, "for conscience' sake," "for Jesus' sake," where the apostrophe alone is added. Also in words of many syllables, where the added syllable with 's would have a disagreeable effect; as, "Empedocles' sandals," "Themistocles' services," instead of "Empedocles's sandals,' "Themistocles's services." In the sentence "The horses feet were sore," if you refer to one horse, write "the horse's feet"; if to more than one, "the horses' feet." The apostrophe precedes the s for the singular, but follows the s for the plural. was quan'ti-ty. Instead of "A great quantity of fossil remains were found," say: " found." Omit the qualifying phrase "of fossil remains," and it is evident that we must say "A great quantity —— was found." raise, Instead of "He was so weak that he rise. could not raise," say: So weak that he could not rise." Raise, meaning "to cause to rise," is never to be used intransitively. Say: "He could not rise in the saddle," but "He could not raise himself, his hand, or his head." raise chil'dren. Raise, "to rear (an animal)," is never to be applied to human beings; a misuse common in the southern and western United States. Cattle are raised; human beings are brought up, or, in older phrase, reared. right, n. "If you do that, you've a right to be arrested." This use of right in the sense of liability" is a barbarism. The true phrase would be: "You are liable to be arrested," or, "You deserve to be arrested." sales'la"dy. An inadmissible term. Why not also "salesgentleman"? If salesman is a worthy term to apply to a man, its appropriate counterpart is saleswoman, which is the only correct term. plurals - nouns. When two nouns are united to form a compound, the first, as a general rule, is not pluralized. We say toothache, not teethache; woman-hater, not women-hater. When a noun follows a numeral in a compound word, the noun is not pluralized; as, a ten-foot (not ten-feet) pole; a two-mile Will, prevalent. The simplest brief explana (not two-miles) race. A compound word generally forms its plural by adding s at the end of the whole word, as handfuls, spoonfuls. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form the plural by adding s; as donkey, donkeys; chimney, chimneys; monkey, monkeys, etc. Where the y is preceded by a consonant, the y is changed into ie, and s added to this; as, mercy, mercies; pony, ponies; · supply, supplies. A collective noun, as audience, congregation, family, flock, multitude, people, public, etc., tho singular in form, may take a verb either in the singular or the plural number, according as it refers to the objects included as one aggregate or as separate individuals; as, "The audience was large"; "The audience were divided in opinion." Possessives. A noun ending in s properly shall,The misuse of these little words is very tion is the inflection of the two verbs, viz.: 'splendid without Sort of in such use is a colloquialism, and, as corrupted to sorter, a vulgarism. splen'did. Instead of "He is a splendid player," say: a fine, accomplished, or skilful player." Splendid is applied properly to something characterized by splendor; hence, its indiscriminate application to anything admired or agreeable; as, "a splendid hat, "a splendid beefsteak,' is a gross misuse. stop, Instead of "He is stopping in Washingstay. ton this winter," say: "He is staying in Washington." To stop is to cease moving or acting: the reverse of start. "I shall stop at Baltimore on my way to Washington" is correct; but "How long will you stop?" is as unreasonable a question as "How long will you start?" The proper question is: "How long will you stay (or remain)?" sure. "I sure did"; "it sure was." Sure is not an adverb. Say "surely" or "certainly.' their,Instead of "If any one has been overthey.looked, they may raise their hand," better say: "Any one who has been overlooked may raise the hand," or " his hand " ("hts" including "her"); or, "If any of 554 you has been overlooked, you may raise your hand." went for gone. Instead of "If I had went," say: "If I had gone." The imperfect went is often vulgarly used for the past participle gone in conjunction with the verb have; as, "I have went there many times," instead of "I have gone," etc. where. Where is not to be followed by at or to. Not, "Where is it at?" but, "Where is it?" not "Where are you going to?" but simply, "Where are you going?' who. Instead of "Who do you refer to?" say: "Whom do you refer to?" Whom is the object: "You refer to whom?" A more formal question is: "To whom do you refer?" with. "The man with his two sons were present." The addition of a noun or a pronoun following with does not pluralize the subject; consequently, the correct phrase here is "was present." The subject might be made plural by using the conjunction and instead of the preposition with; as, "The man and his two sons were present." with-out'. Instead of "I'll come without it rains," say: "I'll come unless it rains." " |