etc.
Exercise:
Write the following words, supplying _ei_ or _ie_: _conc--t_,
_retr--ve_, _dec--tful_, _n--ce_, _y--ld_, _p--ce_, _s--ge_,
_s--ze_, _rec--pt_, _n--ther_, _w--rd_, _rel--ve_, _l--sure_,
_f--ld_, _v--n_, _r--gn_, _sover--gn_, _sl--gh_, _br--f_,
_dec--ve_, _r--n_, _f--nt_, _perc--ve_, _w--ld_, _gr--vous_,
_--ther_.
=Doubling a Final Consonant=
=75. Monosyllables and words accented on the final syllable, if they end
in one consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the consonant before
a suffix beginning with a vowel.=
Examples: (a) Words derived from monosyllables: _plan-ned_, _clan-nish_,
_get-ting_, _hot-test_, _bag-gage_, (b) Words derived from words
accented on the final syllable: _begin-ning_, _repel-lent_,
_unregret-ted_.
Note 1.--There are four distinct steps in the application of this rule.
(1) The primary word must be found. To decide whether _begging_ contains
two _g's_, we must first think of _beg_. (2) The primary word must be a
monosyllable or a word accented on the final syllable. _Hit_ and _allot_
meet this test; _open_ does not. _Deferred_ and _differed_, _preferred_
and _proffered_, _committed_ (or _committee_) and _prohibited_ double or
refrain from doubling the final consonant of the primary word according
to the position of the accent. The seeming discrepancy between
_preferred_ and _preferable_, between _conferred_ and _conference_, is
due to a shifting of the accent to the first syllable in the case of
_preferable_ and _conference_. (3) The primary word must end in one
consonant. _Trace_, _oppose_, _interfere_, _help_, _reach_, and
_perform_ fail to meet this test, and therefore in derivatives do not
double the last consonant. _Assurance_ has one _r_, as it should have;
_occurrence_ has two _r's_, as it should have. (4) The final consonant
of the primary word must be preceded by a single vowel. This principle
excludes the extra consonant from _needy_, _daubed_, and _proceeding_,
and gives it to _running_.
Note 2.--After _q_, _u_ has the force of _w_. Hence _quitting_,
_quizzes_, _squatter_, _acquitted_, _equipped_, and similar words are
not really exceptions to the rule.
Exercise:
1. Write the present participle (in _-ing_) of _din_ (not
_dine_), _begin_, _sin_ (compare _shine_), _stop_, _prefer_,
_rob_, _drop_, _occur_, _omit_, _swim_, _get_, _commit_.
2. Write the past tense (in _-ed_) of _plan_ (not _plane_),
_star_ (compare _stare_), _stop_ (compare _slope_), _lop_ (not
_lope_), _hop_ (not _hope_), _fit_, _benefit_, _occur_ (compare
_cure_), _offer_, _confer_, _bat_ (compare _abate_).
=Final _e_ before a Suffix Beginning with a Vowel=
=76. Words that end in silent _e_ usually drop the _e_ in derivatives or
before a suffix beginning with a vowel.=
Examples: _bride_, _bridal_; _guide_, _guidance_; _please_, _pleasure_;
_fleece_, _fleecy_; _force_, _forcible_; _argue_, _arguing_; _arrive_,
_arrival_; _conceive_, _conceivable_; _college_, _collegiate_; _write_,
_writing_; _use_, _using_; _change_, _changing_; _judge_, _judging_;
_believe_, _believing_.
Note 1.--Of the exceptions some retain the _e_ to prevent confusion with
other words. Exceptions: _dyeing_, _singeing_, _mileage_, _acreage_,
_hoeing_, _shoeing_, _agreeing_, _eyeing_. The exceptions cause
comparatively little trouble. One rarely sees _hoing_ or _shoing_; he
often sees _hopeing_ and _inviteing_.
Note 2.--After _c_ or _g_ and before a suffix beginning with _a_ or _o_
the _e_ is retained. The purpose of this retention is to preserve the
soft sound of the _c_ or _g_. (Observe that _c_ and _g_ have the hard
sound in _cable_, _gable_, _cold_, _go_.)
Examples: _peaceable_, _changeable_, _noticeable_, _serviceable_,
_outrageous_, _courageous_, _advantageous_.
Exercise:
1. Write the present participle of the following words: _use_,
_love_, _change_, _judge_, _shake_, _hope_, _shine_, _have_,
_seize_, _slope_, _strike_, _dine_, _come_, _place_, _argue_,
_achieve_, _emerge_, _arrange_, _abide_, _oblige_, _subdue_.
2. Write the present participle of the following words:
_singe_, _tinge_, _dye_, _agree_, _eye_.
3. Write the _-ous_ or _-able_ form of the following words:
_trace_, _love_, _blame_, _move_, _conceive_, _courage_,
_service_, _advantage_, _umbrage_.
4. Write the adjectives which correspond to the following
nouns: _force_, _sphere_, _vice_, _sense_, _fleece_, _college_,
_hygiene_.
5. Write the nouns which correspond to the following verbs:
_please_, _guide_, _grieve_, _arrive_, _oblige_, _prepare_,
_inspire_.
=Plurals=
=77a. Most nouns add _s_ or _es_ to form the plural.= Examples: _word_,
_words_; _fire_, _fires_, _negro_, _negroes_; _Eskimo_, _Eskimos_;
_leaf_, _leaves_ (_f_ changes to _v_ for the sake of euphony); knife,
knives.
=b. Nouns ending in _y_ preceded by a consonant (or by _u_ as _w_) change
the _y_ to _i_ and add _es_ to form the plural.=
Examples: _sky_, _skies_; _lady_, _ladies_; _colloquy_, _colloquies_;
_soliloquy_, _soliloquies_.
=Other nouns ending in _y_ form the plural in the usual way.= Examples:
_day_, _days_; _boy_, _boys_; _monkey_, _monkeys_; _valley_, _valleys_.
=c. Compound nouns usually form the plural by adding _s_ or _es_ to the
principal word.= Examples: _sons-in-law_, _passers-by_; but _stand-bys_,
_hat-boxes_, _writing-desks_.
=d. Letters, signs, and sometimes figures, add _'s_ to form the plural.=
Examples: Cross your t's and dot your i's; ?'s; $'s; 3's or 3s.
=e. A few nouns adhere to old declensions.= Examples: _ox_, _oxen_;
_child_, _children_; _goose_, _geese_; _foot_, _feet_; _mouse_, _mice_;
_man_, _men_; _woman_, _women_; _sheep_, _sheep_; _deer_, _deer_;
_swine_, _swine_.
=f. Words adopted from foreign languages sometimes retain the foreign
plural.= Examples: _alumnus_, _alumni_; _alumna_, _alumnæ_; _fungus_,
_fungi_; _focus_, _foci_; _radius_, _radii_; _datum_, _data_; _medium_,
_media_; _phenomenon_, _phenomena_; _stratum_, _strata_; _analysis_,
_analyses_; _antithesis_, _antitheses_; _basis_, _bases_; _crisis_,
_crises_; _oasis_, _oases_; _hypothesis_, _hypotheses_; _parenthesis_,
_parentheses_; _thesis_, _theses_; _beau_, _beaux_; _tableau_,
_tableaux_; _Mr._, _Messrs._ (_Messieurs_); _Mrs._, _Mmes._
(_Mesdames_).
Exercise:
Write the singular and plural of the following words: _day_,
_sky_, _lady_, _wife_, _leaf_, _loaf_, _negro_, _potato_,
_tomato_, _pass_, _glass_, _boat_, _beet_, _flash_, _crash_,
_bead_, _box_, _passenger_, _messenger_, _son-in-law_, _Smith_,
_Jones_, _jack-o'-lantern_, _hanger-on_, _stratum_, _datum_,
_phenomenon_, _crisis_, _basis_, _thesis_, _analysis_.
=Compounds=
=78a. Use a hyphen between two or more words which serve as a single
adjective before a noun:= _iron-bound bucket_, _well-kept lawn_,
_twelve-inch main_, _normal-school teacher_, _up-to-date methods_,
_twentieth-century ideas_, _devil-may-care expression_, _a
twenty-dollar-a-week clerk_.
=But when the words follow the noun, the hyphen is omitted.= _The lawn is
well kept. Methods up to date in every way_.
=Also adverbs ending in _-ly_ are not ordinarily made into compound
modifiers:= _nicely kept lawn_, _securely guarded treasure_.
=b. Use a hyphen between members of a compound noun when the second
member is a preposition, or when the writing of two nouns solid or
separately might confuse the meaning:= _runner-up_, _kick-off_;
_letting-down of effort_, _son-in-law_, _jack-o'-lantern_, _Pedro was a
bull-fighter_, _a woman-hater_, _Did you ever see a shoe-polish like
this?_
=c. Use a hyphen in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine, and
in fractions according to the following examples:=
_Twenty-three_, _eighty-nine_; but _one hundred and one_.
_Twenty-third_, _one-hundred-and-first man_. _Three-fourths_, _four and
two-thirds_, _thirty-hundredths_, _thirty-one hundredths_.
But omit the hyphen in simple fractions when loosely used: _Three
quarters of my life are spent._ _One third of his fortune._
=d. A hyphen is not used in the following common words:= _airship_,
_altogether_, _anybody_, _baseball_, _basketball_, _everybody_,
_football_, _goodby_, _herself_, _handbook_, _himself_, _inasmuch_,
_itself_, _midnight_, _myself_, _nevertheless_, _nobody_, _nothing_ (but
_no one_), _nowadays_, _railroad_, _themselves_, _together_,
_typewritten_, _wherever_, _without_, _workshop_, _yourself_,
_newspaper_, _sunset_.
=e. For words that do not come within the scope of rules, consult an
up-to-date dictionary.= Compounds tend, with the passing of time, to grow
together. Once men wrote _steam boat_, later _steam-boat_, and finally
_steamboat_. New-coined words are usually hyphenated; old words are
often written solid. The degree of intimacy between the parts of a
compound word affects usage; thus we write _sun-motor_, but _sunbeam_;
_birth-rate_, but _birthday_; _cooling-room_, but _bedroom_;
_non-conductor_, but _nonsense_. The ease with which a vowel blends with
the consonant of a syllable adjoining it affects usage; thus
_self-evident_, but _selfsame_; _non-existent_, but _nondescript_;
_un-American_, but _unwise_. Many compounds, however, are still
uncontrolled by usage; whether they should be written as two words or
one, whether with or without the hyphen, the dictionaries themselves do
not agree.
Exercise:
Copy the following expressions, inserting hyphens where they
are necessary: _twenty two years old_, _twenty two dollar
bills_ _make forty dollars_, _twenty seven eighths inch
boards_, _a normal school graduate_, _two handled boxes_, _a
cloth covered basket_, _blood red sun_, _water tight
compartment_, _sixty horse power motor_, _seven dollar bathing
suits_, _a happy go lucky fellow_, _germ destroying powder_,
_he had a son in law_, _passers by on the street_, _the kick
off is at three o'clock_, _dark complexioned woman_, _silver
tongued orator_, _a dish like valley_, _a rope like tail_, _a
fish shaped cloud_, _a touch me not expression_, _will o' the
wisp_, _well to do merchant_, _rough and tumble existence_.
=79.= SPELLING LIST
The English language comprises about 450,000 words. Of these a student
uses about 4000 (although he may understand more than twice that number
when he encounters them in sentences). Of these, in turn, not more than
four or five hundred are frequently misspelled. The following list
includes nearly all of the words which give serious trouble. Certain
American colleges using this list require of freshmen an accuracy of
ninety per cent.
absurd
academy
=accept=
=accidentally=
=accommodate=
accumulate
accustom
acquainted
acquitted
=across=
addressed
=adviser=
aeroplane
=affects=
aggravate
alley
allotted
=all right=
ally
already
altar
alter
=altogether=
alumnus
=always=
=amateur=
=among=
analogous
analysis
=angel=
angle
annual
anxiety
apparatus
=appearance=
appropriate
arctic
=argument=
=arising=
=arithmetic=
arrange
arrival
ascend
asks
=athletic=
audience
auxiliary
awkward
balance
barbarous
baring
barring
baseball
=based=
bearing
=becoming=
before
beggar
=begging=
=beginning=
=believing=
=benefited=
=biscuit=
boundaries
brilliant
=Britain=
=Britannica=
buoyant
bureau
=business=
=busy=
=calendar=
=candidate=
=can't=
cemetery
=certain=
=changeable=
=changing=
characteristic
chauffeur
=choose=
chose
chosen
=clothes=
=coarse=
column
=coming=
commission
=committee=
comparative
=compel=
compelled
competent
concede
conceivable
=conferred=
conquer
conqueror
conscience
conscientious
considered
continuous
control
=controlled=
coöperate
country
=course=
=courteous=
courtesy
cruelty
cylinder
=dealt=
debater
deceitful
decide
decision
deferred
=definite=
descend
=describe=
=description=
derived
=despair=
=desperate=
destroy
device
devise
dictionary
difference
digging
dilemma
=dining room=
dinning
=disappear=
=disappoint=
disavowal
discipline
disease
=dissatisfied=
dissipate
distinction
distribute
=divide=
=divine=
=doctor=
=don't=
dormitories
drudgery
dying
ecstasy
=effects=
=eighth=
eliminate
=embarrass=
eminent
encouraging
=enemy=
=equipped=
especially
=etc.=
everybody
exaggerate
exceed
excellent
except
exceptional
exhaust
exhilarate
=existence=
expense
experience
explanation
familiar
fascinate
=February=
fiery
fifth
=finally=
financier
forfeit
formally
=formerly=
forth
=forty=
=fourth=
frantically
fraternity
=freshman= (adj.)
=friend=
fulfil
furniture
gallant
gambling
=generally=
goddess
=government=
governor
=grammar=
grandeur
=grievous=
guard
guess
guidance
harass
haul
=having=
height
hesitancy
=holy=
=hoping=
huge
=humorous=
=hurriedly=
hundredths
hygienic
=imaginary=
imitative
immediately
immigration
impromptu
imminent
incidentally
incidents
incredulous
=independence=
indispensable
induce
influence
=infinite=
=instance=
instant
=intellectual=
intelligence
=intentionally=
intercede
irresistible
=its=
it's
itself
invitation
=judgment=
=knowledge=
laboratory
=ladies=
=laid=
=later=
=latter=
=lead=
=led=
liable
library
=lightning=
likely
literature
loneliness
=loose=
=lose=
=losing=
lying
maintain
=maintenance=
manual
manufacturer
=many=
marriage
Massachusetts
material
=mathematics=
mattress
=meant=
messenger
=miniature=
minutes
=mischievous=
Mississippi
misspelled
momentous
month
murmur
muscle
mysterious
=necessary=
=negroes=
=neither=
nickel
nineteenth
ninetieth
=ninety=
ninth
=noticeable=
=nowadays=
oblige
obstacle
=occasion=
occasionally
occur
=occurred=
=occurrence=
occurring
=o'clock=
officers
=omitted=
=omission=
=opinion=
opportunity
=optimistic=
=original=
outrageous
overrun
paid
pantomime
=parallel=
=parliament=
particularly
=partner=
=pastime=
peaceable
=perceive=
perception
peremptory
=perform=
=perhaps=
=permissible=
perseverance
pérsonal
personnél
=perspiration=
persuade
pertain
pervade
physical
picnic
picnicking
=planned=
=pleasant=
politics
politician
=possession=
possible
practically
=prairie=
=precede=
precédent
précedents
=preference=
=preferred=
prejudice
=preparation=
=primitive=
=principal=
=principle=
prisoner
=privilege=
=probably=
=proceed=
prodigy
profession
=professor=
proffered
prohibition
promissory
=prove=
purchase
pursue
putting
quantity
=quiet=
=quite=
quizzes
rapid
=ready=
=really=
recede
=receive=
recognize
=recommend=
=reference=
=referred=
=regard=
region
=religion=
=religious=
repetition
replies
representative
=restaurant=
rheumatism
ridiculous
sacrilegious
safety
=sandwich=
schedule
science
scream
screech
=seems=
=seize=
sense
=sentence=
=separate=
sergeant
several
shiftless
=shining=
shone
shown
=shriek=
=siege=
similar
=since=
smooth
soliloquy
=sophomore=
speak
specimen
=speech=
statement
=stationary=
=stationery=
statue
stature
statute
steal
steel
stops
=stopped=
=stopping=
=stories=
stretch
=strictly=
succeeds
successful
summarize
=superintendent=
supersede
=sure=
=surprise=
syllable
symmetrical
=temperament=
=tendency=
than
=their=
there
therefore
=they're=
thorough
thousandths
till
to
=too=
=together=
=tragedy=
track
=tract=
transferred
tranquillity
translate
treacherous
treasurer
=tries=
=trouble=
=truly=
=Tuesday=
two
typical
tyranny
universally
=until=
=using=
=usually=
vacancy
vengeance
vigilance
village
=villain=
weak
=wear=
weather
=Wednesday=
week
=weird=
welfare
where
wherever
=whether=
which
whole
=wholly=
=who's=
whose
wintry
wiry
within
without
=women=
world
=writing=
written
your
=you're=
Note 1.--The following words have more than one correct form, the one
given here being preferred.
abridgement
acknowledgment
analyze
ax
boulder
caliber
catalog
center
check
criticize
develop
development
dulness
endorse
envelop
esthetic
gaiety
gild
gipsy
glamor
goodby
gray
inquire
medieval
meter
mold
mustache
odor
program
prolog
skilful
theater
Note 2.--In a few groups of words American spelling and English spelling
differ. American spelling gives preference to _favor_, _honor_, _labor_,
_rumor_; English spelling gives preference to _favour_, _honour_,
_labour_, _rumour_. American spelling gives preference to _civilize_,
_apprize_; _defense_, _pretense_; _traveler_, _woolen_; etc. English
spelling gives preference to _civilise_, _apprise_; _defence_,
_pretence_; _traveller_, _woollen_; etc.
MISCELLANEOUS
=Manuscript=
=80a. Titles.= Center a title on the page. Capitalize important words. It
is unnecessary to place a period after a title, but a question mark or
exclamation point should be used when one is appropriate. Do not
underscore the title, or unnecessarily place it in quotation marks.
Leave a blank line under the title, before beginning the body of the
writing.
=b. Spacing.= Careful spacing is as necessary as punctuation. Place
writing on a page as you would frame a picture, crowding it toward
neither the top nor the bottom. Leave liberal margins. Write verse as
verse; do not give it equal indention or length of line with prose.
Connect all the letters of a word. Leave a space after a word, and a
double space after a sentence. Leave room between successive lines, and
do not let the loops of letters run into the lines above or below.
=c. Handwriting.= Write a clear, legible hand. Form _a_, _o_, _u_, _n_,
_e_, _i_, properly. Write out _and_ horizontally. Avoid unnecessary
flourishes in capitals, and curlicues at the end of words. Dot your
_i's_ and cross your _t's_; not with circles or long eccentric strokes,
but simply and accurately. Let your originality express itself not in
ornate penmanship, or unusual stationery, or literary affectations, but
in the force and keenness of your ideas.
=Capitals=
=81a. Begin with a capital a sentence, a line of poetry, or a quoted
sentence. But if only a fragment of a sentence is quoted, the capital
should be omitted.=
Right: He said, "The time has come."
Right: The question is, Shall the bill pass?
Right: They said they would "not take no for an answer."
Right:
"The good die first,
And they whose hearts are dry as summer dust
Burn to the socket."--Wordsworth.
=b. Begin proper names, and all important words used as or in proper
names, with capitals.= Words not so used should not begin with capitals.
Right: Mr. George K. Rogers, the Principal of the Urbana High
School, a college president, the President of the Senior Class,
a senior, the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia,
three battalions of infantry, the Fourth of July, on the tenth
of June, the House of Representatives, an assembly of
delegates, a Presbyterian church, the separation of church and
state, the Baptist Church, the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, a creek known as Black Oak Creek, the
Republican Party, a party that advocates high tariff, Rocky
Mountains, The Bible, God, The Christian Era, Wednesday, in the
summer, living in the South, turning south after taking a few
steps to the east, one morning, O dark-haired Evening! italic
type, watt, pasteurize, herculean effort.
=c. Begin an adjective which designates a language or a race with a
capital.=
Right: A Norwegian peasant, Indian arrowheads, English
literature, the study of French.
=d. In the titles of books or themes capitalize the first word and all
other important words.= Prepositions, conjunctions, and articles are
usually not important.
Right: _The English Novel in the Time of Scott_, _War and
Peace_, _Travels with a Donkey_, _When I Slept under the
Stars_.
=e. Miscellaneous uses. Capitalize the pronoun _I_, the interjection _O_,
titles that accompany a name, and abbreviations of proper names.=
Right: Battery F, 150 F. A.; Mobile, Ala.; Dr. Stebbins.
Exercise:
1. the teacher said, "let me read you a famous soliloquy." he
began: "to be, or not to be: that is the question."
2. the chinese laundry man does not write out his lists in
english.
3. the _la fayette tribune_ says that a Principal of a School
has been elected to congress.
4. mr. woodson, the lecturer, said that "the title of a book
may be a poem." he mentioned _christmas eve on lonesome_ by
john fox, jr.
5. i like architecture. as i approached the british museum, i
noticed the ionic colonnade that runs along the front. the
first room i visited was the one filled with marbles which lord
elgin brought from the parthenon at athens.
=Italics=
In manuscript, a horizontal line drawn under a letter or word is a sign
for the printer to use italic type.
=82a. Quoted titles of books, periodicals, and manuscripts are usually
italicized.=
Right: I admire Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. [The italics make the
reader know that the writer means, _Hamlet_ the play, not
Hamlet the man.]
Right: John Galsworthy's novel, _The Patrician_, appeared in
serial form in the _Atlantic Monthly_.
Note 1.--When the title of a book begins with an article (_a_, _an_, or
_the_), the article is italicized. But _the_ before the title of a
periodical is usually not italicized.
Note 2.--It is correct, but not the best practice, to indicate the
titles of books by quotation marks. The best method is to use italics
for the title of a book, and quotation marks for chapters or
subdivisions of the same book. Example: See _Encyclopedia Britannica_,
Vol. II, p. 427, "Modern Architecture".
=b. Words from a foreign language, unless they have been anglicized by
frequent use, are italicized.=
Right: A great noise announced the coming of the _enfant
terrible_.
Right: A play always begins _in medias res_.
=c. The names of ships are usually italicized.=
Right: The _Saxonia_ will sail at four o'clock.
=d. Words taken out of their context and made the subject of discussion
are italicized or placed in quotation marks.=
Right: _So_ is a word faded and colorless from constant use.
Right: The _t_ in the word _often_ is not pronounced.
=e. A word or passage requiring great emphasis is italicized.= This device
should not be used to excess. The proper way to secure emphasis is to
have good ideas, and to use emphatic sentence structure in expressing
them.
Exercise:
1. In Vanity Fair Thackeray heads one chapter How to Live Well
on Nothing a Year.
2. Auf wiedersehen was his parting word. He had informed me,
sub rosa of course, that he was going to Bremen.
3. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac
revolutionized naval warfare. How far back it seems to the days
when Decatur set fire to the old Philadelphia!
4. Her They say's are as plenteous as rabbits in Australia.
5. A writer in the Century Magazine says the public may know
better than an author what the title of his book should be.
Dickens, for example, called one of his works The Posthumous
Papers of the Pickwick Club.
=Abbreviations=
=83a. In ordinary writing avoid abbreviations. The following, however,
are always correct: Mr., Messrs., Dr., or St. (Saint), before proper
names; B. C. or A. D., when necessary to avoid confusion, after a date;
and No. or $ when followed by numerals.=
In ordinary writing spell out
All titles, except those listed above.
Names of months, states, countries.
Christian names, unless initials are used instead.
Names of weights and measures, except in statistics.
Street, Avenue, Road, Railroad, Park, Fort, Mountain, Company,
Brothers, Manufacturing, etc.
In ordinary writing, instead of _&_ write _and_; for _viz._ write
_namely_; for _i. e._, write _that is_; for _e. g._ write _for example_;
for _a. m._ and _p. m._ write _in the morning_, _this afternoon_,
_tomorrow evening_, _Saturday night_. Do not use _etc._ (_et cetera_)
when it can be avoided.