Practical Grammar and Composition

Exercise 82

Supply a word which will remedy the italicized impropriety in each of the following sentences. When in doubt consult a dictionary:

1. The majority of the illustrations are good.
2. No one can accurately predicate what the weather will be.
3. Shall you except the invitation?
4. They claim that the assertion cannot be proved.
5. They finally located the criminal in Dravosburg.
6. I shall leave you go at noon.
7. The balance of the essay was uninteresting.
8. By questions they tried to eliminate the true story.
9. They impugn false motives to me.
10. He was greatly effected by the news.
11. Sabbath observation was then very strict.
12. They expect that she wrote the letter.
13. The invention of electricity has revolutionized all manufactures.
14. Who learned her to sing?
15. Edison discovered the phonograph.
16. One cannot comprehend the enormity of a billion of dollars.
17. Many complements were paid to her beauty.
18. His consciousness pricked him.
19. How could any one be guilty of such a cruel action.
20. The advancement of the army was very slow.

195. Idioms. There are in English, as in other languages, a number of expressions that cannot be justified by the rules of grammar or rhetoric; and yet these expressions are among the most forcible ones in the language, and are continually used by the best writers. These expressions that lie outside all rules we call idioms. Compare the following idiomatic expressions with the unidiomatic expressions that succeed them. The second expression in each group is in accord with the strict rules of composition; but the first, the idiomatic, is far more forceful.

Idioms are not to be avoided. On the contrary, because they contribute great ease and force to composition, their use is to be encouraged. But the distinction between idiomatic and unidiomatic expressions is a fine one, and rests solely on usage. Care must be taken not to go beyond the idiomatic. There is probably little danger that the ordinary writer or speaker will not use idioms enough.

The following expressions are examples of commonly used idioms:

196. Choice of Words. The words in which a thought is expressed may not offend against good use, and yet still be objectionable because they do not accurately and appropriately express the thought. One should choose not merely a word that will approximately express the thought, but the one word that best expresses it. The following suggestions are given to aid in the choice of words:

1. Choose simple English words and avoid what is called "fine writing." Young writers and newspaper writers are greatly given to this offense of fine or bombastic writing. Examples:

2. Distinguish between general and specific terms. In some cases general words may be used to advantage, but more often specific words should be used, since they call to the mind a definite image. Compare these sentences:

3. Avoid over-statement of facts. The use of words that are too strong is a fault especially characteristic of Americans. Examples:

4. Avoid hackneyed phrases; expressions that have been worked to death. Examples:

Exercise 83

For each of the following expressions devise the best simple English expression that you can:

1. Individual was precipitated.
2. Tendered him a banquet.
3. At the witching hour of midnight.
4. The devouring element was checked.
5. Piscatorial sport.
6. Pedal extremities.
7. Fraught with tremendous possibilities.
8. Amid the plaudits of the multitude.
9. Caudal extremity.
10. Passed to his long home.
11. Dissected the Thanksgiving bird.
12. Presided at the organ.
13. Finger of scorn pointed at him.
14. Wended his way.
15. The green eyed monster.
16. The whole aggregation of knowledge chasers.
17. Maternal ancestor.
18. Shuffled off this mortal coil.
19. Failed to materialize at the banquet.
20. Tonsorial artist.
21. Twirler of the sphere.
22. Pugilistic encounters.
23. Performed his matutinal ablutions.
24. Partook of a magnificent collation.
25. Solemnized the rites of matrimony.

Exercise 84

In the third paragraph of the selection from Cranford (see §186) observe the use of the following words: human, weakness, hanks, twisted, annoyed, and undoing. Study the specific nature of these words by grouping about each of them other words of somewhat similar meaning, and then comparing the force of the various words in each group.

This sort of exercise may be continued by choosing passages from any careful writer and studying the words that he has used.

Exercise 85

Substitute for each of the following expressions some expression that will be less general or less exaggerated:

1. She is nice looking.
2. We had a perfectly gorgeous time.
3. John is a professional man.
4. The play was simply exquisite.
5. To hear his voice makes me feel funny.
6. The opposing team was completely annihilated.
7. A noise caught our attention.
8. His manners are horrid.
9. We had a great time.
10. Such arrogance is unendurable.
11. That is a good book.

197. How to Improve One's Vocabulary. The few following suggestions may be found helpful in the acquiring of a good vocabulary:

1. Cultivate the dictionary habit. Learn the meaning, pronunciation, and spelling of each new word that you meet. Only when these three things are grasped about each word, does one really know the word. Some persons have found it an invaluable aid to carry with them a small note book or card on which they note down to be looked up at a convenient time words concerning which they are in doubt.

2. In your writing and speaking use as much as possible the new words that you acquire.

3. Construct good English expressions for all the slang, fine writing, and hackneyed phrases that you meet, and then use the good expressions instead of the bad ones.

4. Study synonyms; words of similar form and meaning. Only by a knowledge of synonyms can you express fine shades of meaning. Crabbe's English Synonyms and Fernald's Synonyms and Antonyms are good books of reference for this purpose. In addition to these books, lists of synonyms will be found in many books that are designed for general reference.

5. Try to get the one word that will best express the idea.

6. Read good books and good magazines, and read them carefully.

7. Cultivate the society of those who use good language.

Exercise 86

Look up the meaning of each of the words in the following groups of synonyms. Construct sentences in which each word is used correctly:

1. Love, like.
2. Wit, humor.
3. Discover, invent.
4. Observe, watch.
5. Pride, vanity, conceit.
6. Proof, evidence, testimony.
7. Balance, rest, remainder.
8. Word, term, expression.
9. Bring, fetch, carry.
10. Abandon, desert, forsake.
11. Propose, purpose, intend.
12. Healthful, healthy, wholesome.
13. Student, pupil, scholar.
14. Capacity, power, ability.
15. Blame, censure, criticism.
16. Accede, agree, yield, acquiesce.
17. Trickery, cunning, chicane, fraud.
18. Instruction, education, training, tuition.
19. Hardship, obstacle, hindrance, difficulty.
20. Maxim, precept, rule, law
21. Multitude, crowd, throng, swarm.
22. Delight, happiness, pleasure, joy.
23. Work, labor, toil, drudgery, task.
24. Silent, mute, dumb, speechless.
25. Kill, murder, assassinate, slay.
26. Hatred, enmity, dislike, ill-will.
27. Example, pattern, sample, model.
28. Obvious, plain, clear, apparent.
29. Noted, eminent, famous, prominent, notorious.
30. Old, aged, antique, ancient, antiquated, obsolete.

Spelling

198. The following is a list of words that are frequently misspelled or confused. Where possible, an effort has been made to arrange them in groups in order that they may be more easily remembered. The word with an added ending has been used in most cases in place of the bare word itself as, occasional instead of occasion. A few rules have been included.

199. Words ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, if monosyllables, or if the last syllable is accented, double the final consonant before the ending -ed and -ing, but not before -ence; as,

Similar to the above are.

defer, infer, prefer, refer, transfer, occur (occurrence), abhor (abhorrence), omit, remit, permit, commit, beset, impel, compel, repel, excel (excellence), mob, sob, rub, skid.

If these words are not accented on the last syllable, the consonant is not doubled; as,

benefit, benefited, benefiting, beneficial.

Similar are:

differ, summon, model.

200. Words ending in silent e drop the e before a suffix beginning with a vowel; as,

Similar are:

move, write, blame, tame, come, receive, believe, relieve, grieve, deceive, conceive, perceive, seize, precede, concede, supersede, recede, argue, rue, construe, woe, pursue.

201. Words ending in -ge, -ce, or -se, retain the e before endings: as,

arrange, arrangement; arrange, arranging.

Similar are:

gauge, manage, balance, finance, peace, service, amuse, use.

202. Words in -dge do not retain the e before endings; as, acknowledge, acknowledgment, acknowledged, acknowledging.

Similar are:

nudge, judge.

203. Most words ending in y preceded by a consonant change y to i before all endings except-ing:

busy, business, busied, busying.

Similar are:

duty, mercy, penny, pity, vary, weary, study.

204. Words of similar sound:

205. Miscellaneous words:

Pronunciation

206. The following list is made up of words that are frequently mispronounced. An effort has been made to arrange them in groups according to the most frequent source of error in their pronunciation.

The only marks regularly used are the signs for the long and short sounds of the vowel.

When sounds are not otherwise indicated take the sound that comes most naturally to the tongue.

207. ā as in hate:

208. ă as in hat:

209. ä as in arm:

210. ē as in me:

211. ĕ as in met:

212. ī as in high:

213. ĭ as in hit:

214. ō as in old:

215. ŏ as in hop:

216. ōō as in boot:

217. ū as in use:

218. ŭ as in us:

219. Miscellaneous words.

220. Words with a silent letter:

221. Works chiefly of foreign pronunciation:

222. Words often pronounced with a wrong number of syllables:

223. Words accented on the first syllable:

224. Words accented on the second syllable:

225. Words accented on the last syllable:

226. Words whose pronunciation depends on meaning:

GLOSSARY OF MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS

Admire. Do not use admire in the sense of like.

Aggravate. Do not use aggravate in the sense of irritate or disturb. Aggravate means to make worse.

Ain't. Ain't and hain't are never proper as contractions of am not, is not, or are not.

Allow. Do not use allow in the sense of assert, say, or intend.

Allude. Do not use allude in the sense of refer. To allude to a thing means to refer to it in an indirect way.

Any. Do not use any in the sense of at all or to any degree.

Wrong: Because of the injury he can not see any.

As. Do not use as for the relative pronouns who and that.

As. Do not use as in the sense of since or because.

At. Do not use at for in with the names of large cities

Attackted. Do not use this form for attacked.

Awful, awfully. These are two very much overworked words. Substitute other and more accurate expressions.

Badly. Do not use badly in the sense of very much.

Beside, besides. Beside means next to. Besides means in addition to.

Between. Do not use between when referring to more than two objects.

Blowed. Do not use blowed for blew or blown. There is no such word.

Best. Do not use best when only two objects are referred to. Use better. Best should be used only when more than two are referred to.

Bound. Do not use bound for determined.

But. Do not use but after a negative in the sense of only. See §46.

Calculate. Do not use calculate in the sense of think, expect, or intend.

Can. Do not use can to denote permission. It denotes ability or possibility. May denotes permission. See §69

Character, reputation. Do not confuse these two words. Character means one's moral condition. Reputation means the morality that others believe one to possess.

Clum. There is no such form of the verb climb.

Complected. Do not use complected for complexioned. See §40.

Conclude. Do not use conclude in the sense of forming an intention.

Considerable. Do not use considerable in the sense of very much.

Wrong: This lesson is considerable better than yesterday's.

Cute. A much overworked word. Use some expression that is more accurate; as, pretty, amusing, etc.

Decease, disease. Do not confuse decease and disease. The first means death, the second sickness. The deceased means a person who is dead.

Decease. Do not use decease as a verb in the sense of die.

Wrong: His father deceased last year.

Demand. Demand should not have a person as its object.

Different. Use the preposition from after different, not than.

Don't. Do not use don't with a subject in the third person singular. See §64.

Down. Do not use down as a verb in the sense of defeat or overthrow.

Drownded. Drownded is not a proper form of the verb drown. Say drowned. (Pronounced drownd.)

Each other. Do not use each other to refer to more than two objects. See §44.

Effect, affect. Do not confuse effect and affect. Effect means a result, or to cause a thing to be done. Affect means to disturb or have an influence on.

Either. Do not use either with reference to more than two objects, nor follow it by a plural verb. See §43.

Emigrate, immigrate. Do not confuse emigrate and immigrate. To emigrate means to go out of a place, to immigrate means to come into a place.

Enough. Do not follow enough by a clause beginning with that or so that.

Enthuse. Do not use enthuse in the sense of to create enthusiasm.

Etc. Etc. stands for et cetera, and means and so forth. Do not spell it ect. Do not use it in composition that is intended to be elegant.

Everybody. Everybody should not be followed by a plural verb or a plural pronoun. See §21.

Except, accept. Do not confuse these two words. Accept means to acknowledge. Except means to exclude.

Except. Do not use except for unless. See §85.

Wrong: I can not sleep except it is quiet.

Expect. Do not use expect in the sense of suppose or think.

Fine. Do not use fine in place of some more definite word. Fine is a much over-worked word.

Firstly. Firstly should never be used. Say first. See §40.

First-rate. Do not use first-rate as an adverb in the sense of very well.

Former. Do not use former when more than two are referred to. Say first. See §41.

From. Do not use from with whence, hence and thence.

Funny. Do not use funny for singular or strange. Funny is an overworked word.

Gent. Do not use the word at all. Say gentleman or man.

Gentleman. Do not use gentleman to denote sex only. Say man. Gentleman is properly used, however, to denote a person of refinement.

Got. Do not use got with have or had to indicate merely possession or obligation. Got means acquired through effort.

Grand. Do not use grand in place of some more definite and accurate expression. It is another over-worked word.

Guess. Do not use guess in the sense of think or suppose.

Had ought. Do not use had with ought. See §54.

Hardly. Do not use hardly after a negative. See §46.

Have. Do not use have after had.

Heighth. Do not use heighth for height.

Hung. Do not confuse hung and hanged. Hanged is the proper word to use in reference to executions.

Humbug. Do not use humbug as a verb.

Wrong: He has humbugged the people for years.

Illy. Do not use illy for the adverb ill. See §40.

In, into. Do not confuse in and into.

Kind. Do not precede kind by those or these.

Kind of a. Do not use a or an after kind of. See §47.

Lady. Do not use lady to designate sex only. It is properly used to indicate persons of refinement.