The Handbook of Good English

447 Pages·1991·7.29 MB·English

by  Edward D. Johnson

THE
HANDBOOK
OF
GOOD
ENGLISH

THE
HANDBOOK
OF
GOOD
ENGLISH
REVISED AND UPDATED
s
Edward D. Johnson
B
EactsQnFik
New York • Oxford
The Handbook of Good English: Revised and Updated
Copyright © 1983, 1991 by Edward D. Johnson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission
in writing from the publisher. For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc. Facts On File Limited
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New York NY 10016 Oxford OX4 1XJ
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First published as The Washington Square Press Handbook of
Good English by Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster division of
Gulf & Western Corporation, 1230 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, N.Y. 10020
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-21872
A British CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
CONTENTS
<* k>
PREFACE vii
1 GRAMMAR 1
The Sentence 3
Case of Nouns and Pronouns: Subjective,
Objective, and Possessive 20
Agreement 32
Verb Tenses: Past, Present, and Future 48
Verb Moods: Indicative, Imperative, and
Subjunctive 58
Verb Voices: Active and Passive 63
Modifiers 65
2 PUNCTUATION 81
Sentence Structure 83
Comma 94
Semicolon 121
Colon 125
Dash 131
Parentheses and Brackets 136
Question Mark 143
Exclamation Point 149
Quotation Marks 151
Points of Ellipsis 166
Apostrophe 172
Hyphen 182
Diagonal 216
• Contents
HOW TO STYLE WRITTEN
ENGLISH: MISCELLANEOUS
MECHANICS 219
Numbers 222
Dates 228
Abbreviations 229
Generic Terms 232
Titles of Officials and Names of Their Offices 234
Forms of Address 238
Place-names 241
Titles of Publications and Works of Literature,
Works of Art, Musical Compositions, and
Other Works 245
Foreign Words 256
BEYOND THE SENTENCE: DICTION
AND COMPOSITION 26i_
Occasion and Intent 262
Organization 267
Tone 271
Revision 278
GLOSSARY / INDEX 293