Guide to Grammar and Style -- I
From the Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch.
Comments are welcome.
I.e. versus e.g.
See E.g.
versus i.e.
Impact should remain
a noun; a proposal can have an impact, but cannot
impact anything without degenerating into jargon. The only thing that can be
impacted is a wisdom tooth.
In grammar, an
imperative is an order: instead of "You will go" --
the indicative -- the imperative says: "Go."
Instead of "You will get the book" -- the indicative --
the imperative says "Get the book."
Though the word imperative is common in business writing,
it's big and ugly and intimidating. Go with must or
should. Instead of the jargony
"It is imperative that the forms be completed on time," try "Be
sure to complete the forms on time."
A speaker
implies something by hinting at it; a listener
infers something from what he or she hears. Don't use
them interchangeably.
A tip: your thesis statement in an English paper
should never contain the word
important, which usually means something like "I think
this is relevant, but I haven't a clue how." Some examples of
bad thesis statements: "The idea of money is important in Defoe's
novels," "The role of honor in the epic poems of ancient Greece
is very important," or "Race and gender are very important
aspects of Toni Morrison's novels" -- they're all very close to
meaningless. And don't think a synonym like significant
will save you. Say something precise.
Indefinite Articles.
See Articles.
Indicative.
See Subjunctives and Shall versus Will.
A yucky word.
Usually unnecessary; use person or someone. Use
individual only when you mean to distinguish an individual
from a group or corporation.
Infinitive.
See Split
Infinitive.
Sentences
beginning "It is interesting that" or "It is significant that"
are usually as far from interesting as can be. Don't just state
that something is interesting: show it.
Often useless
padding.
Intransitive Verbs.
See Transitive versus Intransitive
Verbs.
Not a word used
in respectable company: somewhere between irrespective and
regardless. Use one of these instead.
Use italics for book
titles, for foreign words, and for
emphasis. Be careful, though, not to rely too much on italics
for emphasis; they make your writing look amateurish. Let the
words do most of the work.
Note that italics and underscores are the same
thing -- typewriters used underscore when italics
weren't available -- so use one or the other, but not both,
in a paper. Publishers prefer underscores in typescripts;
they're easier for typesetters to catch. (This is a question of
house style.)
See Titles and Fonts.
There's no
shortcut; all you can do is memorize the rule. It's with
an apostrophe means it is; its without an
apostrophe means belonging to it. An analogue might
provide a mnemonic: think of "he's" ("he is" gets an apostrophe)
and "his" ("belonging to him" doesn't).