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Strunk & White . Rules 7-11. RULE 7:Use a colon after an independent clause…. TO INTRODUCE A LIST OF PARTICULARS: DO NOT SEPARATE A VERB FROM ITS COMPLIMENT : INCORRECT: Your dedicated whittler requires: a knife, a piece of wood, and a porch. CORRECT:
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Strunk & White Rules 7-11
RULE 7:Use a colon after an independent clause… • TO INTRODUCE A LIST OF PARTICULARS: • DO NOT SEPARATE A VERB FROM ITS COMPLIMENT: • INCORRECT: Your dedicated whittler requires: a knife, a piece of wood, and a porch. • CORRECT: • Your dedicated whittler requires three props: a knife, a piece of wood, and a porch.
RULE 7 (cont.) • Join with a colon if the second interprets or amplifies the first: • Try inserting the word “because” to see if it fits. • I hate broccoli: my mom makes it every day. • A colon may introduce a quotation that supports the preceding clause: • The squalor of the streets reminded her of a line from A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of the times; It was the worst of times.”
Rule 7 (cont.) • Other functions of the colon: • Salutation of a formal letter • To Whom It May Concern: • Notation of time • 10:48 P.M. • Separate the title of a work • Taxes for Dummies: A Do-It Yourself Guide • Bible chapter from a verse • Genesis 1:1
RULE 8: Use a Dash… • To set off an abrupt break or interruption: • His first thought on getting out of bed—if he had any thought at all—was to get back in again. • To show a long appositive or summary: • The rear-axle began to make a noise—a grinding, chattering rasp.
RULE 9: THE NUMBER OF THE SUBJECT IS THE NUMBER OF THE VERB • Words that intervene between subject and verb, do not affect the verb. • The bittersweet flavor of youth—its trials, its joys, its adventures—is not soon forgotten. • Use a singular verb form after each, either, everyone, everybody, neither, nobody, someone. • Everybody thinks he has a unique sense of humor.
Rule 9 (cont.) • With none, use a singular verb when the word means “no one” or “not one.” • None of us is perfect. • A plural verb is used when none suggests more than one thing or person. • None are so fallible as those who are sure they are right.
RULE 9 (Cont.) • A compound subject joined by and almost always requires a plural verb. • Joey and Susie are holding hands. • Exception: some compound subjects function as ONE UNIT so they would have a singular verb: • Bread and butter is all she will eat. • Give and take is essential for a happy home.
Rule 9 (cont.) • A singular subject remains singular even if other nouns are connected to it by with, as well as, in addition to, except, together with, and no less than. • His speech as well as his manner is questionable. • Some nouns appear to be plural but are singular (function as one unit), so need a singular verb: • The Republican Headquarters is down the street.
Rule 10: Use the proper case of pronoun • Personal pronouns and the pronoun who, change form as they function as subject or object: • SUBJECT: Who is going dancing tonight? • OBJECT: He is dancing with whom? • SUBJECT: Sally is the candidate who we think will win. • OBJECT: Sally is the candidate whom we hope to elect. (We hope to elect her.) • Use the pronoun I if it’s the subject of an understood verb. • Sandy writes better than I. (…than I write)
Rule 10 (cont.) • Possessive Pronouns show ownership: • Adjective modifier (your hat) • Noun form (the hat of yours) • Gerunds (verb +ing) require a possessive case: • Mother objected to our driving on the icy roads.
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE OR GERUND? • Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these examples: • The horse trotting up to the fence hopes that you have an apple or carrot. • Trotting up to the fence modifies the noun horse. • The water drained slowly in the pipe clogged with dog hair. • Clogged with dog hair modifies the noun pipe. • Eaten by mosquitoes, we wished that we had made hotel, not campsite, reservations. • Eaten by mosquitoes modifies the pronoun we.
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE OR GERUND? • Gerund and present participle phrases are easy to confuse because they both begin with an ing word. The difference is the function that they provide in the sentence. A gerund phrase will always behave as a noun while a present participle phrase will act as an adjective. • Walking on the beach, Delores dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore. • Walking on the beach = present participle phrase describing the noun Delores. • Walking on the beach is painful if jellyfish have washed ashore. • Walking on the beach = gerund phrase, the subject of the verb is.
Rule 11: beware of misplaced modifiers! • A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject. • CORRECT: Young and inexperienced, I thought the task was easy. • INCORRECT: Young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me. • INCORRECT: Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap. • INCORRECT: Wondering what to do next, the clock struck twelve.