The Elements of Style de William Strunk Jr

The Elements of Style

William Strunk Jr

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. is a prescriptive American English writing style guide comprising eight "elementary rules of usage," ten "elementary principles of composition," "a few matters of form," a list of forty-nine "words and expressions commonly misused," and a list of fifty-seven "words often misspelled." In 2011, Time magazine listed The Elements of Style as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.

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Cuprins

I. Introduction II. Elementary Rules of Usage 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's 2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last 3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commans 4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing a coordinate clause 5. Do not join independent clauses by a comma 6. Do not break sentences in two 7. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject III. Elementary Principles of Composition 8. Make the paragraph the unit of composition: one paragraph to each topic 9. As a rule, begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; end it in conformity with the beginning 10. Use the active voice 11. Put statements in positive form 12. Use definite, specific, concrete language 13. Omit needless words 14. Avoid a succession of loose sentences 15. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form 16. Keep related words together 17. In summaries, keep to one tense 18. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end IV. A Few Matters of Form V. Words and Expressions Commonly Misused VI. Spelling VII. Exercises on Chapters II and III