How to Speak and Write Correctly

s-Illustrations

language, of style and of expression has considerably changed since then, the old abstruse complex sentence with its hidden meanings has been relegated to the shade, there is little of prolixity or long-drawn-out phrases, ambiguity of expression is avoided and the aim is toward terseness, brevity and clear

the actual pauses made in speaking. Very often the points used to denote the delivery of a passage differ from those used whe

marks of pun

Comm

emico

Colo

Peri

errogat

clamat

Dash

renthe

otatio

relations, but properly speaking such come under the headi

tyled the grammatical points, and the

tion which calls for punctuation at all. It should be omitted when

"The brave, daring, faithful soldier died facing the foe." If the series is in pairs, commas separate the pairs: "Rich and

tion: "It was Patrick Henry who said

ch subject: "That he has no reverence for the God I love, proves his insincerity." "Sim

d be inclosed by commas: "The old man, a

ff by commas: "McKinley, the

require commas: "The book, which is th

: "Electricity lights our dwellings and streets, pulls ca

es its place: "Lincoln was a great

s followed by a comma: "

ess periods of three figures: "Mountai

mma. It is generally confined to separating the parts

as a statesman; he

bject of the second part is different from that of the first: "The power of England relies up

efects; namely, carelessness, lack of concentration and obstinacy in his ideas." "An island is a portion of land entirely surrounded by water; as Cuba." "The names of cities sh

conventional uses is

introducing a long quotation: "The cheers h

lustration of the subject under consider

is generally preceded by a colon: "Th

ry or subtitle is in apposition to the leading one and when th

ers: "Sir: My dear Sir: Gentlemen: Dear Mr. Jones:" etc.

he mass: "The boy's excuses for being late were: firstly, he did not know the time, sec

s simply used to mark the end of a complete sente

a complete meaning: "Birds fly.

y abbreviated word: Rt. Rev.

e book, after the author's name, after the publisher's imprint: A

tion is used to ask o

t is not expected, should be followed by the mark

f interrogation at the end of the series: "Where now are the playthings and friends o

suggest doubt: "In 1893 (?) Gladstone be

ly used, particularly in prose. Its chi

s or clauses used as interjections: "Alas!

l for the exclamation: "Charge, C

exclamation points may be used: "Assi

s a sudden break from the general run of the passage.

ion or sentiment: "The Heroes of the Civil War,-how we

introduce the repetition: "Shakespeare was the greatest of all poets-Shakespe

conclusion without expressing i

ural outcome of what has gone before: "He delved deep into the bow

ures: "J-n J-s for John Jones; 1908-9 for 1908 and

c., takes place, the dash is used to supply them: "He exce

it is undesirable to write the full word: He is somewhat of a

for it there is generally a dash: "

ragraph they should be separated by dashes: "Are

of the meaning, but have no essential connection with the sentence, and could be done without. They should be use

e break should be enclosed in parenthesis: "We cannot belie

ot submit to the tyranny of the classes (hear, hear), we must show the trust magnates (groans), that they cannot ride rough-shod over our de

ed at a place requiring a comma, if the parenthetical matter relates to the whole sentence, a comma should be used before each parenthesi

d to show that the words en

quotation marks: Abraham Lincoln said,-"I shall

ined quotation has only single marks: Franklin said, "

eral paragraphs the quotation ma

s and newspapers when fo

s are quoted though the

ntinued." The apostrophe is used to denote the elision of the century in dates, where the century is understood or to save the repetition of a series of figures, as "The Spirit of '76"; "I served in the army during the years 1895, '96, '97, '98 and '99." The principal use of the apostrophe is to denote the possessive case. All nouns in the singular number whether proper names or not, and all nouns in the plural ending with any other letter than s, form the possessive by the addition of the apostrophe and the letter

AL LE

uish them from the context. In manuscripts they may be written small or large and are indi

that it degenerates into an abuse. They should only be

rst word in writing of any kind should begin wit

in with a capital; "Dewey said,-'

ces with a capital; "Let me

with a capital; "Breathes th

ss asserts: (1) That he saw the man attacked; (2) Tha

should be wholly in capitals; as, CH

djectives and adverbs should begin with a

ted by capitals; as, I II III V X L C

as, "Jones, Johnson, Caesar, Mark A

nct to specify a particular object they become proper names, and therefore require a capital; as, "Mississippi River, North Sea, Alleghany Mountains," etc. In like

not a proper name begins with a capital if it precedes, but with a sma

re a Capital; as, "American, Irish, C

s and schools of thought begin with capitals; as, "Republican, De

ical offices begin with a capital; as, "

itals; as, "LL.D., M.A., B.S.," etc. Also the seats of learning conf

printed with capitals; as, Father Abraham, Mother Eddy, Brother John, Sister Jane, Uncle Jacob, Aunt Eliza. Father, when u

iour also require capitals: "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Man of Galilee, The Crucified, The Anointed One." Also the designations of Biblical characters as "Lily of Israel, Rose of Sharon,

in with a capital; as, "Holy Writ, The Sacred Book, Holy Book, God's Word, O

blical characters begin with a capital: "Water of Life

ebub, Prince of Darkness, Satan, King of Hell, Devil, Inca

as the names of leading events in history, have capitals; as, "Th

tory of the race require capitals; "The Floo

onths of the year and the seasons are comme

pitals. In fact all the interjections when uttered as exclamation

tinction, call for capitals, as, "The Wizard of the North," "Paul

ion, the noun or object personified begins with a capital; as, "The starry Night shook the dews