the pencil reads

Unlike Portugese Irregular Verbs, this is a book on grammar, composition and style. After reading this concise rulebook by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White from cover to cover, I am now intensely conscious of how rambly these posts are. I obviously break the first rule in the chapter on style: `1. Place yourself in the background'.


I also break (and intend to keep breaking) the first rule in the grammar section:

1. Form possessive singular nouns by adding 's.
Follow this rule whatever the final consonent. Thus write,

Charles's friend
Burns's poem

Some rules are a useful reminder:

9. The number of the subject determines the number of verbs.
A common blunder is the use of a singular verb form in a relative clause following "one of..." or a similar expression when the relative is the subject.

Wrong
One of the ablest scientists who has attacked this problem.

Right
One of the ablest scientists who have attacked this problem.

It is surprisingly witty:

Flammable. An oddity, chiefly useful for saving lives. The common word meaning "combustible" is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means "not combustible". For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 at 12:15 PM. :)