The Style Book of The Detroit News Part 7

Do not use _apiece_ for _each_ of persons. Say: _The men each took an apple_ or _took an apple each_, not _The men took an apple apiece_. But they might have bought the apples at so much _apiece_.

Be careful not to say _these sort of things_, _these kind of men_, for _this sort of things_ or _this kind of men_.

In questions direct or indirect be careful to use _whom_ when the objective case is required. Do not say, _Who did you see there?_ or, _I do not know who he meant_.

The relative _who_ should be used only of persons (or of beasts or things personified). Do not say: _The dog whom you saw_ or _He drove the horse who made the best record_. The relative _which_ should be used only of beasts and inanimate objects. Do not say: _The women and children which were numerous then came trooping in_.

The relative _that_ may be used regardless of gender and the antecedent.

_That_ should be used after a compound antecedent mentioning both persons and animals or things, as, _The soldiers, the ambulances and the pack mules that were recaptured, were sent to the rear_.

Be careful of the case of _who_ if a parenthetical sentence intervenes between it and its verb. _He said that Gen. Harrison, whom, everybody well knew, had long been interested in the case, would make the closing argument._ Such faulty objective is often heard in daily speech and not infrequently gets into the papers. Of course _who_ should be used. But _whom_ should be used when the infinitive follows: _He said that Gen.

Harrison, whom everybody admitted to be profoundly versed in the law, would discuss the point_.

It is proper to omit the relative p.r.o.noun on occasion when it is the object of the following verb, as _He was among the men (whom) I saw_.

CONJUNCTIONS

Never use _like_ as a conjunction. John may look _like_ James or act _like_ James or speak _like_ James, but he never looks, acts or speaks _like_ James looks, acts or speaks; he never looks _like_ he wanted to do something, nor conducts himself _like_ he thought he owned the earth, or _like_ he was crazy. _Like_ (as in the first example) may be followed by an objective case of a substantive, with which the construction is completed: _You are like me in this_; _You, like me, believe this_; _He conducted himself like a crazy man_. When a clause is demanded, _as if_ should be used: _He looks as if he wanted something_; _he acts as if he were crazy_.

Do not use _if_ for _whether_ in introducing indirect questions: _I doubt whether_ (not _if_) _this is true_; _I asked whether_ (not _if_) _he would go_.

Do not use _as_ for _that_. Not _I do not know as this is so_, but _I do not know that this is so_.

Do not use _without_ for _unless_. _We cannot go unless_ (not _without_) _he comes_.

Do not use _but what_ for _but that_ or _that_. _I do not doubt that_ (or _but that_) _he will come_, not _but what he will come_; _They did not know but that_ (not _but what_) _they might accept it_.

Do not use _while_ for _although_, as, _while it is probable_. _While_ refers to time.

VERBS

The verb should agree with its subject in person and number. It ought not to be necessary to give this obvious rule, but hardly a day pa.s.ses without violation of it in almost every paper. Its violation is especially common in the inverted sentence, introduced with _there_.

_There is likely to be some changes_; _There is, at the present writing, some hopes of peace_; _There seems to be, in view of all the conditions, many objections to this plan_, are examples of the faulty usage.

The _to_ should not be separated from the infinitive by word or phrase.

The modifier should precede the _to_ or follow the verb. Do not say _to promptly act_, but _to act promptly_ or _promptly to act_. Such use as in the example just given is bad enough, but it is not so offensive as the intrusion of time adverbs and negatives as, for example, _He decided to now go_, or _He expected to not only go but to stay_, or _He preferred to not stay_.

Do not end a sentence with the _to_ of an omitted infinitive; as: _He could not speak but tried to_; but _He refused to go but he ought to go_, or _He ought to go but he refuses_.

Subordinate infinitives and participles take their time from the verb in the princ.i.p.al clause. They should therefore be the simple so-called present forms. Do not say: _I intended to have gone_, or _I intended having gone_, but _I intended to go_, _I intended going_; not _He had expected to have been present_, but _He had expected to be present_; not _He would have liked to have seen you_; but _He would have liked to see you_; not _I was desirous to have gone_, but _I was desirous to go_.

With the verbs _appear_ (in the sense of _seem to be_) and _feel_, _look_, _smell_ and _sound_ (used intransitively) use an adjective and not an adverb, i. e., _The rose smells sweet_; _Miss Coghlan as Lady Teazle looked charming_; _She appeared happy_. But _appear_ in the same sense of _behave_ is followed by an adverb, as _He appears well_; and the other verbs used transitively of course take an adverb, as _He looked sharply at the man_.

When one wishes to imply doubt or denial in a condition of present or indefinite time, the imperfect subjunctive should be used, as _If the book were here, I should show you_--but the book is not here; _If it were true, you would long ago have heard it_--but it is not true. But if one is referring to past time, the imperfect indicative must be used, as, _If he was here yesterday, I did not know it_.

Be careful to distinguish between _lay_ and _lie_, _raise_ and _rise_, _set_ and _sit_. The first of each pair is transitive, and always requires an object; the second is intransitive and never takes an object. (The only exception is _sit_ used of a rider, as, _He sits his horse well_.) One _lays_ or _sets_ a thing down and _raises_ it up. One _lies_ or _sits_ down and _rises_ from one's place. Land _lies_ this way or that. (But we speak of the _lay_ of the land.)

Especially pains must be taken to keep straight the past tenses and past participles of _lay_ and _lie_. Of _lay_ past tense and participle are alike _laid_. _He laid_ or _he has laid the case before the authorities_. The past tense of _lie_ is _lay_ (the same as the present tense of the transitive verb), the past participle is _lain_. These forms are seldom if ever used for parts of _lay_; but for them _laid_ is very often used, as, _He laid_ or _he has laid down to take a nap_, where the correct usage is _He lay_ or _he has lain down_, etc.

Prices _rise_, wages _rise_, bread _rises_, bread is _set_ to _rise_; men _raise_ prices or wages; _He rose and raised his hand_. Clothing of every sort _sits_ well or ill, it does not _set_. The corresponding noun, however, is _set_; _He admired the set of the garment_. You _set_ a hen, but the hen _sits_ and is a _sitting_ hen. The heavenly bodies _set_, but that is another word, which means to _sink_ or to _settle_.

Inanimate objects are not _injured_ but _damaged_.

Use _wish_ to mean simple desire, as, _I wish to see him_. Use _want_ to mean acute need, as, _I want food_.

Only moving objects _collide_. Two automobiles may _collide_, but an automobile does not _collide_ with a fence.

PREFER:

_lend_ to _loan_ _lives_ to _resides_ _leaves_ to _departs_ _obtain_ or _procure_ to _secure_ _turn over_ to _turn turtle_ _bought_ to _purchased_ _live at hotel_ to _stop at hotel_ _robbed of_ to _relieved of_

Things of a general cla.s.s are compared _with_ each other to bring out points of similarity or dissimilarity. One thing is compared _to_ another of a different cla.s.s. He compared Detroit _with_ Cleveland. He compared Detroit _to_ a busy hive of bees.

Things _occur_ or _happen_ by chance and _take place_ by design. An accident _happens_ or _occurs_; a pre-arranged act _takes place_.

Except in legal papers use _proved_ instead of _proven_.

_Transpire_ does not mean to take place but to leak out, as, _They tried to keep their deliberations secret, but it transpired that * * *_

_Enthuse_ is not a good word. Say _become enthusiastic_.

Medicine, laws and oaths are _administered_; blows and punishment are _dealt_.

_Allege_ is used only in referring to formal charges and not as a synonym for _say_ or _a.s.sert_.

The past tense and past participle of _dive_ are _dived_. Don't use _dove_.

The past tense and past participle of _forecast_ are _forecast_. Don't use _forecasted_.

The past tense and past participle of _hang_ are _hung_, except in reference to an execution; then write, _He was hanged_.

The past tense and past participle of _plead_ are _pleaded_ and not _plead_ or _pled_. Don't write, _He plead guilty_, but _He pleaded guilty_.

The past tense of _swim_ is _swam_, and the past participle is _swum_.

BARRED BY THE SUN

Newspaper men can read with profit this list of words and phrases to be avoided, compiled by Charles A. Dana for his a.s.sociates on the New York Sun: