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Hyphens
Made Easy
Double Negatives Needn't Be
No Sintop
Should
I "boldly go" or "go boldly"?
Should I
"boldly go" or "go boldly"? by Tim North,
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.
It's five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds,
to seek out new life and new civilizations,
TO BOLDLY GO where no man has gone before!
Thus starts the famous voice-over to Star Trek. Quite apart from the 1960s
sexism, it raises the burning question that has probably long been gnawing at
you: should Captain Kirk have said "to boldly go" or "to go boldly"?
To put it in linguistic geek speak: "Are split infinitives really a tool of the
devil?" :-)
Just in case the issue hasn't been gnawing at you, let's start with a quick
review: what is a split infinitive? Well it's quite simple. An infinitive is a
form of a verb (a doing word) that (usually) starts with the word "to". For
example, "to run", "to go" and "to laugh" are all infinitives.
When we put a another word between "to" and the verb, we're said to have "split"
the infinitive. For example: "to unsteadily run", "to boldly go" or "to quietly
laugh".
Are these grammatically naughty or not?
Short answer: no.
The traditional "rule" that one should not split infinitives stems from the fact
that it is not done in Latin. Purists argue (incorrectly in my opinion) that
because Latin doesn't do it, English shouldn't.
In his wonderful book "The Mother Tongue", prolific author Bill Bryson provides
the following simple rebuttal:
I can think of two very good reasons for not splitting an infinitive.
1. Because you feel that the rules of English ought to conform to the
grammatical precepts of a language that
died a thousand years ago.
2. Because you wish to cling to a pointless affectation of usage that is
without the support of any recognized
authority of the last 200 years, even at the cost of composing sentences
that are ambiguous, inelegant, and
patently contorted.
Nicely said, Bill!
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You'll find many more helpful tips like these in Tim North's much applauded
range of e-books. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS are available, and all books come with a
money-back guarantee.
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
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Hyphens made easyby
Tim North,
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
Your readers judge you on the way you write.
This applies whether you're writing advertising copy, a college
or business report, a web site, or the next great novel; and it's
these judgments that will determine the success or failure of
your venture.
For example, would you buy a book if you flipped through the
pages and saw spelling errors? Probably not. Such errors would
detract from the credibility of what was written. Similarly, the
Internet is full of web sites offering to tell you how to write
fantastic advertising copy that will triple your sales.
The irony is that most of these sites look like they're written
by an illiterate. You know the ones: spelling errors, poor
grammar, ridiculous punctuation, and way too many exclamation
marks.
Good, solid writing skills are necessary whether you're writing
for business, college or fiction. In this article, I'm going to
look at a frequently misunderstood area: hyphens.
Yes, it sounds dull; I admit it. Wait, though, before being
tempted to put this article to one side, and test yourself with
these real-world questions.
Q1. Why do many dictionaries list "infra-red" with a hyphen, but "ultraviolet" without?
Q2. Why does only the first of the following sentences need a hyphen?
We will discuss public-safety issues.
We will discuss issues of public safety.
Q3. Which of these is the preferred spelling:
co-ordinator or coordinator?
mid 1990s or mid-1990s?
selfesteem, self-esteem or self esteem?
Are you certain of all your answers? If not, read on, and
we'll cover some simple guidelines for using hyphens. (You'll
also find the answers to the questions above.)
SEVEN SIMPLE TIPS FOR USING HYPHENS
-----------------------------------
1. The prefix "self" is nearly always hyphenated; e.g.self-esteem, self-image, self-conscious.
2. When the prefix "ex" is used to mean former, it is always hyphenated; e.g. ex-wife, ex-premier, ex-treasurer.
3. Most of the time, other prefixes don't need a hyphen; i.e. most dictionaries list "coexist" not "co-exist."
4. We do sometimes use a hyphen after a prefix, though, if the main word is only one syllable; e.g. infra-red. By comparison, ultraviolet doesn't need a hyphen (according to most dictionaries) because the main word is not one syllable.
5. Use a hyphen after a prefix in order to separate a doubled vowel; e.g. pre-empt, de-emphasize. There are some exceptions, though. Many modern dictionaries spell "cooperate" and "coordinate" without hyphens.
6. We tend to hyphenate compound words only if they come before a noun, not after. For example, we write a "public-safety issue" with a hyphen, but "an issue of public safety" is written without one.
7. Use a hyphen after the prefix if the main word has a hyphen of its own; e.g. non-customer-focused approach.
Armed with these simple guidelines, you'll soon be using hyphens
like an expert. Good luck! :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You'll find many more helpful tips like these in Tim North's
much applauded range of e-books. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS are
available, and all books come with a money-back guarantee.
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
******************************************************
Writing tip: hyphens and how to use them
by
Tim North,
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
Hyphens are an underloved but useful punctuation mark that can
improve the clarity of our writing. This article reviews a
situation in which they're used.
I'll start by defining two simple terms:
A NOUN is a word that stands for a person or thing. Examples
include dog, Tim, house, book, speaker, staff member and
Australia.
An ADJECTIVE is a word that describes something. Examples
include red, happy, big, sweet, grumpy, excellent, yellow and
new.
Here's an exercise for you. Look at the following sentence, and
identify the adjective:
They played a good game.
It's fairly straightforward. The only adjective in this sentence
is "good": it's describing the game by saying what type of game
it is.
Here are some similar sentences. Find the adjectives in these:
They played a long game.
They played a role-playing game.
They played an action-packed game.
They played a new game.
They played a time-consuming game.
Again, it's quite straight forward. The adjectives in all these
sentences are in the same place: just before the noun (game). The
adjectives were "long", "role playing", "action packed", "new"
and "time consuming".
Now we get to the ever-so-cunning point of all that. :-)
Notice that some of the adjectives were a single word (e.g.
"long"), while others were made up of two words; e.g. "action
packed". The two-word adjectives were all hyphenated.
Let's look at some more examples to demonstrate my point:
A new approach is needed.
A customer-focussed approach is needed.
We will discuss safety issues.
We will discuss public-safety issues.
Even a short sentence can be punctuated in different ways.
Even a three-word sentence can be punctuated in different ways.
A classic ampersand can add flair to a document.
An old-style ampersand can add flair to a document.
The two-word adjectives were all hyphenated. Using hyphens in
these cases makes the sentences easier to read.
Notice that in all the examples above the hyphenated words
occurred immediately *before* a noun. Compare the following two
sentences:
A customer-focussed approach is needed.
Our approach is customer focussed.
In the first sentence, the adjective ("customer focussed") occurs
before a noun ("approach"), so we hyphenate it. In the second
sentence, the same words ("customer focussed") *don't* need a
hyphen because they don't occur before a noun.
Here's a few more examples, just to make that point clear.
Two-word adjectives often need hyphens.
Adjectives of two words often need hyphens.
Try using easy-to-read fonts.
The fonts were easy to read.
I used a run-in list.
The list was run in.
We will discuss public-safety issues.
We will discuss issues of public safety.
Summary
-------
When an adjective of two or more words occurs before a noun, it's
usually hyphenated.
You'll notice that I said "usually hyphenated". Most sources
point out that a writer may omit the hyphen if no ambiguity could
result.
My personal style, though, is to be generous with the use of such
hyphens. I think it makes the resulting prose easier to read.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You'll find many more helpful tips like these in Tim North's
much applauded range of e-books. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS are
available, and all books come with a money-back guarantee.
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
Double negatives needn't be no sin!
by
Tim North,
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
I'm going to go out on a limb here and contradict most of the
books ever written on the subject of grammar. (Who said I wasn't
brave?) Traditional advice has always been not to use double
negatives. For example, sentences such as these are traditionally
frowned on:
I didn't do nothing!
Don't give me no lip!
There ain't no such thing.
Detractors will argue that such sentences involve a
contradiction of the intended meaning. In the first sentence, if
the speaker didn't do nothing then he or she must have done
something. In the second sentence, the speaker seems to be asking
to be given some lip and, in the third sentence, the speaker is
arguing that there is such a thing.
My position is that while these criticisms are pedantically
true, there's really no likelihood that anyone would
misunderstand the intended meaning. If a mother turns to her
child and snaps "Don't give me no lip!", it would take a
particularly slow-witted child to assume that she was inviting a
dispute. (And certainly even the dullest child wouldn't make that
particular mistake twice!)
No, far from being misunderstood, in most cases a double negative
actually makes the intended meaning more clear by being more
emphatic. For example, consider these sentences:
I didn't do it!
I didn't do nothing!
To me, the second one seems like a stronger, more emphatic
denial by virtue of having two negative words (didn't and
nothing), rather than just one (didn't). The speaker might not be
more believable, but he or she does sound more emphatic.
So even though a literal interpretation of a double negative
may contradict the speaker's intended meaning, it's unlikely to
be ambiguous in context. On the contrary, the meaning is probably
made even clearer: doubly so.
In summary then, double negatives needn't be no sin!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You'll find many more helpful tips like these in Tim North's
much applauded range of e-books. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS are
available, and all books come with a money-back guarantee.
http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
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