Questions tagged [style-manuals]
For questions about style manuals. Style manuals are resources for writers that indicate precedents and recommend formatting consistency.
198
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Trying to understand how to connect phrases/clauses with commas
Take this fragment for example:
The snow had come from the north, in the mist, driven by the night wind, smelling of the sea.
It is from John Le Carré's The looking glass war. I've seen writers do ...
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0
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27
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Square Feet versus Square Foot [duplicate]
The sentence is
The project would construct a 2000 square (foot/feet) kitchen.'
I put 'The project would construct a 2000 square feet kitchen.'
My senior reviewer changed feet to foot. Why?
If I ...
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2
answers
82
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Nested quotations & internal commas: an edge case
Which of the following would be best practice, and why and according to whom?
Alice says, “Bob said, ‘Hello’ ” and she smiles at the memory.
Alice says, “Bob said, ‘Hello’, ” and she smiles at the ...
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0
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72
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When writing ranges, must the start and the end of the range be both written out as words or both written in numerals? [duplicate]
Usually, numbers 0-10 are written out as words. What should be used when a range starts below ten but ends above it? Is the word "to" used, or a hyphen?
E.g.,
9-25
, or
nine to twenty-...
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3
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Is objectual a word?
Is objectual a word? I could not find it in Merriam Webster.
I am trying to use it in a sentence like this:
A phrase signifies the objectual nature of thing in question.
Would I be stretching the ...
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0
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48
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Can I write ~€100 to denote an approximate amount of 100 euros? [closed]
I am currently using the expression “~€100” to symbolically denote an approximate amount of one hundred euros. However, I’m not sure whether the symbol ~ followed by the symbol € and the amount of ...
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55
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How do you mark English words originally used by a non-native author in an English translation?
An artist has written memoirs in his native language with some English words and phrases scattered here and there (some might even have spelling / grammar mistakes). His memoirs are translated into ...
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27
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APA style: Changing direct quote "drew" to "drawing" -- where to place square brackets? [closed]
If the original quote uses "drew" and I want to integrate it into my text by changing it to "drawing", which of the following would I write?
"dr[awing]"
Or
"[...
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4
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2k
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Is the phrase "very delighted" ever "wrong"?
I was just browsing the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and stumbled on this peculiar note under the entry for delighted:
Delighted is not used with ‘very’. You say:
I’m absolutely ...
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1
answer
78
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Pluralizing a first name
In a social media post, a movie streaming site referred to multiple actresses with the same first name of “Jennifer” without repeating the name each time. Instead, they pluralized Jennifer and the ...
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2
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1
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59
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Should one avoid hyphenating prefixed words in scientific papers?
I have noticed that many papers and books (in the engineering and mathematical fields, at least) have a preference for avoiding hyphenated prefixes. For instance, they usually write:
preprocessing
...
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5
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Why are "i.e." and "e.g." written in lower case with periods, while "NB" is typically written in CAPS with no periods?
According to my armchair research on common abbreviations of nota bene, it appears that NB is the most common now, with N.B. being more common in centuries past after taking over the "original&...
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2
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What is the accepted style for using a foreign term followed by its translation?
How do you show a foreign term followed by its translation? Is the foreign term placed in quotation marks with its translation italicized or the other way around? Style guides favor but don't always ...
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How would you abbreviate weekday schedules like "M-F" to less than 3 letters per day if the days contain Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and/or Sunday? [closed]
In some apps, there is a character limit, so instead of abbreviating something like "Tue-Thu" or "Sat-Sun", a few characters can matter, so I was wondering what the best way to ...
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1
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460
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House number 1 or One in address?
I noticed that some companies and institutions write the house number 1 as One, and some institutions write 1.
One Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA
One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
...
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5
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945
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Is starting your sentence with “Which is why...” grammatically correct?
Is starting your sentence with “Which is why...” grammatically correct?
…our brain is still busy processing all the information coming from the phones. Which is why it is impossible to actually rest ...
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1
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What is the proper number formatting for a legal document from the Supreme court? [closed]
Do federally-issued legal documents in the USA require numbers spelt out, or in number form?
I took a look at this site concerning Citation, Grammar and Style Guides from Loyola School of Law, but it ...
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0
answers
29
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2 Letter Initials and nobiliary particles — how to form? [duplicate]
Given names with nobiliary particles or other particles in a last name like
Bobby von Ahnen
Bobby d'Estaing
Bobby de Zichy
Bobby del Alcázar
Bobby Le Pen
How would you make a two letter set of ...
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3
votes
1
answer
313
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What are the different rules for capitalization of prepositions in titles? [closed]
There are probably different rules for different style guides, but I do have one question.
I have heard that the general rule is that any preposition less than four letters does not get capitalized, ...
12
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3
answers
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What did Tolkien mean by this awkward sentence structure?
In the first chapter of The Hobbit, I just read this:
“Thank you!” said Bilbo with a gasp. It was not the correct thing to say, but they have begun to arrive had flustered him badly. He liked ...
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1
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20
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proper construction of a list
In a list, the last item is preceded by "and". This sentence appeared in a recent Foreign Affairs article:
The United States and its allies and partners are imposing harsh costs on Moscow.
...
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1
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127
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Is an acronym/initialism ever pluralized in its parenthetical introduction?
For example, if the first use of RDA occurs as follows:
"Recommended daily allowances (RDAs) are established by nutritionists after some kind of research...."
Should the parenthetical ...
3
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2
answers
232
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Hyphenation of compound modifiers that have written-out numeric ranges in them
Is either of these approaches to hyphenation currently more popular than the other one is when it comes to printed publications?
The drug is most promising for three-to-fifteen-year-old children.
The ...
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2
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164
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Question: Is it social democracy or Social democracy or Social Democracy? AP style [closed]
Sentence 1:
Similarily though he carried out many useful administrative reforms, in a vain effort to combat Social Democracy he seriously interefered with the liberty of public meeting and attempted ...
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0
answers
60
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Participle Phrase vs. That/Which [closed]
In recent writing and editing, I noticed that a participle phrase can sometimes be used interchangeably with a that/which phrase, and both options seem equally readable. The following sentences show ...
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0
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36
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'Did/does' at head of subordinate phrase
He does have a sense of humour does Mr Marr.
Nigel Williams, 1992
Is this double use of do just doubly emphatic?
Secondly, why can't do be used similarly, for example with a plural proper noun?
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1
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179
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'Miscellaneous': must be followed by a plural count noun
Garner's fourth reads
Miscellaneous must be followed by a plural count noun; it does
not work with an abstract mass noun. Exceptions are set phrases such
as miscellaneous shower/income.
and
An ...
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3
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2
answers
115
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"Unlike" after negatives
Fowler (1926) criticized the position of unlike in:
M. Berger, however, does not appear to have— unlike his Russian
masters— the gift of presenting female characters.
As with many negatives, the ...
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1
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106
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Does capitalisation change when a word moves from proper noun to adjective?
For the sake of this question I'll use the word Linux as an example, but I really want to ask about the principle generally.
The word Linux started as the name of an operating system kernel written by ...
5
votes
2
answers
397
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Get married: act vs ceremony
You can use marriage to refer to the act of getting
married, Her family did not approve of her marriage to David.
You don't usually use marriage to refer to the ceremony in
which two people get ...
- 2,423
2
votes
1
answer
327
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"Fairly" can't be used with comparatives or negatives
Don't use ‘fairly’ in front of a comparative form, *the train is
fairly quicker than the bus; in more formal writing, you use rather
or somewhat.
https://www.wordreference.com/EnglishUsage/fairly
...
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1
answer
196
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"Expect": + that-clause vs + to-infinitive
In ‘I expect J will come’, you are simply saying you think
he will, but in ‘I expect J to come’ you will be annoyed or
disappointed if he does not.
Instead of ‘expect something will not’ happen, you ...
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2
answers
136
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"Numbers": mass noun
Garner reads
Although enough modifies either count nouns or mass nouns, enough
stamina, sufficient should modify only mass nouns, so the usage
problem can be solved by making it sufficient numbers of....
- 2,423
1
vote
1
answer
59
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Comma at the End of a List Following a Colon
Is the following sentence written correctly?
Bob's three favorite colors: black, red, and blue, are Emma's least favorite colors.
Specifically, I'm asking about the comma following blue.
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1
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75
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"A few" + a number : unremarkable quantity [closed]
A few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". Few emphasises smallness of
number, while a few emphasises some:
He's a ...
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5
votes
1
answer
144
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What or who is the source of the proscription on contractions in formal writing?
I couldn't find this exact question, though obviously there are many related questions around using contractions.
I write academic work in a field where contractions are accepted but rare, and no ...
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0
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33
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Can you ever place a comma ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ the word "which"? [duplicate]
Is there any scenario in which a comma is used right after the word which?
For example, is this sentence correctly written as is — or not?
The sensitivity to material AAA, which, in fact, is ...
0
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0
answers
441
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Double comparatives: "more preferable"
Fowler reads
Sometimes the double comparative form more preferable is used.
The word more is of course unnecessary, since preferable by itself
means ‘more desirable (than)’. Like other comparatives,...
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1
answer
70
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"Magic" in its descriptive role
Fowler reads
Magic(al): The two words compete with one another in all the main senses, ‘relating to magic’, ‘produced by or as if by magic’, and
‘wonderful’, although in certain fixed expressions ...
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2
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0
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79
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"Sufficient(ly)": quantitative vs qualitative [closed]
Garner's reads
Though both words were originally used in reference to quantity,
adequate now tends toward the qualitative and sufficient toward the quantitative.
However, Fowler says
As an ...
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0
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"One another" when an ordered series of events or stages is involved
According to a traditional rule, each other denotes a reciprocal
relation between two entities, and one another refers to more than
two.
Many people maintain a further stylistic distinction between ...
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0
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47
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Sometimes, just thinking about making it would suffice
I am doubting this sentence, and wonder if anyone has a pointer or two.
The context is, you don't necessarily need to make art...
Sometimes, just thinking about making it would suffice.
Sometimes, ...
14
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1
answer
2k
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If I use the word "enumerated", must the list be numeric or can it be bullet points?
If I use the word "enumerated" in writing, must the list I am enumerating be numeric or can it be bullet points?
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Do these phrases require hyphens? "mock-cried" vs "mock cried" [duplicate]
Should the following sentences be hyphenated?
I mock cried into his shoulder.
vs.
I mock-cried into his shoulder.
He smiled at me with his old man charm.
vs.
He smiled at me with his old man-charm.
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0
answers
27
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Is "Each person should do their own work" really not logical to say? [duplicate]
I am taking English Language Studies as my bachelor's. It happened when one of our subjects' professor, Advanced English Grammar professor, said that the sentence "each person should do their own ...
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0
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Is repeating the section title in the first sentence good writing style? [closed]
In a number of structure formats I am very tempted to re-state the title of sections in the first section, i.e. if the given section is “Expected Results”, I tend to want to start by saying “The ...
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2
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405
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Where to put a hyphen when there's an abbreviation in the middle?
Ethiopia wants African Union (AU) mediated negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Using AP style. You want a hyphen in front of mediated. What is the correct way?
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352
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Is "equals to," as in "one plus one equals to two," ungrammatical? [closed]
I study mathematics alongside many Chinese students. They will often use the phrase "equals to," as in "one plus one equals to two." Is this usage incorrect?
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1
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54
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Is there a standard way of referring to electronic files?
If I'm writing about a specific computer file - let's say a file which looks, in some view, to be named ExampleFile.pdf (which is already problematic, since what you see might depend on the details of ...
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3
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292
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Is it possible to have an interrogative after an imperative connected with coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence?
I know rephrasing, using semicolon, or just splitting it into two sentences are probably the possible options here (the best choice, however, is my side question). Consider the following as examples:
...
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