GRAMMAR
The most common errors in grammar to be found in copy are in:
- The agreement of a verb with its subject.
- The relation of pronouns to their antecedents.
- The position of participles in relation to the words they modify.
- The use of co-ordinate conjunctions to connect elements of the same kind.
The position of correlative conjunctions with relation to the elements they connect.
To gain grace in writing one must either be born with a natural aptitude in the use of words—and such men: Stevenson, Poe, Walter Pater and others, are geniuses—or one must study the writings of these masters of prose and attempt to discover the secret of their success. It is not necessary that a good writer should know rules of grammar, but he must know enough to observe them. A writer may be unable to tell why a dangling participle is faulty English by testing it with a rule, but he may nevertheless avoid such a construction because his ear tells him it is not the best style.
Copies of the best grammars may be found in the office library and should be consulted when reporters and copy readers are in doubt.