1. The majority of the illustrations are good.
  2. No one can accurately predicate what the weather will be.
  3. Shall you except the invitation?
  4. They claim that the assertion cannot be proved.
  5. They finally located the criminal in Dravosburg.
  6. I shall leave you go at noon.
  7. The balance of the essay was uninteresting.
  8. By questions they tried to eliminate the true story.
  9. They impugn false motives to me.
  10. He was greatly effected by the news.
  11. Sabbath observation was then very strict.
  12. They expect that she wrote the letter.
  13. The invention of electricity has revolutionized all manufactures.
  14. Who learned her to sing?
  15. Edison discovered the phonograph.
  16. One cannot comprehend the enormity of a billion of dollars.
  17. Many complements were paid to her beauty.
  18. His consciousness pricked him.
  19. How could any one be guilty of such a cruel action.
  20. The advancement of the army was very slow.

195. Idioms. There are in English, as in other languages, a number of expressions that cannot be justified by the rules of grammar or rhetoric; and yet these expressions are among the most forcible ones in the language, and are continually used by the best writers. These expressions that lie outside all rules we call idioms. Compare the following idiomatic expressions with the unidiomatic expressions that succeed them. The second expression in each group is in accord with the strict rules of composition; but the first, the idiomatic, is far more forceful.

Idiomatic: The book which I read about.
Unidiomatic: The book about which I read.
Idiomatic: More than one life was lost.
Unidiomatic: More lives than one life were lost.
Idiomatic: Speak loud. Speak louder.
Unidiomatic: Speak loudly. Speak more loudly.
Idiomatic: A ten-foot pole.
Unidiomatic: A ten-feet pole.
Idiomatic: He strove with might and main.
Unidiomatic: He strove with might. (Might and main are two words of the same meaning.)
Idiomatic: He lectured on every other day.
Unidiomatic: He lectured on one day out of every two.

Idioms are not to be avoided. On the contrary, because they contribute great ease and force to composition, their use is to be encouraged. But the distinction between idiomatic and unidiomatic expressions is a fine one, and rests solely on usage. Care must be taken not to go beyond the idiomatic. There is probably little danger that the ordinary writer or speaker will not use idioms enough.

The following expressions are examples of commonly used idioms: