s. The letter “s” is added to words to change their number, case, or person. For instance, adding “s” to many nouns makes them plural: “The executive owns one dog but takes care of two dogs.”
Similarly, verbs add “s” in the present tense to form the third-person singular: “I eat, you eat, he/she/it eats, we eat, they eat.”
Finally, nouns add “s” preceded by an apostrophe to form singular possessives: “Spike is the executive’s dog.” Verb contractions do the same: “it is—it’s” “he has—he’s.”
Said. See say.
Salutation. In letters, the line that directly addresses the person to whom the letter is going is called the “salutation”: “Dear Dr. Hesse:.” The example ends with a colon, which is the typical punctuation in business or more formal letters. More personal letters or informal communications may use a comma in the salutation: “Dear Chris,.”
In multiple-name salutations that include men and women or people with different ranks or titles, be sure to be consistent and parallel, giving each person her or his due: “Dear Professor Smith and Professor Jones:.” This is better than “Dear Professors Smith and Jones,” particularly if Smith is a man and Jones a woman or Smith a senior type and Jones a junior. Avoid “Dear Dr. Jones and Bob.” Better: “Dear Dr. Jones and Mr. Smith” to indicate your equal respect and regard for the people addressed. See sexist language and parallelism.
Sang. See sing.
Sank. See sink.
Sat. See sit.
Saw. See see.
Say, said, said. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Scientific language. The ideology and rigors of science have created a specific writing style for science that includes some variants of “normal” grammar rules and usage.
Science writing tends to be cast in the passive voice, to avoid the first-person singular, and to be laced with Latin-isms and jargon. Each of these features is believed by scientists and scientific writers to enhance the “objectivity” and “neutrality” of the observations and conclusions they report and analyze. Specificity comes, in this stylistic vision, from precise naming of things and concepts, which makes them repeatable and verifiable. See person and Latin.
The stylistic strictures of scientific language have no doubt contributed significantly to the blossoming and achievements of science in our day. And it is certainly true that many scientists are as aware of and committed to the colloquialization of their language as anyone else (see colloquial). Many scientists write and speak clearly and engagingly.
Still, the ways of scientific language are elaborate, mysterious, and sometimes baffling. Consult the many guides, handbooks, and rule books for instruction in this type of language.
Sec. This is the abbreviation of the word “second,” the time measurement. Except in technical writing, where space is at a premium, and similar styles, the whole word should be used rather than the abbreviation. “Sec.” is also the abbreviation for several other technical terms.
Secondly. There is no reason to add “ly” to this or other ordinal numbers, especially when they are used to list things.
See, saw, seen. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Seem. A linking verb that takes a predicate nominative (subject complement) rather than a direct object. See nominative.
Seen. See see.
-self. This suffix is added to pronouns to make them reflexive pronouns, which refer back to themselves: “The committee berated itself in frustration.” “-Self” forms are also used as intensifiers: “I myself will lead the parade.” But “-self” forms should never be used when simple cases of pronouns will suffice. WRONG: “Fran will accompany herself and myself on the trip.” RIGHT: “Fran will travel with her and me.” The use of “myself” in these situations is probably attributable to a desire to avoid figuring out the correct objective case form of “I”—easier to say “myself” than to guess whether it should be “I” or “me.”
Semicolon. The punctuation mark called “semicolon” (;) indicates a stronger or more definite break in a sentence than a comma.
When two or more independent clauses are put together to form a sentence, they can be joined by conjunctions (words like “and”) or simply stuck to one another without words of explanation. Such unexplained junctures require punctuation, which is usually the semicolon: “The writer likes sports; the programmer likes books.” These two clauses could have been linked by a comma and “and” or “but.” However, the choice of no conjunction and the semicolon makes the contrast between the writer’s preferences and the programmer’s a little more forceful or stark. Put another way, the semicolon here plays a rhetorical role in the sentence or its style; it adds emphasis.
If a sentence is built from two or more clauses or phrases that include other punctuation, particularly commas, then a semicolon is the best choice to separate the sentence elements and to make clear what belongs where: “The programmer likes books like Northanger Abbey, Anna Karenina, and Rabbit Redux; the writer likes sports like swimming, baseball, and biking; but the kids like music, and they play CDs morning, noon, and night.” Without the semicolons dividing the independent clauses in this rambling example, readers would be hard pressed to figure out where the lists that go with each person end and the next person’s preferences start. Phrases can present the same problem: “Starting with a cup of flour, add two teaspoons of salt; one cup of smoked, peeled, and grated chiles; and three tablespoons each of chopped onions, peppers, and garlic.” Again, the lists would jumble together without semicolons marking the segments that belong together.
Each of the example sentences in the previous paragraph could be revised into less run-on form. The writer and programmer might appear in one shorter sentence with their likes, whereas the kids could be given a sentence of their own, especially since the structure of the sentence changes somewhat to focus on timing of action rather than list of specifics. Similarly, the recipe could be broken up into a more readable form—each ingredient on a separate line, figures used instead of spelled out numbers, and so on. In short, use semicolons as a signal that sentences might be running on too long and be in need of rewriting or revision.
When two or more independent clauses are part of a single sentence and one or more of them includes dependent clauses that require commas to set them off within the independent clause, then a semicolon is used to join the independent clauses even if a conjunction appears: “Having painted the ceiling, Michelangelo moved on to the walls; and all the while he made plans for decorating the floors.”
Even long and rambly sentences need not have semicolons if the elements are clearly distinguished and not listed or joined with commas. In fact, it is a common error to put in semicolons before dependent clauses or to mark the beginning of lists. Like all punctuation, the semicolon should not be overused or misused in these ways. Semicolons usually appear outside quotation marks: “We don’t use words like ‘damn’ we are above such vulgarity.”
Send, sent, sent. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Sent. See send.
Sentence. A sentence is one or more words that express action, condition, or thought, among many other things. Sentences normally include a subject—a thing or person at the focus of the sentence—and a verb—an expression of the action or condition of the subject. Often sentences have a third element as well that receives the action of the verb or characterizes the condition—an object or subject complement.
The three basic elements of the sentence can be stated in many words or just one: “Unite!” the single-word example is a complete sentence because the imperative mood allows unstated or implied subjects. Restated, the example could read: “You people should unite,” which makes the subject more visible. However, not all single words followed by an exclamation point are sentences: “Termites!” This lone noun is a sentence fragment. While it has its use for emphasis, it does not have the verb or other components necessary to make it a sentence. And therefore it is not subject to the same rules, patterns, and possibilities as a complete sentence. See also mood.
Distinguishing sentences from fragments is important, especially beyond the limits of single-word constructs, because fragments are usually deficient, unclear statements that need to become full sentences to be understood. And once you do add whatever elements are missing from the sentence, be sure that such statements follow the rules of agreement and are revised in light of all stylistic potentials to make them effective communications. See revision and style.
Beyond the simplest sentence structure of subject, verb, object lies the territory of more complex statements. Phrases, clauses, and word combinations of all sorts can be added to any part of a sentence to emphasize or clarify its meaning. Similarly, any part of a sentence can move to vary the order of words for whatever rhetorical, stylistic, or other purpose.
Series. Another name for a list is a “series”—more than one somewhat equivalent thing or person presented together: “I saw Chris, Kim, and Jan.” Things or people in series are joined and delimited by punctuation and conjunctions. In the example, the punctuation is commas and the conjunction is “and.” In more elaborate lists or series that include commas in the listed items, semicolons set off the serial elements: “I saw Chris, who was watching television; Kim, who was reading a book; and Jan, who was listening to a record.” More elaborate series can be introduced by a colon, especially if phrases like “the following” are used to lead into them: “The package contains the following items: one carburetor, …”
Set, set, set. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms. Do not confuse ‘“set” (meaning to place or position) with “sit” (to take a seat). “Set” usually has an object, while “sit” is intransitive and never has an object.
Several. A plural indefinite pronoun. “Several” means more than a couple but not many. See pronoun and plural.
Sexist language. Some features of common usage and grammar mirror and reinforce discrimination against both sexes. These aspects tend to minimize or exclude women through inaccurate grammatical constructions and restricted word choice and assign stereotypical traits to both women and men that unfairly circumscribe the objectives and attributes of both sexes. The language of our multicultural world is changing to reject the inappropriate limitations of a patriarchal society.
By using “he” generically, for example, language subsumes women’s identities into men’s and makes imprecise and outdated assumptions about today’s world: “The mechanic entered the garage, and then he opened the hood of the car.” Not all mechanics are men, and the pronoun connected to this or any other profession or position should always allow for both sexes to be represented.
Words that end in “ess,” “ette,” “ine,” or “trix” should be avoided. These suffixes have traditionally placed women in restricted roles or positions. This usage is easily revised to a gender-neutral construction or another term: “waitress” to “table attendant” or “server” “suffragette” to “suffragist” “heroine” to “protagonist” or “champion” “executrix” to “executor” or “administrator.”
The change from gender-marked words should be applied to words formed with “man” as a suffix: “fireman.” Word pairs like “fireman, fire woman” should be eliminated whenever possible, and gender-neutral words like “fire fighter” should be substituted for both women and men:’ ‘policeman’ becomes “police officer.” Along the same lines, words that include “man” to represent humanity collectively (“mankind,” “manpower”), words that imply males only when females are also included (“founding fathers,” “freshmen”), and gender-specific words that convey myths and attitudes that are often construed to be pejorative or outdated (“Lady Luck,” “old wives’ tales”), should be avoided.
Choose words and order of words and construct words so that they will not contribute to the perpetuation of prejudice. Since it is impossible to know whether the “vice president” or “lieutenant” or “senator” is a woman or a man, make sure the form of address includes both possibilities and doesn’t alienate one or the other to the detriment of what is stated. Alternatives to sexist, outdated terms include the following:
Use the plural if possible: Change “A policeman should be helpful and wear his uniform with pride” to “Police officers should be helpful and wear their uniforms with pride.” If the plural won’t work, try to find another way to say the same thing without using any pronoun or gender-marked word: “The stage makes heavy demands on each performer.” Note how this example uses the gender-neutral term “performer.” The example could be extended to a pronoun usage: “The stage makes heavy demands on performers, requiring each to contribute everything possible.” Here “each” replaces the restrictive “him.” The less preferable “his/her” construction can also be used: “Every carpenter should bring his or her own tools.” “One” is also a useful word to facilitate such choices: “One needs to give one’s all to the stage.”
Other devices focus less on noun forms and more on verb constructs to avoid possibly biased language. The passive voice can eliminate an object of a sentence that would otherwise have to be gender marked: “Uniforms should be worn with pride, and helpfulness should be made top priority.” Of course, the inherent weaknesses of the passive voice are evident in such examples. Still, the potential for sexist bias has been eliminated.
Imperative and reflexive constructions also can help: “Wear your uniform with pride and be helpful.” But this commanding tone may not always be appropriate. One might try: “Officers should be helpful at all times and should wear their uniforms with pride.” Here a genderneutral word (“officers”) in the plural is combined with the reflexive “themselves” to avoid talking about “policemen,” “policewomen,” “policepersons,” or any less-than-general pronoun.
The same care should be applied to the use of titles or honorifics: “Drs. Smith and Jones” might include one man and one woman, and the woman might be offended if she is Jones and is subsumed in Smith’s title. Better to say “Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones.” Similarly, it is inappropriate to address “Mr. Jones and his wife” the woman who married Mr. Jones deserves her own honorific, be it Ms. or Mrs. (Ms. rather than Mrs. is generally preferred).
When works or achievements are attributed to more than one person, it is important to take care that all titles are equivalent and fully stated so that recognition is equally distributed. WRONG: “An article was published by Dr. Jones and Milly Smith.” Unless you know Milly Smith, and she has specifically requested that she be referred to in precisely this way, write: “An article was published by Dr. Jones and Ms. Smith.” Unless you can supply Dr. Jones with a first name or initial, don’t do so for Ms. Smith either.
Shake, shook, shaken. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Shaken. See shake.
Shall, will. The two forms of the future tense of be. Modern American usage rarely requires “shall” unless a polite inquiry or invitation is being made: “Shall we have a drink?” “Shall” is more common in British English than in American writing, and appears almost exclusively with ftrst-person constructions.
She, her, hers. The third-person singular personal pronoun “she” has an objective case form of ‘her’ and a possessive case form of “hers.” See case.
She’d. This contraction of “she had” and “she would” is not normally used in standard English writing.
She/he, her/him. Rewrite this awkward concession to gender equality into more easily digested forms like “she and he” or they. See sexist language.
She’s. This contraction of “she is” or “she was” is not normally used in standard English writing.
Shine, shone, shone. An irregular verb meaning to put light on or give off light, in its main, past tense, and past participle forms, the verb meaning to polish has a regular conjugation: “shine, shined, shined.”
Shone. See shine.
Shook. See shake.
Shoot, shot, shot. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Shot. See shoot.
Should. See auxiliary and verb.
Show, showed, showed (shown). An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Showed. See show.
Shown. See show.
Shrunk. See shrink.
Shrink, shrank, shrunk. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Similarly. See conjunctive adverb.
Simile. Comparisons of things to other things often enliven writing by adding an unexpected dimension to words: “Like a dropped football, the stock market bounced up, down, and every which way.” When such direct comparisons use the words “like” or “as,” they are called “similes.”
This stylistic device should be used with caution since many of the obvious comparisons have already been thought of by other writers, and have appeared so often in writing that they have become trite, or clichéd: “The champagne flowed like water.” See also metaphor, style, cliché.
Since. A preposition governing the objective case: “No one has done as well since her.” Also a subordinating conjunction of time and causality.
Sing, sang, sung. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Sink, sank, sunk. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
sit, sat, sat. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms. See set.
Situation. The word “situation” is badly overused today. Too many times writers and speakers say things like “a recession situation,” “a snow situation,” or something similar. It is much clearer and more direct to take “situation” out of these phrases, where it functions as a kind of “ummm” or “you know,” filling space or time while the writer or speaker thinks up something else to say.
Slang. Words that do not conform to current standards of acceptability are often called “slang.” There are slangs associated with the military, teenagers, scientists, computer enthusiasts, yuppies, preppies, and so on.
Since the words that some people find to be slang are usually those they don’t understand, and since by nature slang is the language of an in-group rather than the population at large, using slang means limiting your audience to those who understand or accept it. And since one purpose of grammatically correct, standard English is to make statements that are as widely and effectively understandable as possible, using slang is usually incorrect.
Of course, a few slang words eventually pass into the vocabularies of virtually all English speakers, while others gain at least momentary and broad acceptance. And it may be that a specific audience will be attuned to some slang and tolerant of it in any circumstance. Moreover, the very unacceptability and limitedness of slang can make it an attention-getter that you can use for emphasis, or you can use it for rhetorical, humorous, or other effect.
The point is to make sure that any words or phrases that could hinder communication or even offend an audience or part of it are chosen consciously and with recognition that a risk of incomprehension or rejection is being run. In this regard, slang should be treated with the same care as colloquial words, expletives, dialect, jargon, foreign terms, and other language that might not be understood or approved. Be cautious, sure of your audience, and willing to be misunderstood. Or don’t use slang.
The line between the various categories of words or phrases with special or limited use or currency blurs and is of little consequence outside the grammar classroom. The point is that all these vocabularies have purpose and pitfalls that must be attended to in writing, checking, revising, and rewriting. See revision and editing.
Slavic languages. See Russian.
Sleep, slept, slept. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Slept. See sleep.
Smell. See linking verbs.
So, so that. These are subordinating conjunctions. “So” is also an interjection: “So, Schwartz, how is O’Keefe?”
Some. The indefinite pronoun “some” can be either singular or plural, depending on the number of its antecedent: “The child spilled salt, some of which is still on the tabletop.” “The parent swept up the grains off the floor, but some of them are still visible.” See pronoun.
Some body, somebody. “Somebody” is a singular indefinite pronoun that means one person or another. “Some body” is a compound word that refers to some physical presence or other: “The zookeeper saw some body beneath the feeding lions but couldn’t tell what the prey had been.” See pronoun.
Somebody. See somebody.
Some one, someone. “Someone” is a singular indefinite pronoun. “Some one” is a compound adjective that intensifies meaning: “Select some one career, and then get on with it.” See intensifier and pronoun.
Someone. See some one.
Some thing, something. “Something” is a singular indefinite pronoun. The compound word “some thing” means one thing or another. See pronoun.
Something. See some thing.
Some time, sometime, sometimes. “Sometime” is an indefinite adverb that means at one time or another (“I’ll call you sometime.”). “Some time” is a compound word meaning an indistinct amount of time (“I spent some time in Paris.”). “Sometimes” is another indefinite adverb, this time meaning at various times: “Sometimes I feel so blue.”
Sometime. See some time.
Sometimes. See some time.
Sort, sort of. A singular noun, “sort” should agree with singular adjectives and pronouns, though in bad usage it often doesn’t. WRONG: “These sort of books are boring.” BETTER: “This sort of book is boring.” The second example is only “better” and not “right” because “sort,” like “kind,” is a flabby word that is best avoided. RIGHT: “I find this book boring” or “Books like this are boring.” “Sort of” as an adverb is even more imprecise and should not be used: “It is sort of boring.” Either it is boring, very boring, or not very boring—say what you mean and don’t hedge.
Sort of. See sort.
So that. See so.
Spanish. When using Spanish words in writing* or when referring to Spanish-named people, places, or things, take care to include all relevant accents: “Señor Rodriguez.”
Speak, spoke, spoken. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Spelling. English is not an easy language to spell. There are many words that sound alike but are spelled differently, many combinations of letters that can be pronounced different ways (“ough” in “through,” “bough,” “slough,” etc.), and many other oddities that cannot be summarized in simple lists or rules.
The only way to be sure of correct spelling is to check a dictionary, whether a book or contained in a computer program. In either case, be wary of words that are spelled correctly but altogether incorrectly used: “They’re are in miss take on thus sun tints, butt eye canned fined id.” All these words are in the dictionary and won’t be caught by a computer spell checker, but there is indeed an error or two in the sentence.
Spend, spent, spent. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Spent. See spend.
Split infinitive. When a word (usually an adverb) appears between “to” and the verb form that follows and makes up the infinitive, the infinitive is said to be “split”: “To boldly go where no person has gone.”
The highest formal standard of English bans split infinitives. However, in our more colloquial and informal age, “unsplitting” some split infinitives can lead to awkward or pretentious sentences: “It’s important to quickly pick up your room” sounds better than “It’s important to pick up your room quickly.” That such a sentence in either form should not appear in a college composition or high-school lesson is not the point. Rather, the issue is deciding which audience will tolerate or be better served by a split infinitive and its informal directness or by an unsplit infinitive and its correctness. See standard English.
More and more, writers, editors, and even grammarians recognize the efficacy of allowing split infinitives at times. If it is unclear when that can happen, revise or rewrite to eliminate the problem: “You should quickly pick up your room. It’s important.” And if a split infinitive does seem acceptable, make sure it is also comprehensible. Don’t allow the intruding adverb or adverbial phrase to so separate “to” and the verb that the link of comprehension is broken. WRONG: “To boldly, unequivocally, and as rationally as possible in the circumstances go where no person has gone.” RIGHT: “To go boldly, unequivocally, ….” See clarity, editing, and revision.
Spoke. See speak.
Spoken. See speak.
Sprang. See spring.
Spread, spread, spread. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle form.
Spring, sprang, sprung. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Sprung. See spring.
St. The abbreviation “St.” is not normally used in standard English writing when it refers to a street (except in letter addresses). But when “St.” is used for a saint’s name, it is more commonly admissible: “What a beautiful painting of St. Jerome!”
Stand, stood, stood. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Standard English. The generally accepted norms of grammar and usage are called “standard English.” Although it is true that standards change over time and from place to place, and although the standards of some people are not those of others at any time or place, there is still some solid core of practices and rules that must be observed if a statement is to be considered grammatically correct, acceptable, and understandable. That core equals standard English. It includes agreement between subject and verb, between antecedent and modifier, and between referent and pronoun. Only in the most unusual circumstances can these rules be broken or ignored and the result be considered allowable (usually in fiction, entertainment, journalism, and the like). Even in such circumstances, rule violations are commonly still seen as violations, even if their purpose is condoned or appreciated.
Standard English extends beyond the core of inviolable rules to less-certain strictures that deal with language at a moment of change or dispute. Closest to the core and therefore least bendable are rules of spelling, conjugation, and declension—there are rather clear practices in these areas, and violations are more likely than not to attract unwanted attention. That said, it is clear that perfectly reputable, acceptable writers, publishers, teachers, and others differ on the tolerability of spellings like “centre,” “travelled,” “decision-making,” and many other quite common words. Most likely, attention to audience, locally accepted guidebooks or style manuals, and consultation with others can resolve these disputes quickly for the writer or speaker making immediate choices about the applicable standard. But standards are somewhat fragmented nonetheless.
The forms of verbs and nouns or pronouns in different cases are, like spellings, not very volatile. But, for example, there is a movement toward wide acceptance of “who” in all circumstances or more than would have been permissible until recently. Almost everyone says, “It’s me,” and many people now write it and are not corrected or seen to be in error. Similarly, contracted negatives and other verb forms are far more common in the most rigorously checked and examined prose than they used to be (see contraction). Other examples abound of colloquial, dialect, and slang conjugations and declensions entering the language so pervasively that they have become standard or close to it in many respects.
Once one moves beyond the fundamental patterns of shape changing in words, one enters the realm of order of words, sentence structure, style, rhetoric, and similar categories in which grammar provides far less direct or clear guidance. All these categories are, after all, matters of choice, areas for writers to select the means and devices best suited to what they want to say and how they want to say it. Grammar and usage can only point to common errors, weak or overused methods, and general strictures about clarity, efficacy, directness, and the like. It is up to the writer or speaker to match expression to idea and purpose, to audience and prevailing standards, and to the moment.
Yet for all the deviations from standards, the mission of making statements—to convey one’s message most effectively, clearly, and efficiently—remains and must be observed.
Stationary, stationery. Do not confuse the adjective “stationary” meaning to stand still and the noun “stationery,” paper.
Steal, stole, stolen. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Stole. See steal.
Stolen. See steal.
Stood. See stand.
Strike, struck, struck (stricken). An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Struck. See strike.
Style. The choices writers and speakers make in selecting words, applying grammar rules, arranging words in a particular order, using or playing against devices or conventions, and so on—all these choices result in a way of writing or speaking that can be called “style.”
There are no real “rules” of style, just as no one can dictate choices of life, work, and other patterns freely accessible to writers and speakers. But there are some aspects of communicating to keep in mind when a style is chosen. First, some degree of consistency or parallelism in a broad sense will be appreciated by audiences. Shifts from one style to another can be disorienting, but if managed well, they can be useful ways to add emphasis and to make points.
Just as there are no style rules, so there are few, if any, useful definitions of style. What for one writer or speaker would be quite informal might strike another (or some audience) as quite the opposite. Everyone has experienced statements made with all good intentions of being ordinary and colloquial but that are in fact laden with jargon, stilted academic or bureaucratic constructions, or otherwise far less accessible or open than the speaker or writer had intended. Similarly, it is all too common to find dialect, for instance, in statements that should adhere rigorously to the highest standard of formal English. Not that any single style is inherently wrong or inappropriate. The point is to be sure to find the right style for the right moment.
The safest, most certainly communicative style is usually formal standard English, especially when it is unclear who the audience for a statement will be. Standard English is more or less universally understood and accepted in this country, and therefore it is unlikely to seem very out of place under any ordinary circumstances. See order of words and grammar.
Subject. The word or words that designate the thing or person in a sentence that performs an action or is in a condition is the “subject” of the sentence: “Connie dances the polka.” “Connie” is the subject of the example sentence.
Subjects can be single or multiple nouns, pronouns, phrases, or clauses. More than one subject in a sentence is called a “compound” subject. All noun and pronoun subjects are in the nominative case, not marked or changed from the basic or main form of the word (uninflected). See case.
Whatever structure or shape of subject is chosen for a sentence, it must agree with its verbis) and any pronouns that are linked to it in an antecedent relationship (see agreement). Consistency and parallelism of subjects should also be observed—more or less equivalent subjects should be joined in compounds.
In some sentences, particularly imperative mood commands or requests, the subject is only suggested: “Shape up!” The subject of the example is the suggested or implied “VOM,” which does not normally appear in imperative constructions. See mood.
NOUN SUBJECTS. Any common noun or proper noun and its modifiers (of whatever length or complexity) can serve as a sentence subject. The underlined words in the following examples are all noun subjects (and their modifiers); note that not all fall at the beginning of the sentences. “Herband Gladys, the couple from Buffalo, spent the night at our house.” “Our house, standing on the banks of the river, holds guests comfortably.” “Throughout the winter, there stands the house, guarding us from the weather, standing sentinel over the water, and giving us and our guests peace of mind.” Take care that long, complex subjects like some of those in the examples have verbs to complete the sentence and not leave it-a fragment.
PRONOUN SUBJECTS. Here are some examples. The underlined words are the pronoun subjects. “He is mowing the lawn.” “She was supposed to mow the lawn, but she is too tired.” “She washed the cars last night when he was tired.” “It is a busy time for them, but they keep themselves calm.” “We help them out as much as we can.”
PHRASE SUBJECTS. The underlined words are phrase subjects. “To err is human” (infinitive phrase). “Standing calmly is the best defense against charging rhinos” (gerund phrase). In these functions such phrases are said to be “noun phrases.”
CLAUSE SUBJECTS. The underlined words are a clause subject. “What you are looking for is fool’s gold.” The whole clause, including its own subject, verb, and object, is the subject of the verb “is.” Like noun phrases, “noun clauses” may contain many other words that do not function as nouns within the subject phrase or clause.
Subject complement. Linking verbs (“be” “appear, “become,” “feel,” “grow,” “look,” “make,” “prove,” “remain,” “seem,” “smell,” and “sound”) are sometimes followed by nouns or adjectives that are called “subject complements”: “The dog is big; it is a hunter.” The words after “is” in each clause of the example sentence are subject complements (also called “predicate nominatives”).
Subject complements can be as long or complex as necessary to make a point. As long as it remains clear what they refer or are linked to, they can fall virtually anywhere in a sentence. But whatever their length, complexity, or position, they are always in the same case as the subject—the nominative: “It is I.” “I” is the nominative or subject form or case of the pronoun that properly appears in the example sentence. Current usage permits (even encourages) violation of this grammatical rule, so that most people say (and some write), “It is me.” Despite the widespread use of “me” in such sentences, “I” is correct.
A singular subject can be followed by a plural subject complement, and just the reverse: “We are a team; the team has ten members.” Both examples are correct. Make sure the subject agrees with the verb, not the subject complement (see agreement).
Subjunctive. The conditional or “subjunctive mood” is a verb form that indicates nonexistent, possible, potential, or desired circumstances: “Would that Chris were here!” Note that “were” (the past subjunctive of “be” in the third-person singular) is not in the same form as the simple present tense or past tense of the verb. Verbs form the present subjunctive from the main or uninflected root: “The boss asked that I be there, and I demanded that my department head request that in writing.” “Be” and “request” are present subjunctives that differ from the present indicative first-and third-person singular forms one might expect to see here: “am” and “requests.”
In the past tense, subjunctive forms are the same as the indicative past except for “be,” which uses “were” in all circumstances, as in the first example.
The oddity of the subjunctive forms has led to their virtual disappearance from spoken language and has contributed to their fading use in writing. But they are correct and clear and should be used in all situations calling for formal standard English or when standards are unclear and one tries to err on the side of caution.
The typical situations in which subjunctive should appear are clauses that are introduced by “if,” “as if,” and “as though”: “If I were there, my friend could visit me” clauses that convey requests, requirements, demands, or suggestions and start with “that” (as in the initial example); and clauses that convey a wish: “The other driver wished that I be responsible, but I hoped that I would not be held accountable.”
Subordinating conjunction. Subordinating conjunctions link dependent and independent clauses in some distinctive way. The most commonly used subordinating conjunctions are “after,” “although,” “as,” “as if,” “because,” “before,” “even though,” “if,” “in order that,” “once,” “since,” “so that,” “than,” “that,” “though,” “unless,” “until,” “when,” “where,” and “while.”
Subordination. Clauses or phrases that depend on a main clause and modify its meaning or add to it are called “subordinate” (or “dependent”). They are usually introduced by subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns that indicate some relationship of time, location, causation, or the like: “When the mail carrier came, the dog was there.”
Subordinate expressions cannot stand on their own, no matter how long or complex they are: They must be joined to a main or independent clause so that their relationship to a main idea can be clear. One of the commonest errors is to leave elaborate subordinate clauses or phrases without an independent clause, creating an indecipherable sentence fragment. WRONG: “If the ball bounced fair and never reached the outfield wall, which was covered in a protective mat made from a synthetic fiber recently developed in the labs the university established to take advantage of commercial opportunities like this.” For all its length and piled up verbs and nouns and more, the example is only a fragment, a dependent clause looking for a sentence to which it can be linked and thereby gain meaning. Be sure to check all long and complex clauses that begin with subordinating conjunctions or relative pronouns to make sure they are part of a full sentence, complete with independent clause.
Subordination is a particularly useful way to add emphasis to a point. Putting one idea in a dependent clause and another in a main clause can add considerable force to the unsubordinated statement. Of course, like any device of emphasis, subordination can be overused, become tedious and overly complex, and fail to enliven or enforce your writing. In long stretches of sentences that use subordinating constructions, emphasis often comes by an abrupt switch to simple declarative sentences of the subject, verb, object type.
Suffix. Groups of letters attached to the ends of words or parts of words to make new meanings, new grammatical forms, or new nuances of meaning are called “suffixes”: “teach—teacher” “tender—tenderness”; “clear—clarity—clearing”; “vision—visibility.”
Suffixes may attach to the common demonstrative form or case of a word or to its root, the smallest cluster of letters that still conveys the word’s fundamental meaning (“clear” and “ciar-” as well as “vis-” in the examples). The roots that end with a hyphen are those that don’t stand as words by themselves and must always have some ending attached to become independent words. From words or roots suffixes can make nouns of various kinds and meanings, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. From the root “assum-,” for instance, come the noun “assumption,” the verb “assume,” and the adjective “assumable.” Roots or words can form more than one noun, verb, or adjective with different suffixes: “Real” can become the nouns “reality” or “realism,” with quite different meanings.
The list below records the major suffixes and the meanings they usually add to a word or root.
Sung. See sing.
Sunk. See sink.
Superlative. In comparison the highest degree is called “superlative”: “Superlative is the highest degree.” In the example “highest” is a typical superlative, formed by adding “-est” to the simple form of the adjective “high.” The same pattern applies to most one-syllable or short adjectives and adverbs. Longer adverbs and adjectives form the superlative by combining “most” and the simple form: “Superlative is not the most acceptable form of the adjective. One most commonly sees the simple form.” Note that these compound modifiers are never hyphenated. Since the line between long and short modifiers is not very clear, it is necessary to check a dictionary or reference grammar to be sure that an “est” superlative form exists. See also compound word and hyphen.
There are many irregular adjectives and adverbs, the most common of which are listed here with their unpredictable superlative forms: “bad (badly), worst” “good, best” “ill, worst” “little, least (not in sense of size; little, littlest)” “many, most” “much, most” “some” and “well, best.” These words have unexpected comparative forms as well.
Superlatives can be used only when comparison extends beyond two things or people: “Superlative is the highest degree of the three levels of comparison.” WRONG: “Johnson is the best of the two skaters.” RIGHT: “Johnson is the better of the two skaters. Johnson is the best skater in the whole class.” Standard English permits only this use of the superlative and comparative, while more colloquial usage allows superlative when emphasis is sought. In no circumstances should “most” be added to an adjective or adverb that has already taken the “est” superlative form. WRONG: “Johnson is the most fastest skater in the world.” RIGHT: “Johnson is the fastest skater in the world.”
Make sure that superlatives (especially when they appear as subject complements in predicates after linking verbs) have a clear link to the thing they are being compared to. WRONG: “Johnson is the fastest.” Unless there is a good deal of surrounding text to make it clear in what way Johnson is the fastest what, this sentence would be better and more complete if it added something like “skater in the world.” In everyday speech, “the greatest” and similar unconnected superlatives are tolerable as empty expressions of enthusiasm or agreement. But in more formal writing, it is unfair to leave the audience to guess what is being compared to what. See also-er.
Swam. See swim.
Swim, swam, swum. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Swing, swung, swung. An irregular verb in its main, past tense, and past participle forms.
Swung. See swing.
Syllabification. See syllable.
Syllable, syllabification. Words fall into more or less natural segments that are called “syllables.” It is important to know where syllables fall in order to add hyphens when words are divided between lines typographically:
“Where should the hyphen go in this sentence?”
In the example one word is hyphenated at the end of a syllable, but another word could have been broken across lines as well: “sentence.” No other word in the example should be hyphenated at a line end because all the other words are single-syllable words, which should never be hyphenated.
Many patterns of syllabification do not follow the segmentation suggested by the sound of words. It is necessary to check a dictionary to be sure that all words divided over lines are broken correctly.
Some general rules exist to guide hyphenation choices, but they should be followed with caution and a dictionary consulted in most instances. If a computer program divides words for you, be careful that it is following the standard dictionaries and not applying rules that can fool you and it.
Symbol. typographical elements that appear in documents but that are not letters, punctuation, numbers, or the like are called “symbols”: “You get 10% off on that purchase.” The percent sign (%) is a symbol.
Other common symbols include @, #, $, &, *, +, =, and ø. In formal nonscientific, noneconomic writing these symbols are usually spelled out rather than appearing as symbols. The major exception is the dollar sign ($), which is acceptable in any prose. As our lives become more pervaded by science, economics, business, and other kinds of writing and thinking that commonly use symbols, it becomes more acceptable not to spell them out in many circumstances. The percent sign is increasingly common in more formal writing. See scientific language.
The use of symbols rather than spelling them out can also be used for emphasis: “Communism = socialism + electrification!” This old slogan from the time of the Russian Revolution was first coined in a speech. But it was later written with symbols to suggest that communism was a mathematical and scientific certainty and not just a political system.
Consult any local or specific style manuals that guide writing for your audience.
Synonym. Words that mean more or less the same thing are called “synonyms”: “‘Short’ and ‘shrimpy’ are synonyms, although one is simply descriptive and the other is too colloquial to use in formal statements about people.” Very often synonyms have similar definitions but quite different qualities, as in the example. For that reason, synonyms cannot simply be substituted for other words to vary or enliven your statements. You must pay attention not just to the basic meaning of a word but also to what it suggests—to its connotation, which can vary depending on the circumstances and the audience. So you should be cautious when you use a regular dictionary or a special dictionary of synonyms; choose synonyms not only for their similar senses but for the affect they will have on those who hear or read them.