Preface
Brief Contents
Introduction for Students
[Part One] Grammar and Usage
Chapter 1: Grammar Basics
Using Standard English
Why Don't We Write How We Talk?
Conventional Wisdom
Competing Grammars and Stylebooks
Grammar and Confidence
Communicating Well
Talking Shop
Key Principles Of Grammar
Web Resources: Grammar Help
Chapter 2: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences
Phrases
Phrases as Subjects, Objects and Predicate Nominatives
Phrases as Verbs
Phrases as Modifiers
Phrases as Connecting Words
Clauses
Independent Clauses
Dependent Clauses
Restrictive Versus Nonrestrictive
Journalism Tip: Punctuating Nonrestrictive Phrases and Clauses
Sentences
Journalism Tip: Using Different Types of Sentences
Sentence Errors
Fragments
Fused Sentences
Comma-Splice Sentences
Run-On Sentences
Chapter 3: Subjects and Objects
Kinds of Subjects
Kinds of Objects
Common Nouns Versus Proper Nouns
Journalism Tip: Using Trademarks
The Forms Nouns Take
Forming Singulars and Plurals Of Nouns
Forming Possessives of Nouns
Pronoun Person, Number and Gender
Pronoun Cases
Nominative Case With Pronouns
Journalism Tip: Predicate Nominatives in Formal Writing Versus Broadcast
Objective Case With Pronouns
Possessive Case With Pronouns
Relative Pronouns
Whose Versus Who's
Pronouns Ending In Self or Selves
Verbal Nouns: Gerunds and Infinitives
Chapter 4: Verbs
Helping Verbs Versus Main Verbs
Transitive Verbs Versus Intransitive Verbs
Tenses
Using the Simple Tenses
Using the Perfect Tenses
Using the Progressive Tenses
Shall Versus Will
Regular Verbs Versus Irregular Verbs
Sequence of Tenses
Past Tenses
Present Tenses
Journalism Tip: Journalism and Sequence Of Tenses
Future Tenses
Keeping Verb Tenses Consistent
Active Voice Versus Passive Voice
Journalism Tip: When Not To Change Passive Voice to Active
Mood
Indicative Mood
Imperative Mood
Conditional Mood
Subjunctive Mood
Journalism Tip: Verb Moods
Nouns Used As Verbs
Verbals
Gerunds
Participles
Infinitives
Chapter 5: Making the Parts Agree
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Conjunctions
Collective and Uncountable Nouns
Journalism Tip: Groups of People in the News
Names of Teams and Musical Groups
Other Confusing Nouns
Indefinite Pronouns
Intervening Nouns and Pronouns
Prepositional Phrases
Subject and Predicate Nominative Disagreement
Inverted Order
MAKING PRONOUNS AND ANTECEDENTS AGREE
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Clear Pronoun Reference
MAKING SENTENCES PARALLEL
Make Items in A Series Parallel
Make Verbs Parallel
Chapter 6: Modifiers and Connecting Words
MODIFIERS
Forms of Adjectives and Adverbs
Adjectives Versus Adverbs
Coordinate Adjectives Versus Compound Modifiers
Journalism Tip: Compound Modifiers Without Hyphens
Articles
Sentence Adverbs
Participles
Double Negatives
Interjections
CONNECTING WORDS
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions
Correlative Conjunctions
Subordinating Conjunctions
Conjunctive Adverbs
Chapter 7: Getting Words in the Right Order
Misplaced Modifiers
Adverb Placement
Less Confusing Jumbled Word Orders
Chapter 8: Usage: Finding the Right Word
Journalism Tip: Conservative Stylebook Rules
Misused and Confused Words and Phrases
[Part Two]: Mechanics
Chapter 9: Punctuation
Commas
Always Use a Comma
Never Use a Comma
Possibly Use a Comma
Quotation Marks and Other Problems of Quoting
What to Quote
Attribution of Quotations
Paraphrases
Quotations Across Paragraphs
Other Issues With Quotes
Semicolons
Colons
Dashes
Parentheses
Hyphens
Apostrophes
Slashes
Periods, Exclamation Points and Question Marks
Chapter 10: Spelling Relief
Spelling Rules
Prefixes
Suffixes
Journalism Tip: Spelling and Your Career
The Silent E
Other Spelling Rules
Words Often Misspelled
Hyphenation as a Spelling Problem
Looking Up Words for Hyphenation
One Word, Two Words, or Hyphenated?
American Versus British Spelling
Web Resources: Spelling
[Part Three] Style
Chapter 11: Writing as a Journalist
Keys to Good Journalistic Writing
Clarity
A Clarity Checklist
Writing Levels
Unanswered Questions
Specifics
Math and Clarity
Correctness
Objectivity
Rules of Objective Writing
Web Resources: Writing Help
Chapter 12: Conciseness
Tightening
Use Fewer Words
Use Simpler Words
Use Exact Words
Be Fresh, Not Stale
What to Tighten, A to Z
Web Resources: Concise Writing
Chapter 13: Sexism, Racism, and Other "Isms"
Don
Language Turns To the Future
New Players in the New Millennium
A Brief History of "Isms"
Future Realities: More Language Transformation Coming
Dealing With Current Reality
Sexism
Racism
Ageism
Other Stereotyping
The Nonbias Rule
Symbolic Annihilation
Dumping Today
Web Resources: Competent Language
[Part Four] Writing Methods for Different Media
Chapter 14: Writing News That
News Leads
Pick the Best Angle
Hard-News Leads
Who Was Involved?
What Happened?
When Did It Happen?
Where Did It Happen?
Problems With Hard-News Leads
Soft-News Leads
Soft-News Cliches
What Comes After The Lead?
Web Resources: Journalism Reviews
Chapter 15: Writing News for Broadcast
Print Versus Broadcast News
Use a Conventional Style
Personalize the News
Make It Easy To Understand
Keep It Short
Keep It Timely
Make It Clear
Broadcasters Must Know Grammar
Broadcast Hard-News Leads
Start With the Who
What Happened?
Other Points to Remember
Broadcast Story Structure
Broadcast Style Summary
Preparing Your Manuscript for Radio
Preparing Your Manuscript for Television
Editing and Other Symbols
Pronunciation
Abbreviations
Numbers
Punctuation
Names
Spelling
Web Resources: Broadcasting
Chapter 16: Writing and Editing for the Web
Online Media Are Unique
Correctness (Or Credibility)
Conciseness
Consistency
Completeness
The Fifth C
Writing and Presenting News Online
Writing With Search Engines In Mind
Legal and Ethical Concerns
Corrections
Hyperlinks to External Sites
Tomorrow's Readers
Web Resources: Online Media
Appendix: Wire-Service Style Summary
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Punctuation
Symbols
Dates
People and Titles
Organizations
Places
Miscellaneous
Capitalization
Proper Nouns
Geographic Regions
Government And College Terms
Religious Terms
Titles
Miscellaneous
Numbers
Cardinal Numbers
Numerals With Suffixes
Numbers as Words
Other Rules for Numbers
Web Resources: Associated Press Style
Bibliography
Index
Web Resources: Additional Sources