ABBREVIATIONS
Generally avoid abbreviations.
Don't write "WWII" for "World War II." It is sometimes useful to use widely-known abbreviations, like NATO, for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Such cases are rare, however. Whenever you use abbreviations, write the full term first and indicate what the abbreviation is.

ACTIVE VOICE
In general, use the active rather than the passive voice.

PASSIVE VOICE
The book was read by Abraham Lincoln.

ACTIVE VOICE
Abraham Lincoln read the book.

PASSIVE VOICE
Information about using the active voice was provided by the teacher.

ACTIVE VOICE
The teacher provided information about using the active voice.

BOOK AND MAGAZINE TITLES
For large, individually-published items, like books, use italics (underlining can be used in place of italics). For articles and other short items, use quotation marks.

CORRECT
Our U.S. history textbook is Nation of Nations.

CORRECT
I read an article in the book Living American History titled "The Real Reasons for Prohibition."

COMMAS IN COMPOUND SENTENCES
When a sentence contains two or more independent ideas, put a comma before and and but when they link the ideas.

RIGHT
Forty-six percent of Tanzania is forests, and forty percent is meadows and pastures.

RIGHT
There is less information here than in the previous site, but it is interesting.

RIGHT
The site is a PBS and KTCA site, and it seems to offer entertainment with a little education thrown in for good measure.

RIGHT
All the plans introduced had good and bad points, and there were many reasons for their failures.

COMMA SPLICES
Do not join two independent thoughts (clauses) with a comma; use a semicolon or create two sentences.

WRONG
The facts all seem to be correct but limited, this was a very good job for authors so young.

WRONG
The textbook asserts that there were "three companies of fifty men each" involved in the incident, the articles states that there was only a total of fifty.

WRONG
He speaks of meeting up with others on their way to the same destination of boarding the ships, he even gave a time line for the amount of time it took for them to destroy 342 chests of tea.

COULD HAVE, NOT COULD OF
Say Could have rather than could of and would have instead of would of.

WRONG
He could of gone if he had known where the game was.

RIGHT
He could have gone if he had known where the game was.

DANGLING MODIFIERS

WRONG
In analyzing the site, the historical facts tend to be similar to those in our textbook.

RIGHT
In analyzing the site, I found the historical facts to be similar to those in our textbook.

FIRST PERSON
In formal history papers, avoid first-person pronouns, like I, me, and myself.
Usually, you should just cross out the first-person pronouns and rewrite the sentence. (Obviously, this rule doesn't apply in direct quotations.)

GRADUATE
Use the verb "graduate" correctly. People graduate from  college; they don't "graduate college."

BAD
I graduated high school.

GOOD
I graduated from high school. Or better yet: I was graduated from high school.

IMPACT AND AFFECT
Don't use impact for affect.
"Impact" is usually a noun that means a heavy blow, as in, "The meteor has a deep impact on the Yucatan Peninsula." The adjective "impacted" often refers to something lodged so firmly that it is difficult to remove--like an impacted tooth. "Affect," on the other hand, means to influence. When you want to say something had an effect or an influence, say "it affected her"--not "it impacted her."

IN-DEPTH
Avoid in-depth as an adjective or adverb. Better terms are usually available.

AWKWARD
The book provides an in-depth examination of Margaret Sanger's life.

BETTER
The book provides a detailed examination of Margaret Sanger's life.

AN ISSUE IS USUALLY A PROBLEM
Don't use the word "issue" for "problem."  An "issue" is something to be discussed; a "problem" is something that causes difficulty.

NO
I turned my paper in late because I was having issues with my computer.

YES
I turned my paper in late because I was having problems with my computer

BAD
I'm having a lot of issues with my two-year-old.

GOOD
I'm having a lot of problems with my two-year-old.

BAD
My dog is having a lot of housebreaking issues.

GOOD
I'm having a lot of problems housebreaking my dog.

IT'S NOT ITS PROBLEM
Use the right form of its or it's.  Its is possessive; it’s means it is.

WRONG
The dog thought it had found it’s bone.

RIGHT
The dog thought it had found its bone.

RIGHT
It’s too bad about your boyfriend.

LEAD AND LED
Led is the past tense. Use lead for the present and future.

RIGHT
He led the donkey down the path

RIGHT
He will lead the country.

NAMES
Unless you know them personally, refer to people by their last names, not their first. This is especially applicable in writing about historical characters.

WRONG. Abraham was a great president.

RIGHT. Lincoln was a great president.

PARALLEL CONSTRUCTIONS.
In a series all the items have to be grammatically the same.

WRONG
It discusses the navigation techniques he used, a time line, and a description of all four voyages.

RIGHT
It discusses the navigation techniques he used, includes a time line, and provides a description of all four voyages.

WRONG
The Mariners' Museum in Virginia offers a brief introduction to Columbus, descriptions of all four voyages, and the date of his death.

RIGHT
The Mariners' Museum in Virginia offers a brief introduction to Columbus, gives descriptions of all four voyages, and lists the date of his death.

WRONG
Before the war women worked as housewives, doing the cooking, cleaning, and having children.

RIGHT
Before the war women worked as housewives, doing the cooking, cleaning the houses, and having the children.

POINT IN TIME
Just say "point"--not "point in time."
In ordinary, non-technical English,  point refers time.  "Point in time" seems to have first hit the public ear during the Watergate hearings in the 1970s. In testifying before Congressional committees, Nixon's minions used it over and over again in referring to administration misdeeds, many of which seemed to have occurred at various "points in time." Recently (November, 2006), Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas extended this excessively-precise phrase when he referred to the 1940s as an "era in time." What other kinds of eras are there?

WRONG
At that point in time we knew were were in trouble.

RIGHT   
At that point we knew were in trouble.

QUOTE VS. QUOTATION
In formal writing (like college papers) refer to a direct quotation as a "quotation"--not a "quote."

WRONG
The author included a quote from John F. Kennedy.

RIGHT
The author included a quotation from John F. Kennedy.

QUOTING
Don't quote too often. Use direct quotations only when  the wording is so distinctive that an only exact quotation makes can the point.

WRONG
The steamboat "carried shoes, window glass, jewelry, and tools."

RIGHT (at least for the point about quoting)
Last week the Canadian prime minister's spokesman said, "George W. Bush is a moron."

RIGHT WORD
Express yourself clearly by using the right words.
Don’t use a word unless you’re sure of its meaning.  Here are examples of unclear phraseology:

WRONG
This book is a tribute to Andrew Carnegie and his tremendous bestowal upon American industry.

WRONG
This provides an accurate, simplistic summary of his life.

RIGHT
This provides an accurate, simple summary of his life.

WRONG
He examined different sources to determine the legitimacy of the facts.

WRONG
I also sharpened my ability to decipher between fact and fiction.

WRONG
The reliability of the book is very good.

RIGHT
The book is very reliable.

WRONG
European economic troubles aided the severity of the Great Depression.

RIGHT
European economic troubles increased the severity of the Great Depression.

SPECIAL AND VERY SPECIAL
You should usually avoid these words.
People usually use "special"  in syrupy way to describe something ordinary. "Very special" is even worse. When people say something is "special," it usually isn't.

SPELLING AND CAPITALIZATION, COMMON MISTAKES

Internet. The first letter is capitalized, i.e., Internet.

Web site:  two words, and  the W is capitalized.

TITLES
Put a title on your paper, and make it something besides the subject of the assignment.

WRONG
Cold War Assignment

RIGHT
How America Learned to Love the Bomb, Sort of

Make the first sentence independent of the title.

[Title] The Liberty Memorial

[First sentence]

WRONG
The Memorial is a large building in Kansas City.

RIGHT
The Liberty Memorial is a large building in Kansas City.

[Title} Extra Credit: Article on Thomas Jefferson's Fathering a Slave's Child

[1st sentence]

WRONG
Well, this was quite the interesting story.

TRANSITION AS A VERB

Many literate people, including many historians, object to the use of "transition" as a verb. Although it is becoming increasingly popular, avoid it, at least in college writing.

WRONG

The book then transitions into a discussion of the the twentieth century.

RIGHT

The book then moves into a discussion of the twentieth century.

WELL VERSUS GOOD
Use well to describe an action; use good  to describe a person or thing.

WRONG
I'm doing good.  Worse: I done good.

RIGHT
I'm doing well.
 

Copyright 2007 by Vincent A. Clark