21st Century Grammar Handbook (29 page)

Repetition.
One device of persuasion or
emphasis
is repetition—using the same word,
phrase, clause, order of words,
sentence structure,
voice, mood,
or other feature of writing more than once to make a point or call attention to something.

If you choose to employ repetition in your writing, take care to maintain some degree of consistency or
parallelism
among repeated elements so that your
audience
can easily recognize them. However, repeating a simple sentence structure like a
noun
followed by a
verb
or
adjective
can dispel all the
rhetorical
force built up by repetition.

Restrictive clause.
Clauses
that add vital information to
sentences
are called “restrictive.” They appear wherever the writer chooses in a sentence and are not set off by
commas,
as are
nonrestrictive clauses,
which are so marked to indicate that the information they contribute to a sentence is less critical.

Restrictive clauses are most commonly introduced by
relative pronouns
and
demonstrative
pronouns: “Sally is the person who is in charge. She has the plan that will be put into effect.” In the example sentences, “who” and “that” introduce the restrictive clauses. It is clear that they are restrictive because the sentences would not be complete or convey the same idea without them. Compare: “Sally, who works in development, is in charge. She has a plan, which will be put into effect, that calls for automation.” “Who” again introduces the same clause, but it is now nonrestrictive—if it is removed from the sentence, we still will get the main point: Sally is in charge. In the second
example sentence “which” is now used to introduce the “will be put into effect” clause because it is now nonrestrictive—the point is about automation, not that the plan will be activated. Note that the nonrestrictive clauses created in the latter two examples are set off by commas.

Errors common with these two kinds of clauses include adding commas before restrictive clauses, using “which” for
“that,”
and not setting off nonrestrictive clauses with commas.

Restrictive phrase.
Like
restrictive clauses,
restrictive
phrases
have some
rules
associated with them. They are not set off by
commas,
and they need to be clearly associated with the thing or person to which they refer—their
antecedent.
See the entry for
nonrestrictive phrases
for more information, examples, and
rules.

Use the same method to determine if a phrase is restrictive or nonrestrictive as was suggested for restrictive and non-restrictive clauses: consider whether the sentence without the phrase is complete and means the same as with it. If the sentence makes it main point without the phrase, then the phrase is nonrestrictive. If the sentence needs the phrase to convey its message, then the phrase is restrictive. Restrictive: “The hiker saw the mountain goat standing on the hill.” The sentence intends to identify the mountain goat as specifically the one on the hill, not any other. Nonrestrictive: “Standing on the hill, the hiker saw the mountain goat.” The sentence is about seeing the mountain goat, and the information about where the hiker is standing is less important.

If a comma appeared in the first example before “standing,”
one of the most common grammatical errors would be apparent—a
misplaced modifier.
That is, the comma would have made it unclear whether the hiker or the mountain goat was standing on the hill. The second example cannot be misconstrued—it is the hiker on the hill. These examples show, in a modest way, that it is important to punctuate sentences with phrases with care so that the relationship between the phrase and the word it refers to is quite clear. Another way to ensure
clarity
of connection between phrase and antecedent is to position the phrase so that there can be no misunderstanding about what it refers to and whether it is restrictive or nonrestrictive.

Revision.
The vital process of reviewing and rewriting to eliminate errors, unclear passages, inefficient communication, and poorly chosen
phrases
or vocabulary is called revision. The previous long sentence could probably use some revision. See
editing.

Rhetoric.
In the most basic sense, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. During the long history of the practice of this art, certain kinds of
sentences, phrases, clauses, paragraphs,
and other grammatical elements were identified as more effective persuaders or conveyers of information than other forms, at least in certain circumstances. Rhetoric, then, is the art of making choices among words, sentences, structures, and so on in order to communicate or express oneself most effectively.

While
grammar
has rather hard-and-fast
rules
to follow, rhetoric has accumulated experience to suggest devices, methods, and patterns of writing or speaking to good effect.
Put another way, grammar tells us how to write or speak correctly and clearly, while rhetoric helps us do so forcefully, persuasively, and effectively. There is not space or reason to recite the points of rhetorical practice here, except to say that rhetoric—the strength and efficacy of communicating—merits careful thought and attention, along with the accuracy and correctness of speech or writing (grammar). See the entries on
style, variety, parallelism, repetition,
and the like.

Rhetorical question.
Questions
to which a writer or speaker does not expect answers are called “rhetorical”: “Isn’t that the worst thing you ever saw?” This “question” is asked not to find out what anyone thinks about the “thing” but to make the point that the speaker or writer believes it to be quite bad.

Rhetorical questions are a tried-and-true stylistic device, tried so often that they have become somewhat clichéd. Don’t use too many of them, and try not to use them if there is any chance that a negative response will follow and leave you without an
audience.
See
cliché
and
style.

Ridden.
See
ride.

Ride, rode, ridden.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Ring, rang, rung.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Rise, rose, risen.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms. See also
raise.

Risen.
See
rise.

Rode.
See
ride.

Roman.
Type that appears in the form most commonly seen in printed matter is called “Roman” for historical reasons. Type that appears slanted is called
italic,
as in the word before the
comma.

Root.
See
main form.

Rose.
See
rise.

Rules.
Grammar
sets and records the rules that govern how words are put together for maximum
clarity
and correctness of expression. Like all rules, grammar rules can be broken for a reason; today, grammar rules are more often violated for good and bad reasons than ever before. Rule breaking can be exhilarating in itself, which is probably reason enough to do it sometimes. But since communicating serves not only the self but others in an
audience
meant to comprehend what is said, too much of a fun thing can subvert one’s communicative intent. Too much or arbitrary rule breaking can sever the tenuous bond between audience and writer or speaker, leading to confusion.

If you know the rules of grammar and apply them in most of what you say or write, then judicious violations of rules
can be used successfully to emphasize points, to paint vivid pictures in or of
colloquial
or
dialect
language or speakers, or to draw energy into language by playing against the rigidity of rules. But this must be done with care, and it happens most profitably when the rule breaker knows well what rules are being violated and why. In short, the careful, conscious, conscientious writer will be heard better than the sloppy, thoughtless person who thinks grammar rules are unimportant. See
emphasis.

Run, ran, run.
An
irregular verb
in its main,
past tense,
and past
participle
forms.

Rung.
See
ring.

Run-ons.
Sentences
that include too many
clauses
or
phrases
are said to run on: “The chauffeur parked the limousine, and the passenger went into the restaurant, while a waiter talked to the host, who was standing next to the door that still showed scars from the fire that happened over the last weekend before Christmas.” The example makes obvious the fault of such sentences and the ordeal they represent for readers or listeners.

The answer to most run-ons is to break them up into smaller pieces, tying together with
conjunctions
or through other constructions only those things that are fairly closely related to one another: “The chauffeur parked the limousine, and the passenger went into the restaurant. Meanwhile, the waiter talked to the host. She was standing next to the door, which still showed scars from the fire that happened over the last weekend before Christmas.” Other divisions of the
initial example are possible, of course, depending on the point being made. And it is likely that many of the words and ideas in the example could be dropped without loosing the main thrust of the sentences. Run-ons usually pile too much together and signal failure to think out what needs to be said, how to say it, and whether the way it has been said needs
revision
or rethinking.

Don’t burden readers or listeners with your failure to decide what you want to say or how to say it.

Russian.
The most widespread of the Slavic languages (which include Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Croatian), Russian uses a different alphabet than English. Therefore, it can be represented in various ways in English. Which system of transliteration you choose will depend on your
audience
and the standards applied where and when you write. You should consult a Russian
grammar, dictionary,
or
style
book for further guidance on
capitalization, punctuation,
and other aspects of the language and its transliterated versions. See
languages.

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.