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Bechtel, John Hendricks, 1841-

"Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking"

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"After singing a hymn, Miss Willard made a stirring address." If Miss
Willard alone sang the hymn the sentence is correct. If the
congregation sang the hymn the sentence should be, "After the singing
of a hymn, Miss Willard made a stirring address."
"He is but a poor writer at best." Say, "at the best." "He received
but a thousand votes at most." Say, "at the most."
"John came day before yesterday." Say, "the day before yesterday."
Article redundant
"Shakespeare was a greater writer than an actor," should be,
"Shakespeare was a greater writer than actor."
"This is the kind of a tree of which he was speaking,"
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should be, "This is the kind of tree," etc. "What kind of a bird is
this?" should be, "What kind of bird."
"The one styled the Provost is the head of the University," should be,
"The one styled Provost."
"The nominative and the objective cases," should be "The nominative
and objective cases."
"He made a mistake in the giving out the text." Say "in giving out the
text," or, "in the giving out of the text." In the latter instance,
the participle becomes a noun and may take the article before it.


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