Essentials of business English

Preface

In the preparation of this text, the authors have made no attempt at originality, except as to the manner of presenting the subject. They have kept uppermost in mind the object to be attained — the ability on the part of the student to use correct English. With this end in view, the material has been selected from various sources, and so modified and arranged as to produce this result with the least expenditure of time on the part of the student, and a minimum of work on the part of the teacher.

No attempt has been made to produce an exhaustive treatise for the few, but rather a book of essentials for the many; nor has any effort been made to speculate upon the technical phases of the subject. The student's need is not theory and comment, but rather the rules and principles, with their proper application. It is utterly useless to learn rules unless one learns to apply them.

The Parts of Speech. — In Part I the Parts of Speech are clearly defined, and their use fully illustrated by carefully selected sentences. The student is here taught that the part of speech to which a word belongs is determined by its use in the sentence. The work in this chapter lays the foundation for the study of the sentence, treated in Part II.

Part III treats of the Properties and Syntax of the Parts of Speech. The value of the study of Syntax can not be overestimated, for upon a thorough mastery of it depends, in a large measure, the student's ability to use correct

PREFACE

English. The rules are clearly stated; each rule is illustrated by an example; and abundant exercises are given to thoroughly ground the student in the application of these rules.

How to Write Clearly.— In this chapter no attempt has been made to give an exhaustive treatise of the subject of Rhetoric, but rather to give sufficient rules and illustrations to enable the student to avoid most of the faulty constructions.

Choice of Words. — This section has been added to give the student a drill in the discrimination of those words most commonly confused either in the use or in the spelling. The words treated are of so practical a nature that we believe this department will be recognized as a valuable feature of the book.

Punctuation. — The rules of Punctuation are clearly stated, and are sufficiently comprehensive to give the student a good knowledge of the subject.

Contents

Page

Adjective, defined 5

Classes of Adjectives 6