| name | description | argument-hint | disable-model-invocation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
prose |
Reviews prose against Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. Use when editing blog posts, checking writing for clarity, or before publishing. |
|
true |
Review the prose in $ARGUMENTS against The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. If no argument is given, ask the user to paste the text or provide a file path.
Read the file if a path is given. Then inspect the prose against every rule below. For each violation found, quote the offending passage, name the rule broken, and suggest a corrected version. Be specific and direct — do not be encouraging or complimentary. At the end, give a brief overall verdict.
Rule 1 – Possessive singular: add 's Charles's friend, Burns's poems. Exceptions: ancient names ending in -es/-is (Achilles' heel), Jesus', and conscience' sake.
Rule 2 – Series comma Use a comma after each term in a series of three or more: "red, white, and blue." The final comma before the conjunction is required.
Rule 3 – Parenthetic expressions between commas Non-restrictive clauses and interruptive phrases must be enclosed by commas on both sides. Never omit one comma and leave the other. Restrictive clauses take no commas.
Rule 4 – Comma before and/but joining independent clauses "The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape." Required when a full independent clause follows.
Rule 5 – Do not join independent clauses with a comma (comma splice) Use a semicolon, a period, or a conjunction. "It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark." Short parallel clauses may use a comma: "Man proposes, God disposes."
Rule 6 – Do not break sentences in two Do not use a period where a comma belongs. "I met them on a Cunard liner several years ago. Coming home from Liverpool." — wrong. Emphatic fragments are permissible only when the emphasis is clearly warranted.
Rule 7 – Participial phrase at the start must refer to the grammatical subject "Walking slowly down the road, he saw a woman." The participle must attach to the sentence's subject, not to some other noun. Sentences like "Being in a dilapidated condition, I bought the house cheap" are correct; "Being in a dilapidated condition, the house was cheap" is not.
Rule 9 – One paragraph per topic Each paragraph should develop a single idea. A new paragraph signals a new step. Single sentences should not normally stand as paragraphs unless they are transitional.
Rule 10 – Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence The topic sentence states the paragraph's purpose. Succeeding sentences explain, establish, or develop it. Do not end a paragraph with a digression or an unimportant detail.
Rule 11 – Use the active voice The active voice is more direct and vigorous. Prefer "Dead leaves covered the ground" over "There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground." The passive is permitted when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or when a particular word must be the subject. Never chain two passives: "He has been proved to have been seen entering" → "It has been proved that he was seen to enter."
Flag: there is / there are / there was / there were constructions that could be made active. Flag: noun-as-subject-of-passive that expresses the whole action ("A survey of this region was made" → "This region was surveyed").
Rule 12 – Put statements in positive form Avoid negative statements where a positive word exists.
- not honest → dishonest
- did not remember → forgot
- did not pay attention to → ignored
- not very often on time → usually came late
Do not use "not" as evasion. "The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots" → "The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive."
Rule 13 – Omit needless words Every word must earn its place. Flag these constructions:
- "the question as to whether" → "whether"
- "there is no doubt but that" → "no doubt" / "doubtless"
- "used for fuel purposes" → "used for fuel"
- "he is a man who" → just "he"
- "in a hasty manner" → "hastily"
- "this is a subject which" → "this subject"
- "owing to the fact that" → "since" / "because"
- "in spite of the fact that" → "though" / "although"
- "call your attention to the fact that" → "remind you"
- "the fact that he had not succeeded" → "his failure"
- "His story is a strange one" → "His story is strange"
- "who is," "which was" and similar relative clauses that add nothing
Rule 14 – Avoid a succession of loose sentences A series of clauses joined by and, but, who, which, when, where, while becomes monotonous. Vary: use simple sentences, semicolons, periodic sentences, or subordinate clauses.
Rule 15 – Express coordinate ideas in similar form (parallel construction) Items in a series, correlatives (both/and, not/but, not only/but also, either/or), and listed points must be grammatically parallel.
- "It was both a long ceremony and very tedious" → "The ceremony was both long and tedious"
- "A time not for words, but action" → "A time not for words, but for action"
- "My objections are, first, the injustice; second, that it is unconstitutional" → both in the same grammatical form
Rule 16 – Keep related words together Subject and principal verb should not be separated by a transferable phrase. The relative pronoun should follow its antecedent immediately. Modifiers should be next to what they modify.
- "He only found two mistakes" → "He found only two mistakes"
- "All the members were not present" → "Not all the members were present"
Rule 17 – In summaries, keep to one tense Do not shift tenses mid-summary. Present tense is preferred for drama/fiction summaries; antecedent action uses the perfect.
Rule 18 – Place emphatic words at the end The end of a sentence is the position of greatest emphasis. The beginning is second. Bury weak words in the middle. Rearrange sentences so the most important element lands last.
- "Humanity has hardly advanced in fortitude since that time, though it has advanced in many other ways" — the emphasis falls wrongly on "ways."
- → "Humanity, since that time, has advanced in many other ways, but it has hardly advanced in fortitude."
Flag any of the following:
- all right — always two words
- as to whether → "whether"
- case ("in many cases") — usually needless; cut it
- certainly as an intensifier — cut it
- character ("acts of a hostile character") → "hostile acts"
- claim misused for say, declare, maintain
- dependable → "reliable" or "trustworthy"
- due to misused adverbially ("he lost, due to carelessness") → "because of," "owing to"
- etc. — not for persons; not after "such as" / "for example"
- factor — hackneyed; replace with something direct
- feature (vb.) — avoid in advertising sense
- fix — colloquial for arrange/mend; avoid in formal prose
- he is a man who — cut the relative; "he is ambitious," not "he is a man who is ambitious"
- however — when meaning "nevertheless," must not open the sentence
- kind of / sort of — not substitutes for "rather" or "somewhat"
- less / fewer — less = quantity, fewer = number
- line, along these lines — overworked; cut or replace
- literal / literally — not to support exaggeration
- lose out, try out, win out — "lose out" adds nothing; use "lose"
- most misused for "almost" — "most everybody" → "almost everybody"
- nature ("of a hostile nature") → "hostile"
- one of the most — threadbare opening; avoid starting paragraphs this way
- people misused for "persons" with numbers
- phase — only for stages of transition; not for "aspect" or "topic"
- possess misused for "have" — "he possessed courage" → "he had courage"
- respective / respectively — usually omit
- so as intensifier ("so good," "so warm") — avoid
- state misused for "say" — restrict to "express fully or clearly"
- student body → "students"
- system — often needless ("the dormitory system" → "dormitories")
- thanking you in advance — presumptuous; avoid
- very — use sparingly; prefer a stronger word
- viewpoint → "point of view"
- while — use only for "during the time that"; not as a substitute for "and," "but," or "although"
- whom incorrectly used for "who" before expressions like "he said"
- worth while before a noun ("a worth while story") — indefensible
- would for "should" in first-person conditional — "I should not have succeeded"
For each violation:
[Rule N – Rule name] Original: "…" Problem: one sentence explanation Suggested: "…"
Then a final Overall paragraph: the dominant weaknesses and what to prioritise in revision.