Fowler's Modern English Usage

Fowler's Modern English Usage, often referred to simply as Fowler, is a style guide to British English usage. Fowler covers in detail many issues of usage, from plurals and literary techniques to distinctions between similar words and the usage of foreign terms.

Related Topics:
Style guide - British English - Plurals - Literary technique

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Henry W. Fowler concentrated on British usage, and set the standard for all usage books to follow. Fowler's first edition of 1926 remained in print for many years, but more recent editions have updated the book.

Related Topics:
Henry W. Fowler - 1926

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Fowler's remark on the split infinitive is well-known:

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: The English-speaking world may be divided into those who neither know nor care what a split infinitive is, those who don't know, but care very much, those who know and approve, those who know and condemn, and those who know and distinguish.

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Fowler concludes that split infinitives should not attract as much attention as they do, and says that they are indeed sometimes the best way to express one's meaning. See the split infinitive article for further discussion.

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Only the first edition of the book was completely Fowler's. The second edition was a very light revision by Sir Ernest Gowers and the third edition was very substantially revised and rewritten by Robert Burchfield.

Related Topics:
Sir Ernest Gowers - Robert Burchfield

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• First edition, 1926 (reprinted in 2003, see References below)
• 2nd edition, 1965
• 3rd edition, 1996 (The New Fowler's Modern English Usage)
 
Fowler's Modern English Usage: See also ►