Dangling modifiers creep into our speaking and writing all the time, but you all are pretty good at spotting one 🧐 If you didn't take last week's quiz, you might be thinking, "What are dangling modifiers and how can I avoid them?" Dangling modifiers occur when a sentence begins with an adjectival modifier but the subject of that modifier is misplaced in the sentence or simply isn't there at all. Longtime newsletter readers will be familiar with our favorite high-profile example that's easily recognizable to NFL fans: "After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands." That sentence, often spoken by referees when they're announcing the result of a review of a play on the field, implies "the ruling" reviewed the play. But that's not possible. The referees reviewed it. Thus, the correct sentence is, "After reviewing the play, the officials have determined that the ruling on the field stands." Here's how we break down spotting and fixing dangling modifiers in our free grammar guide: Speaking of spotting and fixing errors in your writing: that's what our new Google Docs extension helps you do. Educators who want to have it ready for their students to use in the fall can sign up by June 30 and get three months free. Use code SUMMER2025 at checkout. With Memorial Day coming up on Monday, we have a holiday-inspired quiz question this week:
And remember, it's "Memorial Day weekend," not "Memorial Day Weekend." We get that question every year. Have a great weekend! ❤ Team Stylebot
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If you really, really wanted to look for it, there was a clue in last week's subject line that might have helped you on the quiz. The subject line was, "Like the ones that came before." Not "befor," which we realize isn't a word. But the second "e" in "before" might help you remember the difference between forego and forgo. "Forego" means to go before, while "forgo" means to abstain from. And we use foregone in the phrase "foregone conclusion." So the correct sentence from last week's quiz...
Happy Friday! We hope you had a good Fourth of July weekend. We're back in your inbox this week with another writing quiz, and for this one we're taking it back to our quiz roots with a set of commonly confused words...with a slight twist 🔀 The committee agreed to ______ further discussion since approval was a _______ conclusion. forgo, forgone forego, foregone forgo, foregone forego, forgone If this one's too easy for you, tell us: What's an editing challenge we can help you with? We might...
One fun thing about writing is that it's both rule-based and flexible. So sometimes, there are no wrong answers. Such is the case with last week's quiz, when we asked you about the plural of octopus. Your choices were octopi (the plural that assumes a Latin origin of the word), octopodes (the proper plural for a word of Greek origin) and octopuses (the English way to pluralize it). Most of you picked "octopi," and exactly zero people chose "octopodes": No one got it wrong, and even if someone...