Another Bad Compound

rogersgeorge on August 4th, 2019

The last post was about an incorrect compound verb. This compound is bad, but it’s not quite incorrect!

The Flying McCoys Comic Strip for June 01, 2019 — https://www.gocomics.com/theflyingmccoys/2019/06/01

The problem is to figure out what the compound verb is. two choices:

Devouring you and establishing an interstellar base (This is correct grammar)
I assume your identity and then establishing an interstellar base (incorrect grammar; change it to “assume your identity and then establish an interstellar base”)

You shouldn’t insert another verb between the parts of your compound, which is what the monster did.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t get the job.

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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