Make Your Antecedent Obvious

rogersgeorge on April 14th, 2023

The official rule is that you should write so the thing your subordinate clause refers to is a close as possible. Sometimes it’s tricky to do that.

https://www.gocomics.com/gingermeggs/2023/03/15

So did the mice find out about mobile phones? That’s the closest noun.

How would you rewrite the sentence to make it less ambiguous?

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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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