Avoid Ambiguity—Always
rogersgeorge on June 26th, 2020
Separable verbs have a certain amount of flexibility—sometimes you put both parts of the verb together and sometimes you can separate them. Here’s a sentence in a weather report that could go either way, but one way doesn’t make sense. Beware of this possibility when you write!
Gusty winds may also blow around unsecured objects.
So what’s blowing around? Does the wind go around the objects, or does the the wind blow the objects around?
The warning was issued April 26, 2020, so you don’t need to worry. It was pretty windy that day.
Here’s a picture:
Here’s the rule:
If it can be misunderstood, rewrite it!
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