Comments on: the ways in which http://ragesoss.com/blog/2008/01/29/the-ways-in-which/ assorted blogging by Sage Ross Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:26:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: envirohist http://ragesoss.com/blog/2008/01/29/the-ways-in-which/comment-page-1/#comment-87 envirohist Tue, 20 May 2008 17:10:00 +0000 http://ragesoss.com/blog/?p=103#comment-87 Ever since you wrote about "ways in which" it's been getting on my nerves and I have purged it from my own writing. My reason for hating it is grammatical.<br/><br/>Example Sentence 1 : This paper explores the ways in which hermit crabs compete for available shells. <br/><br/>Example Sentence 2: The shells in which the hermit crabs were living were two inches in diameter.<br/><br/>My understanding is that the "in" in Sentence 1 is unnecessary, because it is not attached to the verb, "compete," the way the "in" in Sentence 2 is attached to the verb "living." A better rewrite of Sentence 1 would be simply to say: "This paper explores how hermit crabs compete for available shells." Ever since you wrote about “ways in which” it’s been getting on my nerves and I have purged it from my own writing. My reason for hating it is grammatical.

Example Sentence 1 : This paper explores the ways in which hermit crabs compete for available shells.

Example Sentence 2: The shells in which the hermit crabs were living were two inches in diameter.

My understanding is that the “in” in Sentence 1 is unnecessary, because it is not attached to the verb, “compete,” the way the “in” in Sentence 2 is attached to the verb “living.” A better rewrite of Sentence 1 would be simply to say: “This paper explores how hermit crabs compete for available shells.”

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