doing so-in doing so-by doing so

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > doing so-in doing so-by doing so

doing so-in doing so-by doing so

ironik

doing so-in doing so-by doing so

good morning everyone and happy mother ï¿½s day to all the mothers in ESLprintables! Heart

I ï¿½d like to ask a question concerning the usage of "doing so" "in doing so" and "by doing so" in context. Are they different? Should we start a new sentence or put a comma or semi-colon?

e.g. is this sentence correct? or should I use "in doing so" here?

Presenting my students not just the language but also world knowledge is essential to me; doing so, I prefer to be creative and use innovative techniques in the class.ï¿½

Thanks for your timeï¿½ Smile

9 May 2010

yolprica

I would use "by doing so".

Yolanda

9 May 2010

yanogator

I agree with Yolanda.

"In doing so" is a little more on the side of possibility rather than reality, but very difficult to explain. I ï¿½ll try with this example.

He spoke very bluntly to his boss. In doing so, he hurt his chances of a promotion. [It isn ï¿½t easy to see, but this sentence is a little hypothetical, but very little]

He spoke very bluntly to his boss. By doing so, he hurt his chances of a promotion. [This sentence is very real and definite]

"Doing so" would be a gerund, which behaves like a noun:

He spoke very bluntly to his boss. Doing so hurt his chances of a promotion. [The meaning is the same as "by doing so", but it becomes the subject of the sentence]

The difference in meaning is so slight that there ï¿½s no danger of being misunderstood using any of the three options.

Bruce

9 May 2010

ironik

thanks to you both :))

9 May 2010