Thanking You

Thanking You :




'Thanking you' is a 'dangling modifier'.


Let us understand this.


In an earlier style, letters concluded with:


Thanking you, I remain, Yours faithfully, XYZ


Notice that 'I remain, yours faithfully, XYZ' formed the main sentence which had a proper subject.


'Thanking you' is the modifier in that structure.


If we transform the sentence we get: 'I thank you, and I remain yours faithfully XYZ.'


We no longer use the phrase 'I remain'. It has gone into oblivion. So what remains is a 'dangling modifier': 'Thanking you' with a comma following it!


If one has to thank about something, one can say it in a complete sentence and at the appropriate point -- either at the beginning of the email or, if a request is made, then at that point.


The 'Thanking You' at the end of every email has no meaning and is just a ritual.


Some examples of other 'favourite' dangling modifiers:


Anticipating an early response/ reply, Looking forward to your confirmation, Expecting a positive reply, and so on


You will now recollect all the others we regularly use, without realising that they are grammatically incorrect.



































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