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In one study, for instance, bar codes were placed on bees, tracking their activities.

Is this correct? Or do we say...

In one study, for instance, bar codes were placed on bees to track their activities.

KillingTime
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user492032
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  • If the purpose of placing bar codes on bees was to track their activities, then your second example is correct, where the infinitival clause "to track their activities" is a purpose adjunct. Btw, I don't see a sentence object'. – BillJ Nov 23 '23 at 15:49
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    The first sentence has a faulty modifier; bar codes (and placement of bar codes on bees) don't/doesn't track anything. How serious an error this is (the meaning of the sentence remains clear) is debatable. See G Pullum's article on 'Prescriptivist Poppycock' (though why not use the infinitive clause?) – Edwin Ashworth Nov 23 '23 at 16:41
  • Contrast "In one study, for instance, bar codes were placed on bees, collecting pollen from wild flowers." (You might omit the comma after bees.) – Stuart F Nov 23 '23 at 17:07
  • Simpler is to say: In one study bee activity was tracked by placing bar codes on the bees. – Barmar Nov 23 '23 at 17:26
  • @EdwinAshworth There's no modifier in the first sentence. "Tracking their activities" is a supplement, and hence not a modifier. – BillJ Nov 24 '23 at 07:58

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