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#2 (permalink) Sat Jul 26, 2008 18:29 pm Stand for? |
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Hi Genzo,
The grammar of this construction is the use of the participle referring back to the original subject. What this means is that the 'use' is both falling(declining) and 'climbing back' (coming back to what it was). It is a method of reducing the length of the sentence which in its entirety would read: Use of the tube has been relatively stable, although it has been falling from around 27% of commuters in 1960 to 22% in 1980, but has been climbing back to reach 25% by 2000.
Hope this makes sense,
Alan _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 13896 Location: UK
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#3 (permalink) Sat Jul 26, 2008 18:33 pm Stand for? |
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Sorry. I quoted the wrong sentence. The right one must be: "They made up 41% in 1998, falling slightly to 37% in 2000" |
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Genzo New Member
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 8
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#4 (permalink) Sat Jul 26, 2008 18:36 pm Stand for? |
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I don't follow.
Alan _________________ English as a Foreign Language You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 13896 Location: UK
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#5 (permalink) Sat Jul 26, 2008 18:41 pm Stand for? |
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Is there a mistake in the latter sentence? It is in one of the example essays my teacher gave me, but she said that they was the real essays made by the candidates so it might contained some mistakes. Besides, the whole passage is as follows: "The second biggest group of users is aged between 31 and 50. They made up 41% in 1998, falling slightly to 37% in 2000. When combined with the 16-30 age gruop, over 94% of users in 1998 were between 16 and 50." |
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Genzo New Member
Joined: 18 Jun 2008 Posts: 8
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| Live "in" or "at" Block 101, East Coast Drive? | use of "inasmuch as" |