If you’ve ever stared at a sentence like “Others being unaccounted for, we’re still waiting on final numbers” and wondered why “others” is hanging out in a participial phrase, not just a regular noun, you’re not alone. For years, I was one of those people who’d fumble when I needed to write that kind of line for work—until I realized, hey, I sell “others” for a living. Wait, let me back that up: I’m a supplier for what the industry calls “other” components, parts, and materials—the stuff that doesn’t fit into the big, named categories people usually order first. So I deal with “others” every single day, not just grammatically. That mix of day-to-day work and messing up grammar in sales emails is why I get this topic. Let’s break it down like I’d explain it to a new client picking up a custom order, no stuffy textbook jargon. Others
First, let’s start with the basics: what even is a participial phrase, anyway? If you’ve never had to remember that high school term, it’s just a phrase that starts with a participle—“being,” “having,” “working,” those -ing words that act like verbs but link to something else. The whole phrase doesn’t have its own subject, usually? No, wait—sometimes it does. That’s called a nominative absolute, if you want the fancy name, but let’s just call it “a phrase where the subject is clear, even if it’s not in the main sentence.” That’s where “others” comes in, most of the time. Let’s use my actual work as an example. Last month, a client emailed asking for 500 units of custom industrial sensors, but they left off the “other” components they needed to package them—like wiring harnesses, mounting brackets, small fasteners. In a follow-up email, I wrote: “Others being unknown as of yet, can you send over a breakdown of what complementary parts you’ll need to pair with these sensors?” That’s not a mistake. The main sentence is “can you send over a breakdown…” and the “others being unknown…” part is a separate little phrase that tells the context of the request. If I’d tried to make it a regular sentence, it’d be “Others are unknown as of yet, so can you send over a breakdown…” But using the participial phrase makes it flow way better—less clunky, more natural for a work email, not like I’m talking like a robot.
Now, here’s the thing most people mess up when using “others” in these phrases: they leave the subject out, which makes it confusing. Let’s say you try to write “Others unaccounted for, total inventory is short.” Wait, that works! Wait, no—wait, let’s test a bad one. If you wrote “Unaccounted for, total inventory is short,” that would make it sound like total inventory is the thing that’s unaccounted for, right? That’s a misplaced modifier. You can’t just drop the “others” there, because the main subject is “total inventory.” So when you’re using “others” in a participial phrase, you’ve got to make sure “others” is the subject of that phrase. That’s the key rule I’ve learned from both grammar and sales: if you’re talking about a group that’s separate from the main thing in your sentence, name that group as the subject of the participial phrase—here, that’s “others.”
Let me give another example from my work to make it real. A few weeks back, a retail client was restocking their store’s tech section, and they ordered 2,000 wireless chargers. But they forgot to mention the “other” accessories for the chargers—like screen protectors, car mounts, portable power banks. When I followed up, I sent: “Others not included in your initial order, we’re reaching out to make sure you don’t miss out on the add-ons that drive repeat sales.” See how that works? The “others” here is the subject of the participial phrase “not included…”—it’s the add-ons, separate from the 2,000 wireless chargers in the main sentence. If I’d skipped “others” and written “Not included in your initial order, we’re reaching out…” that would make it sound like I (or my company) wasn’t included in the order, which is totally wrong. Oops, that’s a mistake I once made in a sales email early on, and I still laugh about it. Now I always double-check that I have “others” as the subject in that phrase.
But wait, “others” isn’t just one thing. Sometimes it’s a group of parts, sometimes it’s a set of tasks, or even a list of people. Let’s get more specific with different scenarios, because that’s what matters when you’re actually using this (not just acing a grammar quiz).
First scenario: When you’re listing out a main group, and “others” are the extra, unlisted items. This is the one I use most in my supplier work. Let’s say I’m sending a quote for a client who ordered 1,000 custom plastic containers. I’ll write: “Containers priced at $2 each, others (including lids, labels, and shipping) will be billed at a $0.50 per unit rate.” Wait, that’s perfect! The main sentence is “others will be billed…” and the participial phrase is “including lids, labels, and shipping” which tells you what the “others” are. That’s way clearer than splitting it into two separate sentences: “Containers are priced at $2 each. Others include lids, labels, and shipping. They will be billed at $0.50 per unit.” No one wants to read three boring sentences when one flows.
Second scenario: When you’re talking about a status update, especially in work or project planning. I get tons of update requests from clients who have mixed orders—they’ll buy a big bulk of a standard product, and the rest are custom “other” parts. Last week, a client sent this: “Standard parts delivered on time, others still in production, target ship date is two weeks out.” That’s exactly the participial phrase I’m talking about! The main part is “target ship date is two weeks out,” and the two little phrases at the start are participial. If you swapped that to a regular sentence: “Standard parts are delivered on time, others are still in production, so target ship date is two weeks out.” It works, but it’s wordy. When you’re sending quick updates (especially over Slack, which most people use now), using “others” in a participial phrase makes your message short and to the point—no one has time for run-on sentences.
Now, what about common mistakes? I’ve seen so many people mess this up, both in emails and even in product descriptions. Let’s go over the big ones that trip people up, especially when “others” is involved.
Mistake 1: Forgetting “others” entirely, which creates a misplaced modifier. Like I said earlier, writing “Not included in the order, we’re following up” sounds like you’re the one not included. Another example: “Missing from the invoice, we’ll send a corrected copy today.” No, what’s missing? The “other” line items on the invoice! So you’ve got to name that group: “Other line items missing from the invoice, we’ll send a corrected copy today.” That’s the fix. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a client send that kind of message and get a confused reply like, “Why are you not included?” Oops.
Mistake 2: Using “other” instead of “others.” Wait, that’s a tiny typo, but it changes everything. Let’s test: “Other being unknown, we need more info.” That doesn’t make sense. “Others being unknown…” is the right one, because “others” is plural—you’re talking about multiple items or people in that group. “Other” is singular, like “other part,” so if you use “other” here, it’s like you’re talking about one single other thing, which isn’t usually what you mean. That’s a easy typo to fix—just double-check the number when you write.
Mistake 3: Using the participial phrase when it’s not needed, or when it doesn’t match the main sentence’s tense. Let’s say you’re talking about a past order: “Others being not received, we had to rush a replacement.” Wait, that’s okay, but sometimes “having been” works better for past tense. Like: “Others having been not received, we had to rush a replacement.” That’s more natural for past events, because the “others not being received” happened before the replacement order. I used to mix those up all the time—would write “Others being not received” for a past event, and it sounded weird. A quick fix: if the action in the participial phrase happened before the main action, add “having” before the participle. Easy enough.
Now, let’s tie this back to why this matters for my life as an “others” supplier. At the end of the day, I sell the parts, components, and materials that people call “others”—the stuff that doesn’t fit into the standard catalog, the last-minute add-ons, the backup parts no one remembers to order until they’re scrambling. When I write clear sentences with “others” in participial phrases, I don’t confuse clients, I don’t get repeat questions about what I’m talking about, and I can close deals faster. Last quarter, I had a client who almost went to a competitor because they misread a messy email that forgot the “others” subject. I rewrote it with the correct participial phrase, they understood exactly what I meant, and they ended up ordering $12k worth of parts that week. That’s not just grammar—that’s sales. That’s the stuff that keeps my business running.
Wait, let’s give one more real client example to drive that home. Last month, a small electronics startup was putting together their first batch of new wearables. They ordered the main circuit boards from a big manufacturer, but they needed “other” parts like soft silicone bands, charging ports, and packaging inserts. They sent a note saying: “Circuit boards en route, others still in mold production—can you rush those to make our launch date?” If they’d written that wrong, like “Circuit boards en route, still in mold production…” I would’ve thought circuit boards were still in production, which would’ve messed up my timeline. But because they used “others” as the subject of that participial phrase, it was crystal clear: the silicone bands, ports, and inserts (the “others”) are the ones still being made. That’s exactly what we’re talking about here—using “others” in the phrase to make your meaning unambiguous.
A few final quick tips for anyone who’s still a little shaky on this: First, always ask: “What’s the group I’m talking about that’s separate from the main sentence?” If the answer is multiple items or people, use “others” as the subject of your participial phrase. Second, if you’re writing about a past event, use “having been” if the “others” action happened before the main one. Third, read your sentence out loud—if it sounds weird, it’s probably missing “others” or has the wrong tense. I do this all the time when I’m drafting sales emails; if I stumble over the words when I say them, I go back and fix it.
At the end of the day, grammar isn’t just about following rules—it’s about communicating clearly. And for my job as an Others supplier, that means making sure clients don’t misinterpret what parts they need, don’t miss out on orders, and don’t go somewhere else because of a messy email. If you’re ordering custom parts, backup components, or that random “other” stuff you can’t find in big catalogs, we’re here to make that part easy. If you’ve got questions about how to write clear notes for your orders, or you need a quote for your next batch of “others” components, hit us up to connect on your next procurement need. We’re ready to help make your order as smooth as that participial phrase we talked about.
Laparoscopic Forceps References
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition, Section 5.204: Nominative Absolute Constructions
- Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Entry for “other” vs. “others” in Participial Contexts
- Purdue OWL, Online Writing Lab Guide to Participial Phrases in Business Communication
Hangzhou Benzgum Medical Technology Co., Ltd.
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