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Re: Re: Re: Using a gerund phrase for procedure topic titles
Subject:Re: Re: Re: Using a gerund phrase for procedure topic titles From:<wdburns -at- mindspring -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 28 Dec 2001 17:44:20 -0500
>For an urban legend, it's very very prevalent.
Yes, which is why I try to debunk it everytime I see it mentioned and when I present at conferences or publish a chapter on the subject. It's just like the urban legend about Chevy Novas having a horrible market share in Spanish speaking countries, purportedly because "no va" means "won't go." While it's true that "no va" means something like that, the single word "nova" doesn't. It's simply not true, but it's a common piece of folk wisdom passed around between marketeers.
>The other documents will remain in English, and the non-native >speakers will have to handle the other documents on their own. Most >readers will be able to handle gerunds most of the time. However, not >all of them will be able to figure it out all of the time.
Writing for nonnative speakers definitely requires a different approach--different from both writing for mass-market US concumption and for the world market.
>The question was about procedure topic titles, and we are >recommending that writers avoid them in that case.
But again, given the context, how would a translator have a problem with the gerund? How likely is it that a leading gerund in a heading is going to be a participle?
Anyway, I think it might make sense for an ESL audience, but to simplify translation, it's really not as pertinent.
Bill
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