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Re: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions?

Subject: Re: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions?
From: dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 11:51:33 -0700


Gerald Bourguignon cited this example from a college text:


Disengage the gear, then start the engine.
(Definite: uses strong verbs)

The gear should be disengaged before starting the engine.
(Indefinite: uses weaker verbs)

Ouch! I can't take my eyes off the *big* problem with that second sentence long enough to see the *little* problem.

The big problem, of course, is that the sentence is nonsense: it won't be the *gear* that starts the engine, no matter how one chooses to describe what needs to happen first.

--David

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References:
RE: Apple permits "then" to be used as a coord. conjunction in instructions?: From: Gerald Bourguignon

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