RE: active vs. passive voice

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

Nina Rogers said: " Then you have the issue of pronouns with potentially
unclear antecedents." 

I'd add that even if the antecedent is not unclear, processing the
statement would require more cognitive overhead of the reader.

Leonard C. Porrello
SoleraTec LLC
www.soleratec.com
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Nina Rogers
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:25 AM
To: Bastette; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: active vs. passive voice

Then you have the issue of pronouns with potentially unclear
antecedents.

Oh, dear ...

On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 11:24:24AM -0400, Suzette Leeming wrote:


What about "This {displays/opens/brings up} the XYZ {window/dialog
box}",
where "this" is the action described in the previous (or same)
instruction.

Eg:

1. Click on the New Entry button. This opens the New Entry window
(dialog,
   etc).

2. ...

Any objections to that?

Joyce
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