Re: RE: Re: Bad sentence #2

["Elisa R. Sawyer" <elisawyer -at- gmail -dot- com>]

"...be installed." is actually passive. Imperative works. If you can't get
additional information, John G.'s sentience is best.

However, I'm interested in what happens when you look at the sentence in
this way:

To control the instrument [running] 4.1 firmware, install the latest USB
drivers.

The above sentence structure brings the fact that that there is missing
information into focus. In some situations, users need to know specifics
about the controls--what in the latest USB drivers uses what in the 4.1
firmware to control the instrument?

I doubt you actually need to tease out those specifics, and your engineers
might not know. :-)

-Elisa




On Fri, May 29, 2015 at 1:12 PM, Nancy Allison <maker -at- verizon -dot- net> wrote:

>    Lynn, there are no passive verbs in the sentence. In fact, there is
>    only one subject - verb pairing:
>    Use . . . . requires . . .
>    "to control" is an infinitive acting as a modifier . . . I *think* . .
>    .  and "running" is definitely part of a participial phrase modifying
>    "instrument."
>    I think. As my creaky English Grammar teacher gears start turning just
>    a bit.
>    "Use" as a noun is fine, I think.
>    "of the [noun]" is wordy, indirect, and much loved by engineers. But
>    the sentence is grammatically correct!
>
>
>    On 05/29/15, Lynne Wright<Lynne -dot- Wright -at- tritech -dot- com> wrote:
>
>    Its still in passive voice, tho.
>    And isn't starting the sentence with "Use of" instead of "The use of"
>    grammatically incorrect?
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-- 
Elisa Rood Sawyer
~~~~~^~~~~~
Technical and Creative Writer
"Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today." Mark Twain
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