Re: "either"

[Barb Miller <millerb -at- TCPLINK -dot- NREL -dot- GOV>]

I agree it should be "Entries are either . . . " or you need to repeat the "are"
when you get to the second part.

I don't see how "grammatical exactness" gets in the way of readability in this
example?

Barb Miller
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
millerb -at- tcplink -dot- nrel -dot- gov


>The following sentence has caused some debate among my fellow writers:

>"Entries either are alphanumeric strings, such as usernames or passwords; or a
>choice between several preset strings, such as enabled or disabled."

>The debate stems from the placement of the word "either." I believe that the
>sentence reads better as follows:

>"Entries are either alphanumeric strings...."

>What's more important grammatical exactness or readability?