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Re: Midol Moment or National Tragedy? You decide...
Subject:Re: Midol Moment or National Tragedy? You decide... From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- ptc -dot- com> To:Mark Baker <mbaker -at- omnimark -dot- com> Date:Fri, 12 Nov 1999 15:28:29 -0500
Mark Baker wrote:
>
>
> Since the phrase "Click Apply, then OK" would seem to communicate
> effectively, bad grammar would be any grammatical system that cannot account
> for it.
>
Mark Baker wrote:
> Since the phrase "Click Apply, then OK" would seem to communicate
> effectively, bad grammar would be any grammatical system that cannot account
> for it.
>
The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications offers this
explanation of the issue:
then
Then is not a coordinate conjunction and thus cannot correctly join two
independent clauses. Use and or another coordinate conjunction or then
with a semicolon or another conjunctive adverb to connect independent
clauses in, for example, two-part procedural steps.
Correct
On the File menu, click Save As, and then type the name of the file.
Incorrect
On the File menu, click Save As, then type the name of the file.
Avoid using then to introduce a subordinate clause that follows an if
clause (an "if ?then" construction).
Correct
If you turn off the computer before shutting down all programs, you may
lose data.
Incorrect
If you turn off the computer before shutting down all programs, then you
may lose data.
