Re: [PATCH] CONTRIBUTING: tfix

["Tom Schwindl" <schwindl@posteo.de>]

Hi Branden,

On Thu Mar 9, 2023 at 4:28 PM CET, G. Branden Robinson wrote:
> [natural language grammar]
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> At 2023-03-09T07:39:00+0000, Tom Schwindl wrote:
> > as I'm not a native speaker, I wonder if the "be" is correct in this
> > context.  I haven't changed it for now because it's likely that it's
> > just me who thinks that this sounds awkward.
> [...]
> >         Please CC any relevant developers and mailing lists that may
> >         know about or be interested in the discussion.
>
> In this respect, English is subject to mechanical analysis to resolve
> the issue.  You will observe the presence of a coordinating conjunction
> ("and" or "or"; there are others but these are by far the most common).
> You can decide the grammar of the sentence by eliminating one of the
> branches of the conjunction.
>
> ...that (may (know about) or (be interested in) the discussion).
>
> Possibly one of the sources of confusion here is that the conjunction is
> applied after the modal auxiliary verb "may".
>
> While that's not non-standard,[1] it does reveal that a recast to more
> clearly apply the coordinating conjunction after the _sub_ordinating
> conjunction "that", as follows.
>
> ...that (may know about) or (may be interested in) the discussion.
>
> The fact that I need fewer pairs of parentheses to suggest the
> recommended parse might indeed recommend it over the former alternative.
>
> Do not underestimate the power of conjunction elimination; I frequently
> use this tool to decide grammatical questions in my own writing.[2]  I
> cannot think of a time that it has led me to an incorrect construction.
>
> Lest anyone feel badly, I note that native English speakers often screw
> up much simpler applications of coordinating conjunctions than this.
>
> *Jackie and me are going to the beach.
> *This discussion is to be kept between you and I.
>
> Both are wrong, wrong, wrong, but you run into them all the time even in
> attempts at formal writing (particularly the latter--people get anxious,
> it seems, and think that this error somehow puts their text into a
> higher register).
>
> Regards,
> Branden
>
> [1] Example: "The market is full of things that you might need or want."
> [2] which can get highfalutin' and florid, to say nothing of loquacious

Thanks for the thorough explanation! I really appreciate it.

-- 
Best Regards,
Tom Schwindl