From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0BCD7C61DA4 for ; Sat, 11 Mar 2023 14:21:11 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S230193AbjCKOVJ (ORCPT ); Sat, 11 Mar 2023 09:21:09 -0500 Received: from lindbergh.monkeyblade.net ([23.128.96.19]:41452 "EHLO lindbergh.monkeyblade.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S230199AbjCKOU1 (ORCPT ); Sat, 11 Mar 2023 09:20:27 -0500 Received: from mout02.posteo.de (mout02.posteo.de [185.67.36.66]) by lindbergh.monkeyblade.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 06E11305E1 for ; Sat, 11 Mar 2023 06:18:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from submission (posteo.de [185.67.36.169]) by mout02.posteo.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8F127240344 for ; Sat, 11 Mar 2023 15:18:25 +0100 (CET) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/simple; d=posteo.de; s=2017; t=1678544305; bh=+ZbJvXTLkaL5HZ24miqeiJ/RVViVEX/AOfgL5c9qelY=; h=Date:Subject:Cc:From:To:From; b=MU4S14DxnaFEaz6vQI/g6LoMWTLOC/Nla26oZr8JyS2pOwB6fgupqtw59AewaOKAr oUcxqKzHw1828gXPb0ElsF/Wk3RctGrGotcnaM4zZW5m90zsEamoRl6jS5rwRb71cs b3CIsVK4b33vXpVEQLfBmx+9GmweIR3/pAGFO5znubOw5mSdpxIe7TCQujORBpXPOB 8nRt2cQc+LISmfqkpLmIXqGoMKgAGzBKc2wEorTBYt1N598giMWlja/7o96/P1VZLt 6V1uXls8E1Uz9Lv9zfj1jUZ0TkkCxmyQd9DPxfvW5YJyX5sOKg2r/XjQAWYjSdz1Kk snLITR7ah1cbA== Received: from customer (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by submission (posteo.de) with ESMTPSA id 4PYlQ85xJkz6trW; Sat, 11 Mar 2023 15:18:24 +0100 (CET) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2023 14:17:35 +0000 Message-Id: Subject: Re: [PATCH] CONTRIBUTING: tfix Cc: , , From: "Tom Schwindl" To: "G. Branden Robinson" References: <20230309073900.11503-1-schwindl@posteo.de> <20230309152857.usupq3b4ekjhi7pv@illithid> In-Reply-To: <20230309152857.usupq3b4ekjhi7pv@illithid> Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-man@vger.kernel.org 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. --=20 Best Regards, Tom Schwindl