and then (was: Silly but important to me)

Subject: and then (was: Silly but important to me)
From: John Wilcox <JWilcox -at- zetron -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 11:29:45 -0700


Bonnie Granat wrote:

> To say, "Highlight the item you want to work with, then press F4" is
> equivalent to saying, "Eat dinner, after that mow the lawn".
> "Then" is an adverb, not a conjunction.

That's correct. I'm not using it as a conjunction. It describes when the
verb action takes place (i.e., right after the preceding action).

Susan Gallagher wrote:

> Grammatically correct versions are:
>
> Click the button; then go get coffee. (semicolon)
> or
> Click the button, and then go get coffee. (comma +
> coordinating conjunction)

Or even:
Click the button. Then go get coffee.

The most important thing to remember when writing the procedures is who your
audience is. This is our Prime Directive. If you sell your software to a
bunch of grammar purists,... But if not, just write the way people talk.
Simpler is generally better.


_____________________________
Regards,
John Wilcox, Technical Writer
Zetron, Redmond





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



Follow-Ups:

Previous by Author: RE: Silly but important to me
Next by Author: RE: and then (was: Silly but important to me)
Previous by Thread: FW: "The Technical Writer" Movie Was: Re: Just thought I'd pass this along
Next by Thread: Re: and then (was: Silly but important to me)


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads