Re: Future Tense [was Re: Grammar Question]

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Hey Yves,

That's a superb way to sum it up. Thanks.

Raj


On 7/11/07, Yves JEAUROND <jingting -at- rogers -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Kathleen MacDowell:
>
> Thanks for that lovely segue into the topic of future tense to show
> sequence.
> It can be OK to use the future tense to express a causal link, rather than
> time.
> The trap to avoid is "Free Food, tomorrow." in the reader's mind. :-)
>
>    == Tips to feel comfortable with the present tense ==
> => Think in terms of status change, after the fact; not in terms of
> potential
>       happenings in the future. Click button X. The window disappears.
>     // The proximity of the sentences lets the user make the connection.
>     Writing "The window will disappear." leaves the user guessing as to
>     "When? Soon? Right away? Does it matter?"
>
> => If a user works in the "now", can one expand the present to, say,
>     "all acts needed to complete a procedure"? If one injects a bit
>     of future tense, what about the next steps, which are also in
>     the "future"? Future perfect?  :-)
> => The fatalism of a process helps write in the present tense.
>     (Think of that famous fatalist quip by the servant in Diderot's
>    _Jacques le Fataliste_:
>    --- The Master: "But what if it had happened?"
>    --- The Servant: "Impossible; since it did not.")
> => Cause can be expressed in other ways than using the future tense.
>     In logic there's "if... then..."; in procedures, we number steps.
>       Sub-titles such as "Preparation", "Result", and other paratext,
>     also help the reader figure out sequence. If one avoids putting
>     the cart before the horse, the future tense is rarely needed.
>       (or <grin> "will rarely be needed"? :-)
> => For help from way-out-in-left-field, there's _Bearing an Hourglass_,
> :-)
>     the novel by Peirs Anthony. In it the Incarnation of Time is
>     moving "backward" through time. Now there's an interesting
>       writing challenge.
> => The OED sums it up: "future tense, a tense of verbs expressing
>     events that have not yet happened." Well, technical writing talks
>       about repeatable events that always happen--or at least, that should
>     always happen :-) For the user, the procedures are always there now:
>     whether in the past, present or future.
>
> Cheers,
>
> YJ
>
> Kathleen MacDowell <kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com> a écrit :  Fred, All,
>
> This is one instance in which I probably disagree with (some/many)
> technical
> communicators. IMHO, the software doesn't do something when you press a
> button, it will do something when the button is pressed (or more actively,
> Press the button and the x screen [or whatever] will be displayed, etc.)
>
> I argue that the additional clarity added by the appropriate tense offsets
> the additional words. If someone pauses to think through what is written,
> everything is consistent. Otherwise it isn't.
>
> .02
>
>
> On 7/9/07, Fred Ridder wrote:
> >
> > If the context here is technical writing rather than
> > general English composition style, my suggestion is
> > to consider carefully whether the use of future tense
> > is really necessary. In technical writing, the future
> > tense is generally not necessary to the meaning
> > you are trying to convey, so that it is often more
> > appropriate to eliminate instances of "will" from the
> > outset rather than agonize over whether you need
> > to add even more of them in the interest of grammatical
> > correctness.
> >
> >
> > >From: Ben
> > >To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > >Subject: Grammar Question
> > >Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2007 16:01:22 -0700
> > >
> > >Sorry for the basic grammar question.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Example: He will draw a picture and write his name on it.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Question: Does the second verb phrase imply the use of the helping or
> > >auxiliary verb "will?" Or, must one explicitly write in the word
> "will?"
> > Is
> > >it necessary?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Thanks!
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