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Subject:Re: Contractions in general From:Kent Newton <kentn -at- METRIX-INC -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 27 Jun 1996 07:20:00 PDT
On Thursday, June 27, 1996 8:45 AM, Steven Primrose-SMith wrote:
>Since this list has recently talked the its and it's thing to death, I
wondered
>what the list's opinion was about using contractions in general. I've
>talked to people who swear by them and others who consider them
>grammatically incorrect. I like to use contractions to make the text
flow
>more easily and to give the document a more informal, relaxed tone.
>What do you think?
I think it depends on several factors, such as the projected audience,
the subject matter, and whether the manuals will be translated. A
software manual for the mass market probably should have contractions to
acheive a conversational tone. A dissertation on a complex chemistry
experiment to be presented in a trade journal probably should not have
contractions.
Kent Newton
Senior Technical Writer
Metrix, Inc.
kentn -at- metrix-inc -dot- com
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