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Subject:RE: US vs. UK pronoun/voice usage? From:"Geoff Lane" <geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk> To:"TECHWR-L (E-mail)" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 9 Nov 1999 09:22:31 -0000
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Janet_Swisher -at- trilogy -dot- com
>
> I've recently been reading a large quantity of source
> material from an SME
> who happens to be British. (My company is located in Austin,
> Texas, USA.)
> One thing I've noticed in his text is that he routinely uses
> the pronoun
> "one", combined with passive voice, as in the following example:
>
> For each view one wants to appear as a child item, the
> view must be
> added to the collection.
---
In UK, we use very similar grammatical conventions to you. Instructions
should be in imperative mood, active voice, present tense, second person.
So this Brit would rewrite your example thus: "To the collection, add each
view that you want to appear as a child item."
For me, the use of "one" as a pronoun reeks of pretension.
HTH,
Geoff Lane
Cornwall, UK
geoff -at- gjctech -dot- co -dot- uk
