Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 12:23:03 GMT From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@neomedia.it> To: Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com>, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html Message-ID: <20000611.12230300@bartequi.ottodomain.org> In-Reply-To: <200006102350.QAA07428@freefall.freebsd.org> References: <200006102350.QAA07428@freefall.freebsd.org>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On 6/11/00, 12:50:05 AM, Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com> wrote= regarding Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html: > The following reply was made to PR docs/19186; it has been noted by GNATS. > From: Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com> > To: Mark Ovens <mark@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> > Cc: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org > Subject: Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html > Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 19:46:31 -0400 > Mark Ovens wrote: > > > > On Sat, Jun 10, 2000 at 07:17:26PM -0400, Daniel Harris wrote: > > > > > > > [snip] > > > > > @@ -236,7 +229,7 @@ > > > <p>If you like reading BSD manuals online, here is a hyperte= xt version of > > > the 4.4BSD documents from <a > > > href=3D"file:/usr/share/doc">/usr/share/doc</a>, where you = would find > > > - the documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the doc distributio= n was > > > + the documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the doc distributio= n were > > > installed).</p> > > > > > > <a name=3D"info"></a> > > > @@ -246,7 +239,7 @@ > > > <p>If you like reading FreeBSD Info documents online, here i= s a hypertext > > > version of the Info documents from <a > > > href=3D"file:/usr/share/info">/usr/share/info</a>, where yo= u would find > > > - the Info documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the info distribution was > > > + the Info documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the info distribution were > > > installed).</p> > > > > > > <a name=3D"source"></a> > > > > Surely "was" is correct here? "distribution" is singular, you wouldn't > > say "if it were installed" would you? > > > > -- Dear Daniel Harris, I seem to understand that the verb "install", in the sentence with past subjunctive ("if the doc distribution were installed"), is used in the *perfective* sense: "installed" =3D "which was||has been installed" {ie describing the resulting state AFTER the installation process}, and which therefore IS [found] on the machine. AFAICS, "perfective" verbs (such as "close") allow their past participles to be used in order to describe the *state* resulting from the action [having been performed]: "closed" =3D [which has/have been] closed. Also, as an aside, this may engender ambiguity in some sentences: state or action ? Incidentally, I was thinking about another possibility: [main clause in the Simple Present], where you would find <direct object> (if the doc distribution **had** been installed). I may be completely wrong (after all, I am Italian), but **if** the above sentence were grammatically correct/acceptable, it would imply a *dynamic* sense of the verb "install", and it would emphasize the idea of completion. That is, the doc distribution having (first) been installed {action in the past}, you will/would find ... (at a subsequent/later time). I am not quite sure at this very moment about the aforementioned point: the (hypothetical) past perfect in my sentence might have *other* undesired/undesirable connotations (e.g. no action fulfilment). I shall have to RFTM on that ... Best regards, Salvo To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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