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  3. Somebody teach MS English

Somebody teach MS English

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  • T Tim Schwallie

    Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

    F Offline
    F Offline
    Fernando A Gomez F
    wrote on last edited by
    #25

    Tim Schwallie wrote:

    "Program X is being installed."

    :confused: Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

    Tim Schwallie wrote:

    "Joe Smith is typing a message."

    :confused: Isn't that a gerund? What's wrong with that?

    Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain

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    • F Fernando A Gomez F

      Tim Schwallie wrote:

      "Program X is being installed."

      :confused: Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

      Tim Schwallie wrote:

      "Joe Smith is typing a message."

      :confused: Isn't that a gerund? What's wrong with that?

      Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain

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      Monark
      wrote on last edited by
      #26

      Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:

      Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

      Yes it is.. :)

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      • M Marcus_Idle

        Tim You're from the United States, right? Native speaker? Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes. Cheers -Marcus

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        Tim Schwallie
        wrote on last edited by
        #27

        yep give this guy a cookie. the screwy 'run' verb. he runs today -> he is running today he currently runs -> he is currently running what does he like to do? he runs. How does he run? he runs well. I is living in the US. ..bugga... I live in Chicago. Go Cubs! Go Soxs!

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        • T Tim Schwallie

          ProgramX installing. Joe Smith types a message.

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          Lost User
          wrote on last edited by
          #28

          Tim Schwallie wrote:

          ProgramX installing.

          This isn't a sentence. You wouldn't say "Dog Farting" you would say (the) dog is farting.

          Tim Schwallie wrote:

          Joe Smith types a message.

          This provides less information than "Joe Smith is typing a message". The latter tells you that Joe is typing right now - the former merely that Joe types a message at some point in time. Somebody teach you English bad, dude. All your base are belong to us.

          Take a chill pill, Daddy-o .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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          • T Tim Schwallie

            and I take it you still write Joey is running like a moron. Yes, the sentence is technically correct. Though, I learned in the age where 'to-be' verb usage faced a docking in points on papers. And so the usage of 'to-be' verbs became instilled as an indicator for a lack of intelligence in the minds of many. Since you like baseball, I just moved to first base cause the first base umpire called a balk.

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            J Offline
            jesarg
            wrote on last edited by
            #29

            To-be verbs are discouraged for instruction manuals. For instance: "You should be installing the program now" should be re-written as "Install the program now". For informational messages, it's not as big a deal.

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            • T Tim Schwallie

              Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

              Steve EcholsS Offline
              Steve EcholsS Offline
              Steve Echols
              wrote on last edited by
              #30

              Replace ProgramX with another noun such as a person's name: Little Johny is being chased Little Johny chasing Well that's different. Now what?


              - S 50 cups of coffee and you know it's on! A post a day, keeps the white coats away!

              • S
                50 cups of coffee and you know it's on!
                Code, follow, or get out of the way.
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              • T Tim Schwallie

                Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

                T Offline
                T Offline
                Tim Schwallie
                wrote on last edited by
                #31

                A fun rant this has been. And now, everyone who sees these comments and Program is being installed... or Joe is writing a message. will have a little something in the back of their head say: "Damn you MS!!!! Damn you!!!!" or 'To be or not to be' what was Shakey really writing about? ;P

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                • T Tim Schwallie

                  Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

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                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #32

                  The english displayed is correct. 1. The "installer service" is the program that is doing "installation" of the program. so instead of writing "installer service is installing program X" it is better to use passive form. The program being installed is just a stream of bytes. 2. Whats wrong with "Joe x is typing a message"? In addition to that "Whomever" is old fashioned, "Whoever" is correct. maybe you should re learn english from some better place.

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                  • M Marcus_Idle

                    Tim You're from the United States, right? Native speaker? Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes. Cheers -Marcus

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                    Pawel Krakowiak
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #33

                    Marcus Idle (Oxford) wrote:

                    Two tenses Joe Smith runs = he usually runs, running is his thing. He may not be running right now. Joe Smith is running = yep, there he goes.

                    Exactly what I was taught. And I'm not a native speaker.

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                    • S Steve Thresher

                      What colour is the dog?

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                      Pawel Krakowiak
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #34

                      Steve Thresher wrote:

                      What colour is the dog?

                      Who cares? Let's put it in the LHC...

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                      • T Tim Schwallie

                        Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

                        T Offline
                        T Offline
                        TheBadGrandma
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #35

                        Maybe you should grab your second grade level book and search for "Present Progressive" ;)

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                        • T Tim Schwallie

                          ProgramX installing. Joe Smith types a message.

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                          yiangos
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #36

                          Hi Well, I believe this is wrong, and the messages in the installer and MS Communicator are correct. You're using present simple tense, which is used for habitual actions, whereas the messages you've marked as "wrong" are using present continuous tense, which is used for actions that are (not necessarily habitual but) taking place at the time the sentence is spoken (or written). If you're still reluctant to accept the correctness of these messages, I would suggest that you actually show them to your English teacher (making sure you describe the context in which these occur) and ask him/her whether they are correct or not. Regards, Yiannis

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                          • T TheBadGrandma

                            Maybe you should grab your second grade level book and search for "Present Progressive" ;)

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                            chrissb
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #37

                            Well, technically there is no such thing as "proper" english. English is made up of at least 10 other languages and it's "rules" are not even close to being consistent. For every rule there is a page of exceptions. And schooling isn't actually standardised regardless of what you might have heard. Some schools are more advanced than others, some teach things differently etc. So both snippets are both technically correct and incorrect, just depends on what rules you are using.

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                            • F Fernando A Gomez F

                              Tim Schwallie wrote:

                              "Program X is being installed."

                              :confused: Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

                              Tim Schwallie wrote:

                              "Joe Smith is typing a message."

                              :confused: Isn't that a gerund? What's wrong with that?

                              Stupidity is an International Association - Enrique Jardiel Poncela Die deutsche Sprache sollte sanft und ehrfurchtsvoll zu den toten Sprachen abgelegt werden, denn nur die Toten haben die Zeit, diese Sprache zu lernen. - Mark Twain

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                              R Offline
                              Russell Jones
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #38

                              Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:

                              Tim Schwallie wrote: "Program X is being installed." Confused Isn't that "passive voice"? What's wrong with that?

                              Stylistically the passive voice should be used as infrequently as possible eg "The Computer is currently installing Program X" Of course this falls foul of OPs "To Be" rule

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                              • T Tim Schwallie

                                yep give this guy a cookie. the screwy 'run' verb. he runs today -> he is running today he currently runs -> he is currently running what does he like to do? he runs. How does he run? he runs well. I is living in the US. ..bugga... I live in Chicago. Go Cubs! Go Soxs!

                                H Offline
                                H Offline
                                Hamed Musavi
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #39

                                Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                I is living in the US.

                                Did you mean: I am living in US.

                                "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself."    Yanni

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                                • H Hamed Musavi

                                  Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                  I is living in the US.

                                  Did you mean: I am living in US.

                                  "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself."    Yanni

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  Richard Jones
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #40

                                  Actually, he would write "I living in US." Don't want those tenses in there. :-D

                                  Cheetah. Ferret. Gonads. What more can I say? - Pete O'Hanlon

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                                  • T Tim Schwallie

                                    A fun rant this has been. And now, everyone who sees these comments and Program is being installed... or Joe is writing a message. will have a little something in the back of their head say: "Damn you MS!!!! Damn you!!!!" or 'To be or not to be' what was Shakey really writing about? ;P

                                    S Offline
                                    S Offline
                                    Steve Thresher
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #41

                                    How has this been fun for you? The majority think you're wrong. :pointandlaughsmiley:

                                    T 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • T Tim Schwallie

                                      Let's see....the MS Installer displays the following during installation, "Program X is being installed." Sorry folks, in my English classes, all my teachers would have put a big red mark around that one. MS Communicator tells us politely, "Joe Smith is typing a message." Not a chance. Whomever writes these programs, please learn English above the second grade level.

                                      Z Offline
                                      Z Offline
                                      Zhat
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #42

                                      Are you the Lounge version of Ilion?

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • H Hamed Musavi

                                        Tim Schwallie wrote:

                                        I is living in the US.

                                        Did you mean: I am living in US.

                                        "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself."    Yanni

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        Tim Schwallie
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #43

                                        yep... glad somebody caught that. am, is, are was were

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                                        • R Richard Jones

                                          Actually, he would write "I living in US." Don't want those tenses in there. :-D

                                          Cheetah. Ferret. Gonads. What more can I say? - Pete O'Hanlon

                                          H Offline
                                          H Offline
                                          Hamed Musavi
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #44

                                          Richard Jones wrote:

                                          Actually, he would write "I living in US."

                                          :-D

                                          "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself."    Yanni

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