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  3. Somebody teach MS English

Somebody teach MS English

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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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        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.

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            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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              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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              • S Steve Thresher

                What colour is the dog?

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                Pawel Krakowiak
                wrote on last edited by
                #33

                Steve Thresher wrote:

                What colour is the dog?

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

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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
                  #34

                  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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                  • 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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                    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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                          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!

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                            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

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                              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

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                                Steve Thresher
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #41

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

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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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                                  Zhat
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #42

                                  Are you the Lounge version of Ilion?

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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

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                                    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

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                                      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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                                      • S Steve Thresher

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

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                                        Tim Schwallie
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #45

                                        Its a rant. Some took the approach of saying that what MS used falls under the correct grammatical category. It does. And a few understood the difference between using correct grammer at the second grade level vs grammer/phrasing understandable by the user. I only wished MS didn't use phrases like 'is being'. I didn't see many folks offering other options, ie the message during installation could have said, "Installing Program X" and the IM could have said, 'Hold on for Joe's new message' In any case, its always good to hear others thoughts.

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                                        • T Tim Schwallie

                                          Its a rant. Some took the approach of saying that what MS used falls under the correct grammatical category. It does. And a few understood the difference between using correct grammer at the second grade level vs grammer/phrasing understandable by the user. I only wished MS didn't use phrases like 'is being'. I didn't see many folks offering other options, ie the message during installation could have said, "Installing Program X" and the IM could have said, 'Hold on for Joe's new message' In any case, its always good to hear others thoughts.

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                                          Steve Thresher
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #46

                                          At what grade, should you have learned to spell the word grammar?

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