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Fri 14 Aug, 2015 10:35 am
I'm proof-reading a document that a colleague wrote. It contains a lot of lists of activities that people do to accomplish certain tasks. The problem is that there is something inconsistent about these list items, but I don't know the right terms to describe the inconsistency.
As an example of what I'm seeing in the document, here's a list of things that a person does to make toast.
(1) remove bread from package
(2) put bread into toaster
(3) turns toaster on
(4) wait until toast pops up
Note that (3) has a different ... something ... about the way it is specified. How do I describe what's inconsistent here? Is it the verb's "mood" or "aspect" or something?
Thanks for any advice!
(1), (2) and (4) use the second person form of the verbs (remove, put, wait) but 3 uses the third person singular , and is thus inconsistent. We use the second person when we are giving instructions, and the third person when describing an activity. You could express a specification in either way, but must be consistent.
To make toast you must:
(1) remove bread from package
(2) put bread into toaster
(3) turn toaster on
(4) wait until toast pops up
When a person makes toast, he or she:
(1) removes bread from package
(2) puts bread into toaster
(3) turns toaster on
(4) waits until toast pops up
@Tes yeux noirs,
Correct. 1 2 &4 use the IMPERATIVE form of the verb. This is indeed one of the three MOODS in English.
@jcollins,
(3) s/b "turn"
Wish I had Tes' and Fres' knowledge of the technical terms
His colleague is writing a specification for making toast?
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