I disagree with Sharon and Paula completely...
OK, no I don't. I just wanted to say that.
Unless I was being sarcastic, which is rarely good in a technical
document, I would not tell the reader that if s/he performed some action
then some result "might" happen. In the past, I actually have
threa
But couldn't you do that with "You can"? For example:
"Depending on your organization's security policies and regulatory environment,
you can also [function X]. For more information, see your regulatory official."
First thing I teach all writers is to start sentences with "You can". It's not
Kevin actually makes the point I was about to. I was not talking about a
situation in which "something 'might' happen". Even if I'm not sure that
things are going to work the way they're supposed to in reality, I
always say "something happens". [And note that I also do not say "will
happen"-more or
I'm willing to give on may and might, but I shall not change my position on
shall. No, I shall NOT!
Paula
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Charles Beck
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 5:19 PM
To: TCP@techcommpros.com
Subject: Re: [TCP] Wor
I'm apparently one of the few on board with may.
For the usage you are talking about, "may" is probably the more correct.
"Might" indicates a very weak probability that the user would want want to
do so (you might want to...), whereas "may" indicates a significantly
stronger probability that the u
My choice would be a rewrite. Your sample sentence makes me think, "But
why would I want to do this?" I would rewrite to something along these
lines:
To limit the records displayed, set the date range
to something meaningful to you, such as the current
month, quarter, or sales quota perio
>
> I disagree with Sharon and Paula completely...
>
> OK, no I don't. I just wanted to say that.
>
> Unless I was being sarcastic, which is rarely good in a technical
> document, I would not tell the reader that if s/he performed some
action
> then some result "might" happen.
*s/he* -- ? Ugh
I was just replying that I didn't see a post from you on this, Sue. But
your other post came through before I could. :-)
In the may/might discussion, I like the example from the MMoS that you
listed: If , you *may* need to .
The word "might" seems too wishy-washy to me. I have flashba
I am trying to think of an instance where I've used "might", and I think
I've avoided it precisely because it trips me up, making me question
whether it's the right choice of words.
I tend to use this construction: "If you wish to aggravate the
fintoozler, you can..." instead of "You might wish t
And I tend to write even more directly. I'd say "To aggravate the
fintoozler, do this..."., :)
...sue
On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 10:14 AM, Chris Vickery <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I am trying to think of an instance where I've used "might", and I think
> I've avoided it precisely because it tri
Sharon Burton wrote:
> It's not possible to write a passive voice sentence that starts with
> "You can".
Sharon:
You can be shown an exception to any rule.
-Andrew
P.S. You can avoid the passive voice in one clause, but find that it hasn't
been completely eradicated; when semicolons are used,
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