RE: "You" ad "Yours"; was, "grammar question"

Subject: RE: "You" ad "Yours"; was, "grammar question"
From: "Keith Hansen" <KRH -at- weiland-wfg -dot- com>
To: "Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 09:43:39 -0500

Leonard wrote:

<<Just curious, why are you averse to "you" and "your"? I use them when
I want to draw a reader into a text or avoid an imperative and the
passive voice.>>

I agree--they can draw in the reader. This debate reminded me of an
English teacher I once had. Her one schtick was changing the word "you"
to "one." So, for example, a sentence such as:
* "You must come to class every day."
would be changed to...
* "One must come to class every day."

Her argument was that "you" is addressed to a specific individual. If
the sentence refers to any hypothetical, abstract person it should be
"one."

I thought (and think) this is utterly absurd. Use of "one" sounds like
something Queen Victoria would say. Stuffy. Pompous. Doesn't sound like
normal, modern English. "You" is direct and to the point; it speaks
directly to the reader.

Of course, "you" can be easily avoided. "You must come to class every
day" can be changed to "All students must come to class every day." I'd
probably use "you/your" somewhat sparingly, but it can make writing
speak directly to the reader. In extremely formal academic writing, I
suppose it should be avoided.

Keith
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.


References:
"You" ad "Yours"; was, "grammar question": From: Leonard C. Porrello

Previous by Author: Re: Ret: Help! Corrupted Word file(?)
Next by Author: Using FrameMaker for More Than Tech Writing
Previous by Thread: "You" ad "Yours"; was, "grammar question"
Next by Thread: RE: "You" ad "Yours"; was, "grammar question"


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads