RE: "and then," or simply "then"?

["Sean Brierley" <sbrierley -at- Accu-Time -dot- com>]

Well, the reader doesn't trip over incorrect use of grammar. Incorrect
use of grammar can cause the reader's attention to be drawn away from
your message and hinder your attempt to communicate clearly. To a slight
degree, with some readers, your work might lose some credibility.

I agree, that not all readers will notice or care. But, why ignore the
part of your audience who would?

I'm not sure we can do this all day. I wonder why, if correct grammar is
readable and gets the point across clearly, you would use incorrect
grammar.

Cheers,

Sean



-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon McLean [mailto:gordon -dot- mclean -at- ciboodle -dot- com] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 9:34 AM
To: Sean Brierley; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: "and then," or simply "then"?


Conversely, what does the reader GAIN?

We could do this all day you know... ;-) 

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=ciboodle -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+gordon -dot- mclean=ciboodle -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Sean Brierley
Sent: 23 September 2008 14:33
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: "and then," or simply "then"?

No, what I'm saying is if you have two options, both of which get the
point across in a clear way, and one of which is grammatically correct
and the other grammatically incorrect, why not choose the one that is
grammatically correct? What do you have to lose by getting the point
across AND being grammatically correct?

Cheers,

Sean

-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon McLean [mailto:gordon -dot- mclean -at- ciboodle -dot- com]
<snip>

Are you saying that option 1 fails to get the information across to the
user because it is grammatically incorrect? 
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