Re: Wrong? Poor style? OK?

[Janice Gelb <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>]

David Hailey wrote:
> 
> Passive voice is not necessarily a problem. It depends on what 
 > you want to emphasize. If the subject is unimportant, insisting
 > on emphasizing it can lead to difficult reading and ambiguity.
> 
 > [snip]
 >
> BUT suppose you have a situation where you want to emphasize the DO.
> 
> Only the test results may be saved on the C drive.
> 
> (1) You may save the test results on the C drive only 
 > (2) You may only save the test results on the C drive
> (3) You may save only the test results on the C drive
> buries the point of the sentence and creates ambiguity in every case. 
 >
> Does it mean I must save the test results on the C drive and 
 > do nothing else? Does it mean I must save only the test results
 > on the C drive and everything else wherever I wish? I can
 > see no way of fixing the sentence without doubling its
 > length to explain the correct process.

This seems to me to be a case of the placement of the
"only" eliminating ambiguity: "You may only save the
test results on the C drive" means that you can only
save, not extract (or whatever other action you can't
do). "You may save only the test results on the C drive"
means that you can't save anything else you might be
contemplating saving on the C drive except test results.

The option you haven't provided is:
You may save the test results only on the C drive.

 >
> Also, "you" might 
 > be inappropriate. The sentence might about the subject and
 > not to the subject.
>  
> The IT professional may only save the test results on 
 > the C drive is really ugly and just as ambiguous.
> 
>  Clearly, passive is the better option, or should I say 
 > "Clearly, the IT professional's only option is the use of
 > the passive voice." ;^]
>  

I'm not sure what you mean by "The sentence might about
the subject and not to the subject." I assume you meant
to say "the sentence might *be* about the subject and
not to the subject" but I still am not sure what "to
the subject" means here.

At the risk of reopening a really ugly common argument
on here about "you," the only time that "you" might be
inappropriate imho is if you are writing a document
addressed to developers who are developing applications
for an end user and you are talking about the ultimate
end user and not the potential reader.

-- Janice

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