Re: Which comes first

[Ben Kovitz <apteryx -at- CHISP -dot- NET>]

John Posada asked:

>I have a sentence as follows:
>
>   When the new XXX is manually set, a single XXX must be taken out of
>service, then put back in service to trigger ...
>
>The question. is it "manually set" or "set manually"?

My first question is: what is the sentence supposed to mean?
This sounds like a case where you could do a lot of good by
changing the verbs from passive to active voice.  Here are
several alternatives that you might use as starting points,
depending on the purpose of this part of the document:


If you are setting the new XXX manually, first you must take the
XXX out of service and then immediately switch it back into
service again.  This triggers..."


If some yokel set the XXX manually, causing the system to ask you
to do whatever this procedure is, then before you get started,
you must ask the YYY department to take the XXX out of service.
When you're all done, you'll need to ask them to put it back into
service again.


To enable a field technician to set the XXX manually:

1.  In the Service Order window, find and select the XXX. (See
    section X.X for instructions.)

2.  Click Remove from Service.

3.  With the XXX still selected, click Start Service.

4.  Ask the technician at the customer site to turn the XXX until
    it reads ZZZ.

    The technician must not turn the XXX until service has been
    disabled and restored because...

5.  Verify that the XXX is set correctly by...


To set an XXX manually:

1.  At the subscriber's site, disconnect the connector box, as
    described in section X.Y.

2.  Ask someone at the NOC to turn off the subscriber's service.

3.  Open the connector box, hook up your volt meter to points A
    and B as in the picture below, and turn the XXX until the the
    meter reads ZZZ.

4.  Ask someone at the NOC to restore the subscriber's service.

5.  While you are still in communication with the technician at
    the NOC, verify that service is restored by tapping into the
    line and listening for a dial tone, as described in section X.Z.


To update an XXX's YYY:

1.  If the XXX was set manually: schmingle the froblebladder.

    If the XXX was set automatically: froble the
    schminglebladder.

    You can tell which way the XXX was set by looking at the "How
    It Was Set" field in the XXX's Job View window, as described in
    section X.Z.

2.  Pound the XXX's YYY with a mallet until you become dizzy.

3.  Verify that you are dizzy by trying to walk a straight line.
    If you fail, then you are dizzy and the XXX's YYY is now
    properly updated.  If you can walk a straight line, pound
    the YYY some more and try again.


Scott Miller added:

> My editor would always say "set manually."  But she's a stickler
> about that split infinitive thing, which is what I think this is,
> and the most famous one being "to boldly go..."

You poor, poor guy.  No one who believes in the superstition
about split infinitives should be editing anything.  Well, let's
just give thanks that if she's spending the day with you, at
least she's not filling small children's minds with that sort of
mythology.

But anyway, "set manually" is not an infinitive, "split" or
otherwise.  The question is whether to put the adverb before or
after the past participle that it modifies (a verb in English
being in the past participle to form the passive voice).  English
is very flexible about where to put the adverb.  The best policy
in general is: try it both ways and go with whichever is clearer;
if both are equally clear, go with whichever sounds nicer.  "Set
manually" seems to flow a lot more smoothly, so I'd go with that
in this case, but, as noted above, the sentence has much more
important problems to fix first.

--
Ben Kovitz <apteryx -at- chisp -dot- net>
Boulder, Colorado


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