"is displayed" versus "appears"
Tim Murray
--the such-and-such screen appears
--the such-and-such screen is displayed
--the such-and-such screen displays
I prefer "appears," which the Microsoft Style Guide prefers as well, but a
certain customer wants "is displayed."
Other than simply personal preference, is there a grammatical argument
supporting one of these styles?
tony cooper
wrote:
There certainly is an economic argument. The guy who wants "is
displayed" is paying the bills.
I would think the first question you should have is whether or not the
version the customer wants provides clearly understandable information
for the end-user. If it does, and the customer wants it this way,
looking for a grammatical basis of argument seems counter-productive.
If I was the end-user, I would find any of the three versions to be
completely understandable and non-ambigious.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Athel Cornish-Bowden
You list them in decreasing order of my preference, but they're all
understandable, and at least the first two are everyday usages.
I'm not sure I'd want to be guided by the Microsoft Style Guide, however.
--
athel
Ian Jackson
<tony_co...@earthlink.net> writes
eyes. First there is no such-and-such screen, then there is. An
alternative would be to use "will appear" (and maintain this style
throughout).
The second is OK, but, being pedantic, there's nothing which indicates
that the such-and-such screen hasn't been displayed from an earlier
time. However, if all of the instructions are written in this style,
there will not be any confusion.
[I feel that "is" isn't really the correct verb. The correct one is
"become". Other languages distinguish between the two (certainly Dutch,
and probably German). "Will be" might be better, but that could be taken
as something which won't happen 'now', but will at some later time.]
The third, although the style is now in common use, simply isn't correct
grammar. "To display" requires an object. A few days ago, we had a lot
of this form of journalistic English when, invariably, the Discovery
shuttle "was due to launch" and then "had launched". It's yet another
indication that the UK 'media' are becoming increasingly illiterate.
--
Ian
Tim Murray
> There certainly is an economic argument. The guy who wants "is
> displayed" is paying the bills.
>
All true, but the customer is open to hearing my argument.
R H Draney
In this case, the Microsoft Style Guide is on the side of the angels, giving
preference to active over passive construction....r
--
"Oy! A cat made of lead cannot fly."
- Mark Brader declaims a basic scientific principle
Mark Brader
No.
The third one uses "display" intransitively and some people may object to
that, but there's nothing wrong with either of the first two; it's purely
a matter of style.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "When you're up to your ass in alligators, maybe
m...@vex.net | you're in the wrong swamp." -- Bill Stewart
Eric Walker
Not grammar, but style: the first and third are in the active voice, the
other in the passive; and active voice is almost always a better choice,
especially in instructional material. As between "appears" and
"displays", "appears" is probably preferable, as "display" as a verb is
still a new usage.
I am also--speaking as a former technical writer--not enamored of the
present tense: "the such-and-such screen will then appear" (as opposed to
"appears").
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker, Owlcroft House
http://owlcroft.com/english/
Glenn Knickerbocker
> In this case, the Microsoft Style Guide is on the side of the angels, giving
> preference to active over passive construction....r
Ah, but it's a foolish consistency. The construction may be active, but
it doesn't give us any better idea of the agency of the action.
Do you think that screen appears all by itself? I'll take a passive
construction suggesting a hidden agent over "then a miracle occurs" anyday.
ŹR
John Jones
The screen "appears" if you are talking about the screen itself; or it
"shows" or "displays" if you are talking about what the screen shows.
Eric Walker
[...]
> . . . as "display" as a verb is still a new usage. . . .
I meant as an *intransitive* verb.
Glenn Knickerbocker
>"displays", "appears" is probably preferable, as "display" as a verb is
>still a new usage.
What? The verb predates the noun by three centuries, according to M-W.
ŹR There's really no such thing as a Loser's Club. --Spot
http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/emopvere.html Sorry! 1019
Stan Brown
@earthlink.net>:
> On Fri, 9 Apr 2010 12:55:35 -0400, Tim Murray <no-...@thankyou.com>
> wrote:
>
> >A common phrase in technical writing is
> >--the such-and-such screen appears
> >--the such-and-such screen is displayed
> >--the such-and-such screen displays
The third one is clearly wrong. "Displays" is a transitive verb: you
can no more say "The login screen displays" than you can say "the
clam chowder eats".
Between the first two, I see no grammatical argument, but there is a
stylistic one. "Is displayed" is passive, and since the passive
voice is overused (!) we should try not to use it when it doesn't add
something to the sentence. Also arguing against "is displayed" is
that it's longer than "appears", and shorter is always better in
writing instructions.
My own personal preference is for "The login screen appears" or "You
see the login screen".
However, neither of those arguments is overwhelming. If the customer
really wants "is displayed", then this doesn't seem like a battle you
can win.
> If I was the end-user, I would find any of the three versions to be
> completely understandable and non-ambigious.
I don't hyphenate "end user": "end" seems to me like a
straightforward adjective modifying "user".
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...
Stan Brown
<No...@bestweb.net>:
IMHO, "appears" is the mot juste because it *does* appear all by
itself. Sure, user action is a cause and the computer software is
the agent, but nobody thinks about that.
Compare, "Add (name of chemical). The solution turns blue."
John Lawler
My own preference would be for
"the such-and-such screen should be displayed",
which provides somewhat better truth in labelling.
One argument for the passive construction is that
in fact the screen is not an agent and isn't doing
any appearing or displaying by itself. Something
is actually being done to it, by an undisclosed
(but in this case hopefully not too buggy) agent.
-John Lawler http://www.umich.edu/~jlawler/disclaimers.html
"Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then
for a few close friends, and then for money." -- Moliere
Nick
This is the closest anyone's come to my feeling about this, so a week
late, I'll add my thoughts.
"Appears" is the right word for a new window that pops up or similar.
"is displayed" is the right term for new information that appears in an
existing space.
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