From owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Mar 10 19:03:51 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C8C22EEC for ; Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:03:51 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from lists@eitanadler.com) Received: from mail-wi0-x22f.google.com (mail-wi0-x22f.google.com [IPv6:2a00:1450:400c:c05::22f]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 567C5B13 for ; Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:03:51 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-wi0-f175.google.com with SMTP id l13so538105wie.8 for ; Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:03:50 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=eitanadler.com; s=0xdeadbeef; h=x-received:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id :subject:to:cc:content-type; bh=48bRiy6yNZ69JsDaeNvBdWFe0fUR6XYL4XQWr+6Iek0=; b=b9oUMZ4pYIuGF1B/Padg0mJLNani/RgL3tEm6ylj6tx4m076pumvBAt0oBrchCXvBs F+O5KKqKK7QnCUYGXyD4YFejxeegOZJAX2+ETq8ZdaT/nCardhX1Vx4VEFJhT7cD3hN0 iqpInWe4M/GpO4lRPVowxcUz450JM1qlw0rIM= X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=google.com; s=20120113; h=x-received:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id :subject:to:cc:content-type:x-gm-message-state; bh=48bRiy6yNZ69JsDaeNvBdWFe0fUR6XYL4XQWr+6Iek0=; b=Boz7ccyi0XAz8iqmoOsQih2vvMxHpDw9xSDqUKa6NKfH7PO3eixm+2wwxm9INqhQPo MCLqfy+g7hshWLDCHiKp8rDM3nO8BI85BXOmBriE/Bhf78kwokdXQmYET3HU+Tere9Qu lFAC0tg1AIyFwxkMLTyxbno8lUgyUOrZ/QXKtvR4bR2whxCsrvz7jYFfg2C7QJgoRCSx bRQ1bI1RxHANoM75adHKjtASRlHRVLkZ67NXHWSaOrpvE9pGUvyCyt2Rj614Jmf0QPhT BRvC2P1/P0j+h8Hxa+9J5IVqkD2DQE3tWx86OYtGzyU0HEJdxRCk+scfhCNTkCCTY5cW /Mig== X-Received: by 10.180.93.234 with SMTP id cx10mr8404342wib.34.1362942230420; Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:03:50 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.194.179.194 with HTTP; Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:03:20 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: References: <201303101550.r2AFo1rA064319@freefall.freebsd.org> From: Eitan Adler Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:03:20 -0400 Message-ID: Subject: Re: docs/176806: recv(2) man page grammatical fixes To: Chris Rees Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-Gm-Message-State: ALoCoQljle5S1pgi15HKKdkiRqa+83wgLc18bFl0ltP7yhfWYfRfKTVAhubYHNC9wsWq/e17mCY3 Cc: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:03:51 -0000 On 10 March 2013 14:44, Eitan Adler wrote: > On 10 March 2013 11:50, Chris Rees wrote: >> The following reply was made to PR docs/176806; it has been noted by GNATS. >> >> From: Chris Rees >> To: bug-followup@freebsd.org >> Cc: >> Subject: Re: docs/176806: recv(2) man page grammatical fixes >> Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:42:17 +0000 >> >> --f46d0447f382b381fd04d793e65c >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >> >> The word "data" is plural of "datum", so yes, were is correct here. > > "data" is an uncountable noun ("mass noun") such that it is always > treated as a single unit. If this confuses you think about the word > "water". > > "and the timeout expired before water were received." > vs > "and the timeout expired before water was received." > > "was" is correct. Some further (slightly technical) explanation: This is the link tree of "The data was received." +----------------Xp---------------+ +-----Wd-----+ | | +-Dmu-+--Ss-+---Pv---+ | | | | | | | LEFT-WALL the data.n was.v received.v . Note that data is marked "Dmu" which implies it is a mass-only plural. If "were" were permitted then it would be marked "D*u-" implying it is either a mass noun or a plural. There are two possible link trees for "The data were received." +----------------Xp----------------+ +-----Wd-----+ | | +-Dmc-+--Spx-+---Pv---+ | | | | | | | LEFT-WALL the data.p were.v received.v . +----------------Xp----------------+ +-----Wd-----+ | | +-Dmu-+--Ss--+---Pv---+ | | | | | | | LEFT-WALL the data.n were.v received.v . Note that Dmc implies plural only while Dmu implies mass-only. This ambiguity results in unease. The version with "was" is unambiguous and correct. -- Eitan Adler