Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 12:23:03 GMT From: Salvo Bartolotta <bartequi@neomedia.it> To: Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com>, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html Message-ID: <20000611.12230300@bartequi.ottodomain.org> In-Reply-To: <200006102350.QAA07428@freefall.freebsd.org> References: <200006102350.QAA07428@freefall.freebsd.org>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On 6/11/00, 12:50:05 AM, Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com> wrote
regarding Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html:
> The following reply was made to PR docs/19186; it has been noted by
GNATS.
> From: Daniel Harris <dannyboy@subdimension.com>
> To: Mark Ovens <mark@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
> Cc: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@freebsd.org
> Subject: Re: docs/19186: Semi-overhaul docs.html
> Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 19:46:31 -0400
> Mark Ovens wrote:
> >
> > On Sat, Jun 10, 2000 at 07:17:26PM -0400, Daniel Harris wrote:
> > >
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > > @@ -236,7 +229,7 @@
> > > <p>If you like reading BSD manuals online, here is a hypertext
version of
> > > the 4.4BSD documents from <a
> > > href="file:/usr/share/doc">/usr/share/doc</a>, where you would
find
> > > - the documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the doc distribution
was
> > > + the documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the doc distribution
were
> > > installed).</p>
> > >
> > > <a name="info"></a>
> > > @@ -246,7 +239,7 @@
> > > <p>If you like reading FreeBSD Info documents online, here is a
hypertext
> > > version of the Info documents from <a
> > > href="file:/usr/share/info">/usr/share/info</a>, where you
would find
> > > - the Info documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the info
distribution was
> > > + the Info documents on a FreeBSD machine (if the info
distribution were
> > > installed).</p>
> > >
> > > <a name="source"></a>
> >
> > Surely "was" is correct here? "distribution" is singular, you
wouldn't
> > say "if it were installed" would you?
> >
> > --
Dear Daniel Harris,
I seem to understand that the verb "install", in the sentence with
past subjunctive ("if the doc distribution were installed"), is used
in the *perfective* sense: "installed" = "which was||has been
installed" {ie describing the resulting state AFTER the installation
process}, and which therefore IS [found] on the machine.
AFAICS, "perfective" verbs (such as "close") allow their past
participles to be used in order to describe the *state* resulting from
the action [having been performed]: "closed" = [which has/have been]
closed. Also, as an aside, this may engender ambiguity in some
sentences: state or action ?
Incidentally, I was thinking about another possibility:
[main clause in the Simple Present], where you would find <direct
object> (if the doc distribution **had** been installed).
I may be completely wrong (after all, I am Italian), but **if** the
above sentence were grammatically correct/acceptable, it would imply a
*dynamic* sense of the verb "install", and it would emphasize the idea
of completion. That is, the doc distribution having (first) been
installed {action in the past}, you will/would find ... (at a
subsequent/later time).
I am not quite sure at this very moment about the aforementioned
point: the (hypothetical) past perfect in my sentence might have
*other* undesired/undesirable connotations (e.g. no action
fulfilment).
I shall have to RFTM on that ...
Best regards,
Salvo
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