Hm, I actually like the imperative. In a commit or news message it feels very natural to me. And in that context there is no confusion about whether we’re commanding anyone (maybe we’re commanding git? :-).
But I am the ultimate intuitive writer — I never took a class in English grammar or writing style, I just pattern match based on what I have read elsewhere. I don’t even know the names for the tenses (I only use “imperative” because you did). On Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 02:22 Steven D'Aprano <st...@pearwood.info> wrote: > On Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 09:52:14PM -0700, Larry Hastings wrote: > > > > > > D'oh! I have a second draft already. > > > > Your NEWS entry should be written in the /present tense,/ and should > > start with a verb: > > Without a subject of the sentence, that's not present tense, it is the > imperative mood. > > > "Fix buffalo.spam ..." > > is a command or suggestion. The imperative is suitable for a list of > things which should be done, a TODO list, not a list of things which > have already been done. > > https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/the-imperative > > When it comes to "the" present tense, there are (at least?) four, and > one looks superficially like the imperative, but they need a subject: > > > # present simple tense > "Larry fixes buffalo.spam ..." > > # present continuous tense > "Larry is fixing buffalo.spam ..." > > # present perfect tense > "Larry has fixed buffalo.spam ..." > > # present perfect continuous tense > "Larry has been fixing buffalo.spam ..." > > > > https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/the-present-simple-tense > > > One might get away with an implicit "I" in the present simple tense: > > > [I] fix buffalo.spam ... > > > and readers with a good understanding of English will probably be able > to infer the intention (tasks which have already been done, not tasks > still to be done) but those whose English skills are not as good will > probably struggle. > > _______________________________________________ > Python-Dev mailing list -- python-dev@python.org > To unsubscribe send an email to python-dev-le...@python.org > https://mail.python.org/mailman3/lists/python-dev.python.org/ > Message archived at > https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/message/BEED5L4Y72YJF5Z3HG7VY55AF5T6NYWQ/ > Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/ > -- --Guido (mobile)
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