A lot of times the present tense in changelogs and similar is the English "historical present", also called "narrative present." When the verb comes first, it is usually imperative, but these shade with context. E.g.
* Give class Froz a .bar() method * Adding metaclass gives class Froz a .bar() method I prefer this feeling of narrative present in commits or "what's new" myself. On Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:05 PM Guido van Rossum <gu...@python.org> wrote: > 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) > _______________________________________________ > 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/K4AKXIOXID5UWBJSXHAJZKIVUTRALHHJ/ > Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/ >
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