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 #2 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 10:08 am "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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It's fine.
Full form:
The faster the CPU is, the more heat produced by/from it. |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #3 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:43 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it |
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| Molly wrote: |
| The faster the CPU is, the more heat produced by/from it. |
We wouldn't use the preposition from in that type of passive construction. It sounds like a German mistake. The word by is okay.
Better:
"The faster the CPU is, the more heat it produces." |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #4 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 14:01 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| Molly wrote: |
| The faster the CPU is, the more heat produced by/from it. |
We wouldn't use the preposition from in that type of passive construction. It sounds like a German mistake. The word by is okay.
Better:
"The faster the CPU is, the more heat it produces." |
Your alternative is fine, but I wouldn't call it better. Passives are used quite a lot in technical descriptions of machines, etc. As for "from", would you use it at all with "produced"? |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #5 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 14:28 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it |
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| Molly wrote: |
| Your alternative is fine, but I wouldn't call it better. Passives are used quite a lot in technical descriptions of machines, etc. |
However, even in technical writing, they are considered awkward most of the time, and technical writers are told by instructors, managers, editors and style manuals to avoid them. I worked for several years on technical manuals, and I know that your passive version of the sentence would have been flagged and changed to active voice. When I applied for jobs as a technical editor, that type of passive sentence would appear on the employment test, and the idea was that the test-taker should change it to the active voice. Not doing so would have meant a lower score.
| Molly wrote: |
| As for "from", would you use it at all with "produced"? |
When X produces Y, we would say that Y is produced by X, not from X. When Y is produced from X, it means that X is the material that is used for producing Y. Examples would be "ethanol is produced from corn", or, "American coins are produced from a combination of copper and nickel."
If you said heat was consumed from the CPU, it would mean that the CPU was consumed in the production of heat. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #6 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 21:11 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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However, even in technical writing, they are considered awkward most of the time, and technical writers are told by instructors, managers, editors and style manuals to avoid them.
Really? I haven't noticed such.
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| I worked for several years on technical manuals |
I'm putting you at around 150 years old, Jamie. You've done so much and met so many people, that you must be around that age.
Could we say this?
The faster the CPU is, the more heat exudes from it. |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #7 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 21:44 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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| Molly wrote: |
| I'm putting you at around 150 years old, Jamie. You've done so much and met so many people, that you must be around that age. |
Americans change careers more than Europeans do, and they're willing try jobs outside their career track. We work real jobs while we're in school and in college, and we can get our bachelor's and master's degrees in two completely different subjects. We can therefore end up with broad experience that looks suspicious to Europeans who don't understand how US society works.
I did maintenance in an orphanage during the summers when I was in high school. I worked in factories while I was in college. My major was fine arts. After that I worked as an editor and proofreader in a company that made technical manuals and instructional programs for industry. That morphed into a job working at an advertising agency and then another one. Meanwhile, I got a master's degree in linguistics. For a few years I taught high school overseas, where I was also recruited into the translation field. Then I went back to the advertising agencies, but I also taught myself web design. All along the way I met people, from the poor factory workers I spent every day with, to artists, to engineers, and on and on. I also met people from many walks of life through volunteer work (another activity I hear is rare in Europe). I also spend time learning new skills that many other people would spend watching TV. There are many more people here exactly like me.
| Molly wrote: |
Could we say this?
The faster the CPU is, the more heat exudes from it. |
That makes it sound like the CPU is sexually excited. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| #8 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 22:18 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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| Quote: |
| We can therefore end up with broad experience that looks suspicious to Europeans who don't understand how US society works. |
And to Africans.
| Quote: |
| After that I worked as an editor and proofreader in a company that made technical manuals and instructional programs for industry. |
And would the advice you were given regarding active over passive use in tech manuals also apply to BrEng? |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #9 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 22:20 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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| Quote: |
| That makes it sound like the CPU is sexually excited. |
You've not heard the collocation "exudes heat" in relation to machines, containers, cities, TVs, Impressionist paintings, etc.? |
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Molly
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 12 Feb 2008
Posts: 4017
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| #10 (permalink) Thu Jun 12, 2008 22:40 pm "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? |
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| Molly wrote: |
| Quote: |
| That makes it sound like the CPU is sexually excited. |
You've not heard the collocation "exudes heat" in relation to machines, containers, cities, TVs, Impressionist paintings, etc.? |
It's usually used in regard to some organism, usually a person, sometimes an animal, rarely a vegetable. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Correct usage: With regard to my prior discussions with you and Tim, I would like | "want" in progressive |
