Using "a", "an", "the" articles in technical manuals
Thread poster: Grzegorz Michałowski
Grzegorz Michałowski
Grzegorz Michałowski
Poland
Local time: 19:26
English to Polish
+ ...
Dec 26, 2011

1) Why there are no articles in sentences "Do not pull machine by cord or plug", "Do not stretch cord" (it looks like an American manual http://www.usviper.com/assets/manuals/TP1715HD&TP2015HD-Manual.pdf). Other sentences from the manual sometimes have "the": "Place the handle in the upright position and tilt machine back until handle rests on the floor" or "During ope... See more
1) Why there are no articles in sentences "Do not pull machine by cord or plug", "Do not stretch cord" (it looks like an American manual http://www.usviper.com/assets/manuals/TP1715HD&TP2015HD-Manual.pdf). Other sentences from the manual sometimes have "the": "Place the handle in the upright position and tilt machine back until handle rests on the floor" or "During operation, to make the machine go right, gently raise the handle. To make the machine to left, gently lower the handle." What is the rule here?

2) If I mention several times to use an Allen wrench, but every time it is a wrench of a different size (use "Allen wrench s4", use "Allen wrench s6" etc.) should I use "the" or "a"?

3) Shouldn't be at least one more "the" in the following sentence?

"Using a torx T15 screwdriver, unscrew bolt (Figure 8, Item 3), remove external insert (Figure 8, Item 2) and clean the socket."

Is the last "the" correct?
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Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:26
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
They are not used consistently in English Dec 26, 2011

The manual you quote is not consistent, and this is often the case, though logically it ought not to be. Leaving out the articles is a device to make the sentences shorter without loss of clarity, though strictly spreaking it is grammatically incorrect. It is frequently used for manuals. In the sentence about placing the handle in the upright position, I would say the articles should either all be put in or all be left out.
Where there is a reference to a diagram, I generally leave the
... See more
The manual you quote is not consistent, and this is often the case, though logically it ought not to be. Leaving out the articles is a device to make the sentences shorter without loss of clarity, though strictly spreaking it is grammatically incorrect. It is frequently used for manuals. In the sentence about placing the handle in the upright position, I would say the articles should either all be put in or all be left out.
Where there is a reference to a diagram, I generally leave the article out. "Use wrench 5 to tighten nut 6 on bolt 7". As for the Allen wrench sizes (I would call them Allen keys), I would say "use size 4 Allen key" or "use a size 4 Allen key", depending on which is consistent with the rest of the manual. All your other examples would in my opinion be improved by either using articles throughout or not using them at all.
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neilmac
 
cranium
cranium
French to English
+ ...
ASD Simplified Technical English (STE) Dec 26, 2011

There is a standardised guideline known as ASD Simplified Technical English, used mainly in the aerospace industry.

The purpose is to use the simplest, clearest language so that even technicians with a limited knowledge of English can understand what they are reading. STE recommends the use of articles.

Slides 18 and 19 in this presentation give interesting before and aft
... See more
There is a standardised guideline known as ASD Simplified Technical English, used mainly in the aerospace industry.

The purpose is to use the simplest, clearest language so that even technicians with a limited knowledge of English can understand what they are reading. STE recommends the use of articles.

Slides 18 and 19 in this presentation give interesting before and after examples: http://www.congility.com/images/downloads/eventslides/2011conference/S1000D/Berry_Braster_Congility2011_S1000D.pdf

For example: "Set supplemental wing supports, using cradles or separate supports at the front and rear spars."

In STE, this sentence becomes: "Set the supplemental wing supports. Use cradles or supports at the front spars and at the rear spars."
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B D Finch
B D Finch  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:26
French to English
+ ...
Conventions Dec 26, 2011

On the whole, I agree with Jack. However, in my view, inserting all the definite or indefinite articles would be very poor style. In a technical manual it is best to use the minimum of articles - using the occasional definite article can, nonetheless, help the flow; so, I disagree with Jack about the need for total consistency. This is really a very difficult question of style for a non-native speaker of English to get right. Even a native speaker of English really needs to be familiar with curr... See more
On the whole, I agree with Jack. However, in my view, inserting all the definite or indefinite articles would be very poor style. In a technical manual it is best to use the minimum of articles - using the occasional definite article can, nonetheless, help the flow; so, I disagree with Jack about the need for total consistency. This is really a very difficult question of style for a non-native speaker of English to get right. Even a native speaker of English really needs to be familiar with current usage in the linguistic community that writes and uses such manuals.

"During operation, to make the machine go right, gently raise the handle." is poorly written. Besides being ambiguous ("right" could, at first sight, mean "correctly"), "go" is too vague. The following might be better, depending upon what is really meant:

During operation, direct machine to RHS by gently raising handle.


[Edited at 2011-12-26 12:11 GMT]

[Edited at 2011-12-26 12:21 GMT]
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Elizabeth Tamblin
MollyRose
neilmac
 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 20:26
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Better not use articles if you are a non-native :-) Dec 26, 2011

For translators who's native language does not know articles (Russian, Finnish etc.) the choice of the right article or article-less form is very difficult sometimes.
It always hurts when I hear the pre-recorded announcement in Finnish trains: "The next stop: xxx".


neilmac
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Total agree Dec 27, 2011

Heinrich Pesch wrote:

For translators who's native language does not know articles (Russian, Finnish etc.) the choice of the right article or article-less form is very difficult sometimes.
It always hurts when I hear the pre-recorded announcement in Finnish trains: "The next stop: xxx".


I smelt a rat when I saw the query. A native speaker should have no problem with this issue.


 
Artem Vakhitov
Artem Vakhitov  Identity Verified
Kyrgyzstan
English to Russian
+ ...
A good downloadable manual on articles in technical English? Feb 13, 2012

Can anybody point me to a comprehensive freely downloadable manual describing article usage in technical English beyond simple cases?

I am interested in a guide that would cover the following things (in addition to the issue brought up by the topic starter):

1) Lists

For instance, here is an excerpt from a technical manual that I am currently translating to English:

The MPI Unit is comprised of:
Control panel;
Bench, including:
... See more
Can anybody point me to a comprehensive freely downloadable manual describing article usage in technical English beyond simple cases?

I am interested in a guide that would cover the following things (in addition to the issue brought up by the topic starter):

1) Lists

For instance, here is an excerpt from a technical manual that I am currently translating to English:

The MPI Unit is comprised of:
Control panel;
Bench, including:
- Contact and clamping unit (hereinafter the "CCU");
- Magnetic coil;
etc.

On the one hand, all the list items above are new information and are not abstract. On the other hand, each of the items is specific to this particular model of MPI unit. However, intuitively (but not necessarily correctly), I am reluctant to use articles here at all based on vague visual memories of some native English technical manuals I have read, which is reflected in the above example.

2) Abstract nouns

Another excerpt from the same manual:

The main attestation tasks are:
...
- Check of the reproducibility of test conditions according to the MPI unit specifications and the requirements of GOST 21105-87;

Reproducibility is an abstract term. There was no talk about reproducibility before in this text. However, the noun "reproducibility" is followed by the description "of test conditions". Does that alone warrant using "the"? Visually, I remember the definite article used quite often with abstract nouns in situations like this one - and indeed, googling "check of reproducibility of" gives only 595 links versus 52,500 for "check of the reproducibility of".

3) Detailed guidelines on deciding if a thing denoted by a noun is "definitive enough" (from the context) to use "the". Example:

The main attestation tasks are:
- Review of [the] technical documentation for the MPI unit;
- Determination of [ ] rated parameter values of the MPI unit;
- Check of the reproducibility of test conditions according to [the] MPI unit specifications and the requirements of GOST 21105-87;
- Documentation of [ ] attestation results;
- Assignment of [an] attestation interval.

Here, I am unsure pretty much about every place that I have enclosed in square brackets.

(1) There is one set of technical documentation, if it exists at all.
(2) The rated parameter values are for this particular MPI unit. However, we do not know the values themselves at this point. In addition, the list of the parameters that are rated comes later in this text.
(3) Wel talk about the specifications for this particular unit. However, the specifications themselves come later in this text.
(4) At the time of reading the manual, we have not obtained any results yet. However, the results we talk about are for the specific procedure described in this manual. Any such procedure will have results.
(5) Similarly, we do not know the interval yet, but any attestation will have an interval assigned to it.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations and insights.

[Edited at 2012-02-13 19:28 GMT]
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metafrasi.pl
metafrasi.pl
Poland
Local time: 19:26
English to Polish
+ ...
We want to speak your language well : ) May 7, 2019

Oh, the awkward silence in this thread : )
A propos the rat smelling - I have noticed that some native speakers use the whole arsenal of their defense mechanisms when asked "simple" questions about articles. It is almost as if advanced article usage was some sanctum sphere which should remain a taboo to those of impure blood - and not a human skill mastered daily by millions of people.

Not that I do not understand that - when asked why some "obvious" things are said this way a
... See more
Oh, the awkward silence in this thread : )
A propos the rat smelling - I have noticed that some native speakers use the whole arsenal of their defense mechanisms when asked "simple" questions about articles. It is almost as if advanced article usage was some sanctum sphere which should remain a taboo to those of impure blood - and not a human skill mastered daily by millions of people.

Not that I do not understand that - when asked why some "obvious" things are said this way and not differently in my native language, I feel this urge to give the asker a dusty answer, too, but I brush the urge aside instead, and delve into the "unconscious" part of my Polish superpowers. By prodding them a little upward, toward the sun, I often learn a thing or two myself.

For a starter, here is a psychologically reassuring article by a native speaker and a technical editor: https://stc-techedit.org/tiki-index.php?page=The%20Technical%20Stylist%20Meets%20the%20Definite%20Article
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Maria da Glória Teixeira
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:26
Member (2008)
Italian to English
LIke, totally May 7, 2019

neilmac wrote:

I smelt a rat ....


How often do you smelt a rat? Isn't this a shocking example of cruelty to animals? And since under normal conditions a rat contains no metal, what would be the point?


Elizabeth Tamblin
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:26
French to English
smelt May 7, 2019

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/smelled-smelt/
Apparently smelt is an accepted past form of smell in British English.


Paul Malone
 
TonyTK
TonyTK
German to English
+ ...
If only ... May 7, 2019

metafrasi.pl wrote:

and delve into the "unconscious" part of my Polish superpowers.


... the Brits had such a thing.


 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
the main idea May 7, 2019

While some articles, verses, songs, sms, and others may sacrifice the grammar and spelling for simplicity, every sentence/paragraph has its main idea, following the Theme(known)-Rheme(new)-Antecedent(just mentioned) rule.

It's not about Simple English, but rather simple(internal) documentation. That's why I prefer how some companies do, e.g.
Use Torx_15 to unscrew Bolt_83, remove Insert_82E and clean Socket_5E.



P.S. Tom)

[Edited at 2019-05-07 18:44 GMT]


 
Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 02:26
Chinese to English
Recommendation from my favourite style guide May 8, 2019

My favourite style guide suggests always including articles. It says "Don't use a telegraphic writing style... this style of writing is often difficult even for native speakers to read and comprehend."

www.amazon.co.uk/Global-English-Style-Guide-Documentation/dp/1599946572/

Dropping out articles can be a useful way to shorten titles
... See more
My favourite style guide suggests always including articles. It says "Don't use a telegraphic writing style... this style of writing is often difficult even for native speakers to read and comprehend."

www.amazon.co.uk/Global-English-Style-Guide-Documentation/dp/1599946572/

Dropping out articles can be a useful way to shorten titles (I call it "headline English"), but I agree with the book's recommendation, that it's not good for body text.
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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:26
Spanish to English
+ ...
Oh ye of little faith May 12, 2019

metafrasi.pl wrote:

Oh, the awkward silence in this thread : )
A propos the rat smelling - I have noticed that some native speakers use the whole arsenal of their defense mechanisms when asked "simple" questions about articles. It is almost as if advanced article usage was some sanctum sphere which should remain a taboo to those of impure blood - and not a human skill mastered daily by millions of people.

Not that I do not understand that - when asked why some "obvious" things are said this way and not differently in my native language, I feel this urge to give the asker a dusty answer, too, but I brush the urge aside instead, and delve into the "unconscious" part of my Polish superpowers. By prodding them a little upward, toward the sun, I often learn a thing or two myself.

For a starter, here is a psychologically reassuring article by a native speaker and a technical editor: https://stc-techedit.org/tiki-index.php?page=The%20Technical%20Stylist%20Meets%20the%20Definite%20Article


It's just a metaphor. I might just as easily have employed the phrase "something fishy" without intending any offence to our piscatorial colleagues. And if you think that constitutes the " whole arsenal" of my defence mechanisms, you've got another think coming.


 


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Using "a", "an", "the" articles in technical manuals







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