monica  +  35592 Sat, 03 Jul 04 10:18 AM "The printing process has only one primary function, which is to put the ink on paper." Can we ignore ", which is" in the above sentence to read as: "The printing process has only one primary function to put the ink on paper." Please suggest. monica Joined on Wed, Jun 30 2004 New Member 06

	Nestor  +  35640 Sat, 03 Jul 04 05:18 PM Monica-- If you wanted to leave out the 'which is', you'd need to add a colon to the sentence. "The printing process has only one primary function: to put the ink on paper." Nestor Nestor Joined on Mon, Mar 29 2004 Greensboro, North Carolina, US Junior Member 70 Colons

	miriam  +  35726 Sun, 04 Jul 04 06:22 AM Hello, Monica Here is another suggestion. The structure of the sentence is different, though: "The only primary function of the printing process is putting ink on paper." Your original sentence, however, is not redundant. Miriam miriam Joined on Mon, May 10 2004 Argentina Regular Member 821 "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato

	anon1  +  35761 Sun, 04 Jul 04 05:25 PM > This sentence, however, does contain redundant parts. Primary as used here is an adjective. Primary is defined as follows: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=primary adj. 1. First or highest in rank, quality, or importance; principal. 2. Being or standing first in a list, series, or sequence. 3. Occurring first in time or sequence; earliest. 4. Being or existing as the first or earliest of a kind; primitive. Thus, "only primary" doesn't make sense or is redundant. You could rewrite this as the following: The primary function of the printing process is putting the ink on paper. Or perhaps even better, The primary function of the printing process is to put ink on paper. anon1 Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004 Senior Member 2,049

	miriam  +  35854 Mon, 05 Jul 04 02:14 AM I don't think there was ever a doubt about "primary" being an adjective or about its meaning. The sentence is not redundant. I thought this would be quite obvious, but I will have to explain things in a simpler way in the future. There may be one or more primary functions. In this case, it is stressed that there is only one. It is not superfluous information. I thank you for the effort you make in your contributions to the forums. I'd ask you, however (not as a moderator but simply as a user of the forums), to please review and revise your analyses of the topics posted before you submit an answer that might confuse the people who post the questions. Thank you for your help. Regards, Miriam miriam Regards

	migo  +  35855 Mon, 05 Jul 04 02:19 AM Primary doesn't imply uniqueness; so stating "only primary" isn't necessary if you're just talking about primary functions, it is if you want to make it clear that there is only one primary function. migo Joined on Sun, Jul 4 2004 Junior Member 79

	anon1  +  35857 Mon, 05 Jul 04 02:30 AM Migo, Which would you say is the better solution? A) The only primary function of the printing process is putting the ink on paper. (Miriam's sol'n) B) The primary function of the printing process is putting the ink on paper. C) The only primary function of the printing process is putting ink on paper. D) The only primary function of the printing process is to put the ink on paper. E) The only primary function of the printing process is to put ink on paper. F) The primary function of the printing process is to put ink on paper. G) Any solution you deem better. I look forward to your response. anon1

	migo  +  35899 Mon, 05 Jul 04 10:44 AM It depends on how much the audience knows about printers actually. I'd say they were all good solutions depending on what the person you're talking to knows. In my case for example, I'm not entirely sure if the printer just has one primary function or if it perhaps has two (maybe collating, as that's a feature I find to be important). It's entirely possible to have a single primary function, single secondary function, a couple tertiary functions etc, but it's also possible to have multiple primary functions, multiple secondary functions, a single tertiary function and multiple quaternary functions (not necessarily with printers, just anything). For me, A and B would be best if ink was referred to previously (I would infer from reading the ink that it's specific ink being talked about), C through F would be best otherwise if your goal is to shorten the sentence as much as possible. If the audience knows that a printer only has one primary function, but just doesn't know what it is, then B and F would be best. If they don't really know anything about printers then A, C through E would be best. I know there is a difference between to put and putting (something to do with continuity and state), but I can't think of anything conceptually to differentiate the two, so unless you're conversing with or writing to someone who knows the difference between gerunds and verbs beyond naming them I don't think it matters. migo Verbs, Difference Between, Gerunds