Re: emacs-30 baaf97ce1a1: ; Fix some ungrammatical uses of "allows to"

[Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>]

Hello, Eli.

On Fri, Aug 30, 2024 at 20:40:22 +0300, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> >  commit baaf97ce1a1f14e1b999ad17084022a725fbcccc
> >  Author:     Sean Whitton <spwhitton@spwhitton.name>
> >  AuthorDate: Fri Aug 30 11:43:35 2024 +0100
> >  Commit:     Sean Whitton <spwhitton@spwhitton.name>
> >  CommitDate: Fri Aug 30 11:47:35 2024 +0100
> > 
> >      ; Fix some ungrammatical uses of "allows to"
> > 
> >      * doc/emacs/anti.texi (Antinews):
> >      * etc/NEWS:
> >      * etc/NEWS.29:
> >      * lib/cdefs.h:
> >      * lisp/tab-bar.el (tab-bar-select-restore-windows):
> >      * lisp/vc/vc-git.el (vc-git-print-log-follow):
> >      * m4/gnulib-common.m4 (gl_CHECK_FUNCS_SET_RESULTS):
> >      (gl_CHECK_FUNCS_ANDROID): Fix ungrammatical uses of "allows to".

> It is wrong to fix problems in Gnulib files in our repository, because
> those fixes will be overridden when the files are next time imported
> from Gnulib.  Problems in Gnulib should be reported to the Gnulib list
> instead.

> More generally, "allows to" is AFAIK not necessarily a grammatical
> mistake, it's a stylistic preference.  So this kind of changes should
> not have been made automatically and without discussion.

No, Eli, as a native English speaker, I can definitively say "allows to"
is wrong.  It's a fairly subtle point, but instantly marks its writer as
a non-native speaker.

"Allow" takes a direct object (which may be a gerund), not an
infinitive.  Further complicating the structure, that direct object may
be the person or agent who is being permitted or enabled, not
necessarily the action that is so enabled.

For example:
Wrong: This allows to add text properties to the text.

Correct: (i) This allows the addition of text properties to the text.
(ii) This allows adding text properties to the text.
(iii) This allows text properties to be added to the text.
(iv) This allows the programmer to add text properties to the text.

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).