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I am doing documentation for a web application issue and I'm not sure how best to word what I'm trying to say:

"This appears to work no longer in any web browser."

"This appears no longer to work in any web browser."

"This appears not to work any longer in any web browser."

Which is most correct, or are they all equally correct?

trpt4him
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    I have an answer below, but why not This no longer appears to work in any web browser? It seems this would make everybody happy – Stu W Dec 09 '15 at 17:27
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    Great documentation would drop the "appears", and provide a factual answer. "This no longer works in any browser", if that's true, or "We believe this no longer works in any browser", if that's all you know. Further, for non-native speakers, parsing the sentence with "appears" is complicated by the context, in which elements appear on the screen. – jimm101 Dec 09 '15 at 21:16

5 Answers5

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This is a situation where Neg-Raising is useful. You want the negative in the main clause:

  • This does not appear to work any longer in any web browser.

Double any's in the sentence is fixable by Neg-Raising the whole phrase no longer

  • This no longer appears to work in any web browser.
Community
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John Lawler
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  • The link is very useful, indeed. –  Dec 09 '15 at 16:14
  • Note that, in the strictest sense, the re-wording in this answer doesn't match the idea expressed in the asker's examples. Those explicitly state that the subject's functionality appears to be broken. This answer changes the sentence to say the subject doesn't appear to be functional. That is not the same as saying the subject appears to be broken. It just means you can't conclude that it's functional from its appearance. This is commonly taken to mean it's non-functional, but if you're writing a technical document for example this wording might be too ambiguous. – talrnu Dec 09 '15 at 19:59
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    @talrnu No, you need to think that through. I don't seem to be happy just means It appears I'm not happy. The sentence he appears to be eating the donut just means it appears he is eating the donut. The verb APPEARS is kind of transparent, it doesn't matter what the Subject of the verb is, it belongs semantically in the infinitive clause ALWAYS. It NEVER belongs in the matrix clause unless the meaning of the verb is entirely different, for example, he appeared in that film or a monster appeared from behind the curtain. The sentence ... – Araucaria - Him Dec 09 '15 at 20:21
  • @talrnu ... "it appears to not be functional" means exactly the same as "it doesn't appear to be functional" within the context that you are talking about. There are in fact some situations when it wouldn't be, but your example isn't one of those. – Araucaria - Him Dec 09 '15 at 20:23
  • @Araucaria Consider the case of a beat up old car. At first glance, it doesn't appear to work because it looks like it might not work, but (again, in the strictest sense) you can't say "It appears not to work" because that implies you've observed an attempt to make it work and witnessed it fail. Only when you turn the key in the ignition and see that the car doesn't start can you correctly say that. The asker's example is presumably parallel to this scenario - some code tried to use a component that doesn't work in the user's current browser, so this message explains that exact observation. – talrnu Dec 09 '15 at 20:59
  • Again, this is only relevant in the strictest sense. Normally, it's understood that when something doesn't look like it will work, then it probably doesn't actually work, so that conclusion is implied. But in absolute terms, it's not correct. – talrnu Dec 09 '15 at 21:00
  • @talrnu I think you might be confusing "It doesn't look like it works" and "It looks like it doesn't work" with the verb APPEARS. You can't say of an old beat up car "It doesn't appear to work". Frustratingly in English appear doesn't actually have anything to do with visual appearance. It seems to have to do with some kind of stronger evidence. So however beat up a car is, you can't say "it doesn't appear to work" on the basis that it is knackered. I know that's weird, but it's the way it is! :) – Araucaria - Him Dec 09 '15 at 21:02
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – talrnu Dec 09 '15 at 23:59
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In English we far prefer to negate the main verb in the matrix clause in sentences like this. Negating the infinitive is generally awkward unless extreme technical specificity is what is required. Compare:

  • I don't want to go.

and

  • I want to not go.
  • I want not to go.

The original is better because it negates the main verb and not the infinitive. It is easier to process.

The original Poster is using the phrase no longer to negate the sentence. They would be far better off with:

  • This no longer appears to work in any web browser.

Here the negation is applied to the clause headed by the verb appears, not to the infinitival clause.

For the record, as it will no doubt be a matter of some debate here, there is no reason not to split an infinitive if it sounds right to you.

Araucaria - Him
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Your third one is correct:

This appears not to work any longer in any web browser.

You can also use a split infinitive, however some grammarians would advocate against it:

This appears to no longer work in any web browser.

Personally, I'd prefer the split infinitive version (sounds more idiomatic to me).

A.P.
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    I'm with you; the split infinitive is best here. There are no competent grammarians who advise against the split infinitive. They have always been a legitimate part of English grammar. – Lee Daniel Crocker Dec 09 '15 at 23:14
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It appears this no longer works in any web browser

Why go through the tar pit when you can go around it.

However, another excellent question is, the word before "any," in or with?

Stu W
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  • This answer neatly avoids the slight ambiguity due to the change in meaning caused by "neg-raising", without sacrificing the aesthetic quality neg-raising provides. – talrnu Dec 09 '15 at 20:08
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Your third sentence is the most correct. Moreover, it also sounds less stilted than your first two sentences. Perhaps, as A.P. observes, "to no longer work" is most idiomatic, but a grammar Nazi might object to the split infinitive (i.e., "to" separated from "work").

Also, sentence number three simply sounds better to my ear. Maybe I am a grammar Nazi! (Perish the thought!)

rhetorician
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    Isn't it (to no longer work sounds better) because no longer itself sounds more idiomatic? –  Dec 09 '15 at 16:04
  • @Rathony: Yeah, I guess so. What sounds more idiomatic to you may not sound more idiomatic to me, however. Maybe our brains are wired differently (lol, as the young people say nowadays!). Don – rhetorician Dec 09 '15 at 16:07
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    Yeah, definitely. You are not a grammar Nazi. :) –  Dec 09 '15 at 16:09
  • @Rathony: Thanks for the vote of confidence. Truth be told, however, there was a time when I corrected my kids' grammar. They are now 30 and 35 respectively, so I don't correct them anymore. Besides, it's a free world, yes? Moreover, empires are crumbling (translation: there are far more important things going on in the world than grammatical errors). – rhetorician Dec 09 '15 at 16:14
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    It's pretty well established that the "no split infinitive" rules have no basis in any logic or reason, and have no reason to exist. So feel free to boldly split infinitives that no one has split before. – Steven Littman Dec 09 '15 at 17:57