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Grammar Nazi Check

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Actually the sentence in the originating document is "open or check open xxxxx" "shut or check shut xxxxxx" "start or verify running xxxxx". Sometimes there are commas in those sentences, sometimes not.
 
If you can point to a single instance of where I started a sentence with "check", then I'll attempt to explain that.
 
What does "check open <noun>" mean? Because those words, in that order, is an utterly meaningless phrase, and no amount of commas will change that. If someone tells me to "check open the pump," I have literally no idea what they want me to do. Do they want me to check the pump to verify that it is in an open state? Is there a procedure called "check opening" that I am unfamiliar with?
 
lupi said:
Actually the sentence in the originating document is "open or check open xxxxx" "shut or check shut xxxxxx" "start or verify running xxxxx". Sometimes there are commas in those sentences, sometimes not.
Click to expand...

Ensure that xxxxx is open. If xxxxx is closed, open xxxxx.

Ensure that xxxxx is running. If xxxxx is not running, then start xxxxx.
 
As these are given to us by a higher authority, revising the overall format is not an option; hence the original question was strictly about punctuation.
 
Definition of CHECK
: a standard for testing and evaluation : criterion
:examination <a quick check of the engine>
:inspection, investigation <a loyalty check on government employees>
*
Definition of OPEN
: being in a position or adjustment to permit passage : not shut or locked <an open door>
: having a barrier (as a door) so adjusted as to allow passage <the house was open>
 
lupi said:
Definition of CHECK
: a standard for testing and evaluation : criterion
:examination <a quick check of the engine>
:inspection, investigation <a loyalty check on government employees>
*
Definition of OPEN
: being in a position or adjustment to permit passage : not shut or locked <an open door>
: having a barrier (as a door) so adjusted as to allow passage <the house was open>
Click to expand...

OK, so let's replace the words "check" and "open" with synonyms and see what we get.

Evaluate accessible.

Well, that's meaningless. Perhaps we need more than just "verb adjective" in our sentence.
 
Evaluate accessibility of the breaker.

Nope, even after choosing a more obtuse version it still seems pretty clear to me.
 
lupi said:
Evaluate accessibility of the breaker.

Nope, even after choosing a more obtuse version it still seems pretty clear to me.
Click to expand...

You changed the word "accessible" to "accessibility," and that indeed makes the sentence easier to read, primarily because you've changed an adjective into a noun. If we do that with your original sentence, "check open" becomes "check openness," which actually makes sense. That's what we've all been saying in this thread. "Check open" is a meaningless phrase and it needs to be reworded.
 
I do believe I mentioned your chosing the obtuse form.


Check-to look at something for information
open-to cause something to not be sealed or blocked.

Check open-look to get information that something is not sealed or blocked.
 
lupi said:
I do believe I mentioned your chosing the obtuse form.


Check-to look at something for information
open-to cause something to not be sealed or blocked.

Check open-look to get information that something is not sealed or blocked.
Click to expand...

Have it your way, but there's not a single person here who has agreed with you that it makes sense or sounds grammatically correct. The entire point of language is to make communication possible, so having something that is obtuse and easily misunderstood kind of defeats the purpose. Why can't you just say "check the openness"?
 
lupi said:
I do believe I mentioned your chosing the obtuse form.


Check-to look at something for information
open-to cause something to not be sealed or blocked.

Check open-look to get information that something is not sealed or blocked.
Click to expand...

I don't believe "check open" is a common used term.
 
lupi said:
Most likely not, in my field however it is and not something we can change which is why I was just trying to get some punctuation opinions.
Click to expand...

If butchering the English language were a "field," there would be no poverty in America.
 
Schfifty Five said:
I don't believe "check open" is a common used term.
Click to expand...


It's not because it's utter nonsense.

What he means is open the fuse panel/breaker box/whatever contraption he's referring to that contains the breaker(s) and check the breaker.

How else can one check something that has to be opened first to actually check it? And that's the way we speak, especially giving directions. Do this job first to do the second job. In this case, it's open something to be able to visualize the breaker and then check the breaker's condition. You cannot do the second without initially doing the first. So, his "check open the breaker" is utter nonsense.

But I'm willing to bet the OP's primary language isn't English. How else can one explain the butchered crap that's trying to pass itself off as a sentence in the OP's first post:

Need opinion on comma use in a structure similar to the following:
Click to expand...
That should have read:

I need an opinion on proper comma use in a sentence similar to the following:
 
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