Re: [PATCH net v2] r8169: always autoneg on resume

[Alex Xu]

Quoting Andrew Lunn (2018-10-01 02:39:47)
> I keep reading the patch wrong, so here is the end state:
> 
>         /* It was reported that several chips end up with 10MBit/Half on a
>          * 1GBit link after resuming from S3. For whatever reason the PHY on
>          * these chips doesn't properly start a renegotiation when soft-reset.
>          * Explicitly requesting a renegotiation fixes this.
>          */
> 
> I would also say 'don't'. For me the subject is 'PHY on these chips',
> which is plural.
> 
> However:
> 
> For whatever reason the PHY, on these chips, doesn't properly start a
> renegotiation when soft-reset.
> 
> Now just 'the PHY' is the subject, so singular.
> 
> But i'm just a native speaker who never actually learnt the rules of
> grammar, it just sounds right or wrong, and i have no idea why.

No. Ending in a plural noun doesn't make a noun phrase plural.

Example 1: The boy with the books is walking.
Example 2: The women on the roof are waving.

In these cases, "with" and "on" introduce prepositional phrases
which are subordinate to the noun phrase. The subjects are "boy" and
"women" respectively; the books are not walking, and the roof is not
waving.

In fact, this can be clearly seen by drawing a parse tree, which should
hopefully be a familiar tool to all programmers.

Furthermore, the addition of commas in these cases is not correct (hey,
another example!); the phrases are essential, so commas may not be used.

Regardless, this is highly off-topic, so I think further replies can go
off-list.