Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 December 14

= December 14 =

a confusing phrase.
excerpt from ""See also" section" from "Manual of Style/Layout"

Contents: A bulleted list of internal links to related Wikipedia articles.

Supposedly: A bulleted list of internal links to relate any Wikipedia articles.

Then why the word contents does not have a single verb word in the meaning above? then to related is means a past participle or tense you name it for the linking the same thing.

Is there anything a word verb or adjective? the structure is somewhat confusing 2404:8000:1005:555:C0EE:F0EE:B396:6DF3 (talk) 09:20, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 * It's a quite common use in English, which effectively means "A bulleted list of internal links that are related to this article". Britmax (talk) 10:41, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Not quite: the links aren't related, but the articles they lead to are. So the full and pedantic meaning is "A bulleted list of internal links to articles that are related to this article". Bazza (talk) 11:07, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, that is so. Britmax (talk) 14:01, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 * It's a definition, similar to these:
 * Piccolo: A tiny woodwind instrument
 * Timpani: Large drums
 * Tuba: A large brass instrument
 * So there isn't any verb. In your quote, related is an adjective, like tiny. Card Zero  (talk) 11:15, 14 December 2021 (UTC)
 * This sentence no verb! --T*U (talk) 12:20, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

A bulleted list of internal links to relate Wikipedia articles. 2404:8000:1005:555:C0EE:F0EE:B396:6DF3 (talk) 09:30, 15 December 2021 (UTC)
 * No. The answer above by Card Zero is a good answer. There is no verb. If you must have a verb, the closest to it is the colon. You can replace the headlinese-style sentence by: "The contents should consist of a bulleted list of internal links to related Wikipedia articles". --Lambiam 11:01, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

"to" can be used both as a particle (conjunction?) or as a preposition. In this case it's used as a preposition and doesn't need a verbal part. A valid simplier form is "a link to an article", similar to "a road to nowhere", expressing a destination. "related" is here used as an adjective, "articles that are related" (implied: "related to the original article or its subject", here "to" is also used as a preposition). The other use as a particle requires a verb: "a list to be filled with links", same subject ("a list that can/should be filled with links"), or "a list to link Wikipedia articles", different subject ("a list with the purouse of linking Wikipedia articles"). 176.247.162.178 (talk) 05:03, 17 December 2021 (UTC)