Comment by aesthesia

4 days ago

How is that ambiguous? The best interpretation I can find where "test" is a verb is an elision: Test [that] B is an alternative to test A. That is an unlikely reading: "test" is a verb in the first instance and a noun in the second, breaking parallelism. And it's just a very unlikely thing to direct someone to do.

"Test B is an alternative to test A."

could mean there's a Test B and a Test A, and they're interchangeable.

Or:

You can run Test B to confirm A works, that is "to test A".

Again the stated goal to clear documentation for non-native or limited-exposure speakers. This doesn't pass that test.

  • Ah, I see, taking "to test A" as an infinitive. But it would be strange to say test B is an alternative without saying what it's an alternative to. The other reading still seems quite unlikely.