Talk:Make Way for Dionne Warwick

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[edit] Current tense?

There are users who want to refer to this album as "... IS her third album..", which is incorrect. This album, though reprints are available, is not current, is not on the charts, and the record company that issued it went out of business in 1976. This WAS Dionne Warwick's third album, and though it may be tangible today, this album is history and should be reflected as such. I will continue to edit. Dma124 02:36, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

The use of is in the first sentence is appropriate, as a number of editors have pointed out. The status of the record company, the charts, and the date of publication of the album have no bearing on whether we ought to use is or was. The use of was in the lead sentence makes it seem like the album is a historical relic that no longer exists in the present tense. Also, the subject of the article should be the subject of the the lead sentence (Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#First_sentences). Strobilus 09:55, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

The lead sentence as you have it now is fine by me. I have some thoughts that you might consider though:

In the sentence as you've written it — Make Way for Dionne Warwick, the third album by American singer Dionne Warwick, was released in late 1964. — the subject is Make Way for Dionne Warwick, the predicate is was released in late 1964, and the relative clause the third album by American singer Dionne Warwick tells us what the subject of the article is.

If you rearrange the sentence by changing the predicate to is the third album by American singer Dionne Warwick, and changing the relative clause to released in late 1964, you get — Make Way for Dionne Warwick, released in late 1964, is the third album by American singer Dionne Warwick. I think this way identifies the subject of the article more directly in the first sentence due to the subject-predicate relationship, and is more encyclopedic in style. It's a subtle difference, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Cheers Strobilus 15:47, 15 October 2007 (UTC)