I'm reading a textbook and noticed, "In this section you learn how to describe a particular score in terms of where it fits into the overall group of scores." I highlighted the section I don't like. The author does this throughout the book. I would rather see, "In this section you will learn..." I don't like this because it sounds present tense and gives me feelings of past tense. Is the authors sentence grammatically correct. Have I spotted a zero relative?
1/ He's writing in present tense. When you read this section you too will be in the present. I don't actually see your problem. Or would you prefer: "In this section you will learn how to describe a particular score in terms of where it fitted into the overall group of scores." because the score was recorded before the present time in which you are reading this introduction, which is before the future when you will be doing the learning. Having said that, I don't particularly like reading stuff in present tense; it feels juvenile. But, in a textbook? He's going for clarity of expression, not literary masterpiece. 2/ I Googled Zero Relative... Zero Relative Clause A relative clause from which the relative pronoun has been ellipted, for example: This is the car I want (compare: This is the car that I want) I'm not sure which pronoun you believe has been ellipted.
The author is grammatically correct, though it reads awkwardly given the context in my opinion. I like "you will learn" as well.
