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I have a question concerning the word order in the following sentence:

  • Make sure that on the electrical panel all circuit breakers are closed.
  • On the electrical panel, make sure that all circuit breakers are closed.

For me (non-native speaker) both sentences seem to be perfectly fine. However, someone insisted that the location would have to come first.

Is there a rule with expression like 'Make sure that'?

Thank you! Haike

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    "Make sure that all circuit breakers on the electrical panel are closed."
    – Peter Shor
    Jun 27, 2017 at 14:45
  • @PeterShor the first of your sentences is not idiomatic (american) English.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jun 27, 2017 at 14:47

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The first sentence requires commas to offset the definition phrase: "...that, one the electrical panel, all.." .
There is no requirement to put the location first. My choice would be

" Make sure that all breakers on the panel are closed."

Now, just to be pedantic, there aren't breakers anywhere else, are there? If so,you might need to stress that other breakers are not to be touched.

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  • All comments are very helpful, thank you! I will take in mind both possibilites: a) Make sure that all circuit breakers on the electrical panel are closed. b) On the electrical panel, make sure that all circuit breakers are closed.
    – Haike
    Jun 27, 2017 at 15:36
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    I can't see that commas are required here. A parenthetical often has bounding punctuation, but it's not mandatory (but of course, disambiguation trumps personal preference hereabouts).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Jun 27, 2017 at 16:42

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