Cleft with conditionals

Question

Hello!Can we use conditionals in cleft sentences? Eg. It is if he came that his girlfriend would leave the place.It is if he had come that his girlfriend would have left the place.It is if he comes that she will leave the place.Thanks.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

4444mvCan we use conditionals in cleft sentences?

Your examples at least are too awkward to live.

4444mv · Answer

But are they grammatically correct?
Thanks, Mister Micawber.

BarbaraPA · Answer

No

BarbaraPA · Answer

OK, I take it back. Conceivably they are grammatical if what you mean is the cause of the girlfriend leaving is that he came. But  it's awful

CalifJim · Answer

4444mvCan we use conditionals in cleft sentences?

Not as you have them, but with 'only if' you will see them on a rare occasion. I found these online:

It is only if he runs up and stops that it is a feint, hence ungentlemanly conduct.
It is only if it is made outside Cornwall that there is a problem.
It is only if you, as savers, abandon these duff accounts in droves that they will take action.
It is only if there is no request for rehearing that the seven-day deadline comes into play, he said.
It is only if you sit still that so much more unfolds.

Not the greatest sentences in the world, but possible.

CJ

4444mv · Answer

Thank you CJ!  I just wanted to know if they were grammatically correct.

Tkacka15 · Answer

4444mvHello!Can we use conditionals in cleft sentences? Eg. It is if he came that his girlfriend would leave the place.It is if he had come that his girlfriend would have left the place.It is if he comes that she will leave the place.Thanks.

The cleft sentence is derived from another in such a way that the latter is divided into two clauses to put emphasis on a particular word/phrase of the original sentence, for example:

John always rides his horse on Saturdays. (The original sentence.)

It is John who always rides his horse on Saturdays. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on John.)
It is on Saturdays that John always rides his horse. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on Saturdays.)
It is his horse that John always rides on Saturdays. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on his horse.)

So, the original, conditional sentence, is If he came his girlfriend would leave the place and, in my opinion, its components could be emphasised by cleft sentences:

It is if he came that his girlfriend would leave the place. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on the conditional cause.)
It is that his girlfriend would leave the place if he came. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on the conditional effect/result.)

I wonder whether my interpretation of that holds water.

Mister Micawber · Answer

tkacka15t is if he came that his girlfriend would leave the place. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on the conditional cause.)It is that his girlfriend would leave the place if he came. (The cleft sentence with emphasis put on the conditional effect/result.)I wonder whether my interpretation of that holds water.

It still leaves us with two sentences that would never be used. What is the point of a 'grammatical sentence' if it is useless?

Tkacka15 · Answer

Mister MicawberIt still leaves us with two sentences that would never be used.

I see. It seems that it was a futile exercise on my part.

4444mv · Answer

Thank you, tkacka15 and Mister Micawber.

Cleft with conditionals

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