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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
"not unless"
I was corrected by a colleague, he said "not unless" is wrong when you use it in a sentence. He said it should only be "unless..." and the "not" is no longer necessary. Is it true?
Top answer
Do you have an example sentence in mind? " In this case, "not" is essential to the meaning.
- Do you have an example sentence in mind?
- " In this case, "not" is essential to the meaning.
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1 Answers
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Do you have an example sentence in mind? Following a negative statement I think it's acceptable to use "not" as a reinforcement:
"We won't win -- not unless a miracle happens."
The following kind of structure also seems OK to me (though it's literary rather than conversational):
"Not unless a miracle happens will we succeed."
In this case, "not" is essential to
"We won't win -- not unless a miracle happens."
The following kind of structure also seems OK to me (though it's literary rather than conversational):
"Not unless a miracle happens will we succeed."
In this case, "not" is essential to
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