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Paco2004 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Only if / if only

0 Hello 02br
02br
00I'm worried about the usage of "only if" and "if only". 02br
02br
00Suppose a situation: 02br
00 I want to live in Paris. 02br
00 What I feel as the only one barrier to do so is the lack of French speaking skills. 02br
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00Which sentence will be more appropriate to this situation? 02br
00 [1] Only if I could speak French, I could live in Paris. 02br
00 [2] If only I could speak French, I could live in Paris. 02br
02br
00Is there any other good phrase to fit this situation? 02br
02br
00paco 0-
  

Top answer

0 Hi, Paco, 02br 00In this case I would use sentence [2]. It suggests wishfull thinking - I wish I could speak French, then I could live in Paris. 02br 00Sentence [1] means that you can only live in Paris if you speak French, which is hardly the case.

— Miche

  • 0 Hi, Paco, 02br 00In this case I would use sentence [2].
  • It suggests wishfull thinking - I wish I could speak French, then I could live in Paris.
  • 02br 00Sentence [1] means that you can only live in Paris if you speak French, which is hardly the case.
  • 02br 00Cheers!
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27 Answers
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0 Hi, Paco, 02br
00In this case I would use sentence [2]. It suggests wishfull thinking - I wish I could speak French, then I could live in Paris. 02br
00Sentence [1] means that you can only live in Paris if you speak French, which is hardly the case. 02br
00Cheers! 0-
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0 Hello Miche 02br
02br
00Thank you so much. I asked this because I had a three-day dispute with a Japanese guy over this matter. He insists it should be "only if", although I have repeatedly said to him that "only if" is used to state a unique condition to get some event realized. Anyway, your answer clarified the cloud that had annoyed me. 02br
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00p
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0 Only if I could speak French 01b00could I02b00 live in Paris. [pure logic - from the viewpoint of the speaker, that is - Miche mentions this aspect of it] 02br
00If 01u00only02u00 I could speak French, I could live in Paris. [desire to learn French, disappointment at not being able to speak it] 02br
02br
00The firs
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0 01blockquote
00one barrier to do so12blockquote
12br
02br
00Now that I read your note, CalifJim, I see you are right. What Paco means is in the first sentence. It just didn't seem logical to me. 0-
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0 Hello CJ and Miche 02br
02br
00Reading your comments, I'm getting confused again. I know "only if ..." is a phrase used when the speaker wants to state something in a way very logical (I had often come across it in math textbooks). And because of this, I feel oddness in "only if" when it is used in a 2nd conditional sentence, i.e., "only if ... could, ... could ...". 02
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0 In my idiolect, the inversion is obligatory. There just 01i00may02i00 be speakers who accept it without the inversion. 02br
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00Both your sentences are "Second Conditional", so I'm not following the rest of the question very well. 02br
02br
00"could" neutralizes the difference between "were able to" and "would be able to". Is
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0----------------------------Hope this helps............ 02br
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00 [1] Only if I could speak French, I could live in Paris. 02br
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00This one is more like a statement of fact. Only if the condition is met (speak French) would the RESULT (live in Paris) possibly happen. 02br
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00
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0 Hello CJ 02br
02br
00Thank you for the reply. 02br
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00Frankly I'm still confused. I take "if only I could speak French" as "if merely/just I could speak French", that is, "only" modifies "could speak French". On the other hand, "only" in "only if I could speak French" modifies "if". That is, I suppose, it is saying that the sole condition to attain
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0 Hello ItsonLyme 02br
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00Thank you for the kind comment. 02br
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02br
00paco 02br
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0 01blockquote
00I'm wondering if one could use subjunctive mood in such a clear logical statement. OED contains 155 quotes using "only if" and all of them except one ... [use] indicative mood in the only if clause. 12blockquote
12br
02br
00In my opinion, the use of indicative or subjunctive is irrelevant to clear logic. Logical statements
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