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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
", if not"
Hi guys, I came across this sentence in the TIME Magazine, but failed to really comprehend it like I do before.
" This early and aggressive emptying of the region - a hard-earned lesson of the 2003 fires, which left 20 people dead - likely saved Californians' lives, if not their property."
The bolded part is the part that I didn't really manage to grasp the true meaning. From what I comprehend in the past, when ", if not" is used like in the sentence in above, it actually kinda means that you are choosing one situation between two. For example, "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life." would mean that the collision would either paralyse the guy or worst still, it would have killed him. Therefore, if I would to apply my understanding of the use of ", if not", this sentence from TIMES would have not make sense to me as it would mean that the clearance would have either save the lives of the people or their houses.
Some please enlighten me
Thanks in advance!
" This early and aggressive emptying of the region - a hard-earned lesson of the 2003 fires, which left 20 people dead - likely saved Californians' lives, if not their property."
The bolded part is the part that I didn't really manage to grasp the true meaning. From what I comprehend in the past, when ", if not" is used like in the sentence in above, it actually kinda means that you are choosing one situation between two. For example, "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life." would mean that the collision would either paralyse the guy or worst still, it would have killed him. Therefore, if I would to apply my understanding of the use of ", if not", this sentence from TIMES would have not make sense to me as it would mean that the clearance would have either save the lives of the people or their houses.
Some please enlighten me
Thanks in advance!
Top answer
Hi, I came across this sentence in the TIME Magazine, but failed to really comprehend it like I do before. " The bolded part is the part that I didn't really manage to grasp the true meaning. From what I comprehend in the past, when ", if not" is used like in the sentence in above, it actually kinda means that you are choosing one situation between two.
- Hi, I came across this sentence in the TIME Magazine, but failed to really comprehend it like I do before.
- " The bolded part is the part that I didn't really manage to grasp the true meaning.
- From what I comprehend in the past, when ", if not" is used like in the sentence in above, it actually kinda means that you are choosing one situation between two.
- " would mean that the collision would either paralyse the guy or worst still, it would have killed him.
- Therefore, if I would to apply my understanding of the use of ", if not", this sentence from TIMES would have not make sense to me as it would mean that the clearance would have either save the lives of the people or their houses.
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9 Answers
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Hi,
I came across this sentence in the TIME Magazine, but failed to really comprehend it like I do before.
" This early and aggressive emptying of the region - a hard-earned lesson of the 2003 fires, which left 20 people dead - likely saved Californians' lives, if not their property."
I came across this sentence in the TIME Magazine, but failed to really comprehend it like I do before.
" This early and aggressive emptying of the region - a hard-earned lesson of the 2003 fires, which left 20 people dead - likely saved Californians' lives, if not their property."
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Hi Clive, this is anonymous here. Ive forgotten to login just now.
I kinda understand it much better now. So does it mean that the meaning of ", if not" doesnt actually apply here?
If so, is my understanding of the usage of ", if not" correct?
Thanks for the earlier reply.
I kinda understand it much better now. So does it mean that the meaning of ", if not" doesnt actually apply here?
If so, is my understanding of the usage of ", if not" correct?
Thanks for the earlier reply.
00
Hi,
I think your understanding is OK.
You might like to consider that you can also say 'The rain yesterday, if not heavy, was cold'. This means the rain was cold although it was not heavy.
Clive
I think your understanding is OK.
You might like to consider that you can also say 'The rain yesterday, if not heavy, was cold'. This means the rain was cold although it was not heavy.
Clive
00
I understand it much better now. So the ",if not" that Ive explained doesnt apply for the sentence in the TIME Magazine?
Also, based on the examples u have given me,
Does "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life. " mean that Although the accident did not killed him, it would have paralysed him. OR The accident would have killed him or paralysed him?
Also, based on the examples u have given me,
Does "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life. " mean that Although the accident did not killed him, it would have paralysed him. OR The accident would have killed him or paralysed him?
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Hi,
I understand it much better now. So the ",if not" that Ive explained doesnt apply for the sentence in the TIME Magazine? Right.
Also, based on the examples u have given me,
Does "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life. " mean that Although the accident did not killed him, it would have paralysed him. <<<
I understand it much better now. So the ",if not" that Ive explained doesnt apply for the sentence in the TIME Magazine? Right.
Also, based on the examples u have given me,
Does "This collision would have paralysed him, if not cost him his life. " mean that Although the accident did not killed him, it would have paralysed him. <<<
00
Thanks for the replies mate.
Now i have another question to ask. When do we know whether "if" has a meaning of "although" or it has the "either or" meaning.
For eg. now we have this sentence "The collision has sprained his legs, if not broke it." . Does the if has an "Although" meaning or it has a "either he sprain his leg or broke it"
Now i have another question to ask. When do we know whether "if" has a meaning of "although" or it has the "either or" meaning.
For eg. now we have this sentence "The collision has sprained his legs, if not broke it." . Does the if has an "Although" meaning or it has a "either he sprain his leg or broke it"
00
if not: read it as perhaps even
and forget about "if" taken separately
and forget about "if" taken separately
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Thanks for the reply Marius.
But if I read it as perhaps even, it would not make sense like for example, in the Californian sentence in the first post.
So the dilemma is when we see "if not" , do we read it as "perhaps even" as you said or we read "if" and "not" seperately (then, in this case we take the meaning as although) ?
But if I read it as perhaps even, it would not make sense like for example, in the Californian sentence in the first post.
So the dilemma is when we see "if not" , do we read it as "perhaps even" as you said or we read "if" and "not" seperately (then, in this case we take the meaning as although) ?
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I'll leave this to others. I'm sticking to what I said:
likely saved Californians' lives, perhaps even their property.
likely saved Californians' lives, perhaps even their property.
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