Which if

Question

1. This is the card which if you don't bring you may lose your job.
2. This is the card which if you don't use becomes invalid.
Are both the above sentences grammatically correct ?
In the first sentence , a new clause is introduced after the which + If + clause whereas in the second sentence the verb after the which + If + clause refers to the subject "card" .
Why is it so ?

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

I'm not sure you can use those structures.

If you don't bring this card, you may lose your job.
This is the card that might get you fired, if you don't bring it.
This is the card which, if you don't bring it, might get you fired.

I'm not a native speaker though.

Avangi · Answer

1. This is the card which if you don't bring you may lose your job.
2. This is the card which if you don't use becomes invalid.

Grammatically speaking, the second is correct, and the first is not.

Which becomes invalid is a nice little clause.

Which you may lose your job is not.

Mr Wordy · Answer

KooyeenI'm not sure you can use those structures.

Right. Both sentences are nasty.

Mr Wordy · Answer

AvangiGrammatically speaking, the second is correct, and the first is not.

Oh. Do you not feel it would have to be:

"This is the card which, if you don't use it, becomes invalid."

?

(Mind you, to my ear, this still doesn't seem the most elegant sentence ever written.)

Avangi · Answer

In the first one, the structure is invalid because "which" needs to be the subject of the clause, if I'm not mistaken.

1. This is the card which if you don't bring you may lose your job.

OR

This is the card which if you don't bring can cause you to lose your job.
(some would say, "if you don't bring it")

Sorry, Wordy. I got ahead of you.

Sometimes I don't know whether to s*** or go blind. If I recommend substitutes I'm criticized for not answering the OP's question. If I answer his question, I'm criticized for not offering substitutes.

Oh well, it happens to the best of us. I remember in a recent thread Jim asked a question of Bill, who came back with a replacement sentence. Jim said, "I wasn't interested in fixing it."

Anyway, I certainly agree they're nasty sentences.

To be honest, I'm on the fence about the requirement for the object "it."

Best wishes, - A.

Mr Wordy · Answer

Avangi Sometimes I don't know whether to s*** or go blind. If I recommend substitutes I'm criticized for not answering the OP's question. If I answer his question, I'm criticized for not offering substitutes.

I wasn't criticising you for either of those things, Avangi. I was just perplexed that you thought the second sentence, as written, was grammatically correct.

Avangi · Answer

You're ahead of me again.

I just realized that was your point.
Sometimes lately I read a thing through and realize a couple minutes later that I didn't really absorb it all.

Which if

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