1) Is there a grammarian term (name) for this construction you are aware of?
2) Is it ok to use other pronouns instead of God in this construction?
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hello,
1. I checked my books and the Web, and it seems that the term for that expression is the
absolute nominative or
nominative absolute
2. An absolute element is defined as some words that form an
independent exoression. That is, it is an expression
that,
grammatically speaking, is not connected to the main sentence.
(i) Here is a famous example. You and a friend go to a party. Your friend says to you, "
Present company excepted, everyone here is really ugly!" ["present company" = "you"]
3. "God willing" =
If God wills it, we will catch up with them.
a. The sentence is basically "We will catch up with them." Then you add "God willing" which is a clause of condition (
IF God wills it). People who write grammar books often feel that conditional clauses are absolute elements. That is, they apply to the whole main sentence, not just one word (such as the verb).
b.
Nevertheless, the nominative absolute
does have a "logical" relation to the main sentence. You want everyone to know that you all will catch up with them -- IF GOD WILLS IT.
4. [I have deleted this section.]
5. I think that native speakers usually restrict the nominative absolute to elegant writing. If you were to speak like
this in your everyday conversation, people might think you a bit strange.
6. If you are interested in pursuing this topic further, I most respectfully suggest that you google "nominative absolute God willing." Then click on the "books" section. You will find many books that explain this construction.
James
Credits:
A Grammar of Present-Day English (1963) by Pence and Emery, pages 138 - 139.
Descriptive English Grammar (1950) by House and Harman, pages 293 -294.
A Grammar of the English Language (Vol. II) (1931) by Curme, pages 152 -153.
Encyclopedic Graded Grammar (2007) by I.P. Attarde (accessed through Google books).