[Grammar] God willing

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kotfor

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Ukraine
I'd like to get some of your thoughts on the "God willing" expresion. What I'd like to find out is

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?


God willing, we will catch up with them. - The driver willing, we will catch up with them.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I don't think you can use other pronouns. It's a fairly fixed phrase. In the Christian religion at least, the belief is that things only happen if God wills it (ie if God wants it to happen and makes it happen). The theory is that no matter what us human beings do or what we want to happen, it won't happen unless God wills it. So in your "driver" example, it really doesn't matter how willing or enthusiastic the driver is, he won't catch up with them unless God wants him to.

I should point out that this is my understanding of it but I'm an atheist so I might not have grasped the nuances of the omnipotence theory (if "omnipotence" is even the appropriate word).

Before posting this, I mentioned it to my mum. She has always interpreted "God willing" as "If God is willing to allow it to happen", so she thought it meant that human beings could have an effect on outcomes although only if God allows their desired outcome to happen!

I considered deleting my reply but I still think the first part is valid - you can't say "The driver willing ..."
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
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).
 
Last edited:

Kotfor

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Belarus
Current Location
Ukraine
TheParser you have provided a great and exemplary answer.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Kotfor:

Thank you for your kind note.

After reading emsr's excellent post, I returned to Google books and discovered that "God willing" is the English

translation of the Latin "Deo volente."

According to Mr. Frederick John Lazell, very religious people used that phrase so often that they often abbreviated it to

"d.v."

Thus, as emsr said, it might be wise to restrict "willing" to the noun "God."



James
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top