[Grammar] modifying a gerund phrase with an if-clause

Hi,

Do you think it's correct to modify a gerund phrase with an if-clause?

E.g. Buying a Rolls Royce if I were a millionaire sounds so great.

The idea of winning 20 million dollars if he were to hit the jackpot always pleases him.


I'd appreciate your help.

You've been here long enough to know that you are the one who needs to come up with an example!

Your sentences don't sound natural.
You can say, "Dying in ICU would be awful if I couldn't have my loved-ones around me."
We wouldn't say "The idea of dying in ICU if I couldn't have my loved-ones around me is awful."
We might say, "The idea of dying in ICU without my loved ones around me is awful." (No "if".)

Still, there are possible sentences. You might use this construction in speech. I'd avoid it.

Raymott said:

Your sentences don't sound natural.
You can say, "Dying in ICU would be awful if I couldn't have my loved-ones around me."
We wouldn't say "The idea of dying in ICU if I couldn't have my loved-ones around me is awful."
We might say, "The idea of dying in ICU without my loved ones around me is awful." (No "if".)

Still, there are possible sentences. You might use this construction in speech. I'd avoid it.

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The sentences in post #1 are clunky. If they are still correct, I'm wondering whether such sentences are attested in corpora.

raymondaliasapollyon said:

E.g. Buying a Rolls Royce if I were a millionaire sounds so great.

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NOT A TEACHER


I believe that your sentence should read something like: "If I were a millionaire, I would buy a new Rolls Royce every year" or "If I were a millionaire, buying a new Rolls Royce every year would give me great pleasure."

When you say "If I were a millionaire," you are saying that you are not a millionaire. Therefore, in the rest of the sentence you need to use "would" or "could." When you get some extra time, please read up on the topic of the subjunctive mood.

By the way, if you wish to put "If I were a millionaire" in the middle of your sentence, you will need to use commas: "Buying a new Rolls Royce every year, if I were a millionaire, would give me great pleasure."

Good suggestions above.

raymondaliasapollyon said:

Hi,

Do you think it's correct to modify a gerund phrase with an if-clause?

E.g. Buying a Rolls Royce if I were a millionaire sounds [STRIKE]so[/STRIKE] great.

For casual conversation, it's fine. More formally, the sequence doesn't make sense, because the two ideas should go hand in hand. Either buying a Rolls sounds great or it doesn't. Ditto for being a millionaire. So it wants to be more parallel or sequencial — something like:

- Being a millionaire and buying a Rolls Royce sound great.
- Being a millionaire so I can buy a Rolls sounds great.

The idea of winning 20 million dollars if he were to hit the jackpot always pleases him.

It's the same logic problem. If he wins, he'll be pleased. If he doesn't, he won't.

And it's probably not the idea that pleases him. If he wins, then he'll be pleased.

I'd appreciate your help.

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Hi, Ray!

I've never heard anyone say we can't use gerund-plus-if sentences. Those two are shaky, but that doesn't mean there aren't better examples.

The sentences were composed to describe someone along the lines of Aesop's milkmaid.
I suppose ideas about improbable events can be appealing.

raymondaliasapollyon said:

The sentences were composed to describe someone along the lines of Aesop's milkmaid. . . .

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The one who won $20,000,000 and bought a Rolls?

I can't remember the moral to that one.

it's basically about a woman who indulges in daydreams.
However improbable, they are pleasant to the daydreamer.

It's the daydream of the milkmaid, not the moral of the story, that the sentences are intended to mimic.

The whole concept "buying a Rolls Royce if I were megarich" is what sounds so great. It sounds great even though it's improbable or impossible.

raymondaliasapollyon said:

Do you think it's correct to modify a gerund phrase with an if-clause?

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I think it could be done if the modifying if-clause within the nominal -ing clause were preceded by even:

[Buying a Rolls Royce even if you knew you would have very little money left over] would demonstrate true love for that brand of car.

Phaedrus said:

I think it could be done if the modifying if-clause within the nominal -ing clause were preceded by even:

[Buying a Rolls Royce even if you knew you would have very little money left over] would demonstrate true love for that brand of car.

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Is it possible to use the indicative mood in the main clause of the above sentence?

raymondaliasapollyon said:

Is it possible to use the indicative mood in the main clause of the above sentence?

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The sentence is grammatical and natural, if that's what you mean.

raymondaliasapollyon said:

It's the daydream of the milkmaid, not the moral of the story, that the sentences are intended to mimic.

The whole concept "buying a Rolls Royce if I were megarich" is what sounds so great. It sounds great even though it's improbable or impossible.

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I only like "megarich" if it's a valley girl saying it. Otherwise, it sounds too valley-girl.

Does this have to do with your farmer's daughter question?