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"if you will" future reference.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:50 pm
by metal56
Anything wrong with this sentence, IYOs?
"If you will be having an abdominal x-ray, be sure laboratory personnel and your doctors know you use this medicine."
http://www.heb.com/yourHEBStore/SD-phar ... 036MG&d2=E
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:44 am
by Stephen Jones
'will' in these cases is not a straightforward modal but has an element of volition, often the suggestion of perverse volition.
Here, however, it seems to me to be more a case of referring to something in the future that isn't arranged yet.
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:42 am
by metal56
Stephen Jones wrote:'will' in these cases is not a straightforward modal but has an element of volition, often the suggestion of perverse volition.
Yes, that's true. Much of the time it has the meaning of "if you insist on/persist..."
Here, however, it seems to me to be more a case of referring to something in the future that isn't arranged yet.
So for you, the "will" is OK in that clause, right?
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:40 pm
by Stephen Jones
yes
Who, for sure, eats chocolate?
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:01 pm
by metal56
1. Look, Sarah, if you will eat chocolate, you'll get spots.
2. Look, Mandy, if you eat chocolate, you'll get spots.
Is it certain that the listener in each sentence eats chocolate?
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:48 am
by Stephen Jones
It can be presumed in the first one if the sentence stress is "if you will eat chocolate....." but not if it is "If you'll eat chocolate", so I am not sure as to whether that second version is grammatical/idiomatic.
You can't make that presumption in the first sentence.