ONLY IF + inverted conditional

On Pearson’s scale at GSE 71 B2+

  • describe present or future outcomes of a hypothetical situation using initial ‘only if’ with inversion of subject and object.
  • Only if’ + first/second conditional with inversion

The complexity of this structure is highly unlikely to be B2 as Pearson has it listed.  The most similar EGP construction is ‘Only when’ + first conditional inverted and that is at C2.  *This is a very rare and difficult structure to locate anyway! There are only 2 sentences in the whole TED corpus.

We searched for:  only if * {v} * {md}

EXPERT EXAMPLES:

Only if the court was able to see how these policies came together would he be able to see the double discrimination that Emma DeGraffenreid was facing.

TED

And only if your per capita income is above 6,000 dollars a year will you have democracy come hell or high water.

TED

In both sentences, the normal subject-verb order is altered to place emphasis on certain parts of the sentence. This can make the statement more impactful or memorable for the reader or listener.


Here are the most common collocates of ‘only if’ in the MOVIE corpus:

1 BUT 411

There is modality in the following example, but no inversion:

I could potentially revive you 

after he renders you unconscious.
But again, only if it‘s during school hours.

Fist Fight

2 PROMISE 41
3 CAUGHT 20
4 COMES 16
5 NECESSARY 13
6 AGREE 12
7 DANGEROUS 12
8 ABSOLUTELY 12