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polychromatic
12 Apr 2017

  • Japanisch
  • Englisch (US)
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"Even if you blow up this balloon, it will not be that big."

Is the combination of "even if" and "will" in this context natural?

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cookiez
12 Apr 2017

  • Englisch (US)
  • Englisch (UK)

It sounds a little bit off (in this example, at least). Another example might be:

"Even if we leave now we will still be late".

To improve your example, I might say:

"Even if you blow this balloon all the way up, it won't get very big".

cookiez
12 Apr 2017

  • Englisch (US)
  • Englisch (UK)

The key difference here is that "All the way up". The first part of the sentence (the "even if") has to show that you are trying something to the limit. If you "leave now" you can't leave any earlier. If you blow the balloon "all the way up", it can't bet any bigger.

In your example, the person blowing up the balloon might not have wanted to blow it "all the way up", in which case, it would make sense that won't get very big, and so what the speaker says sounds redundant or off-point.

cookiez
12 Apr 2017

  • Englisch (US)
  • Englisch (UK)

I hope that makes sense :)

polychromatic
12 Apr 2017

  • Japanisch
@cookiez
Just the answer I wanted :) thanks a lot

Just one more thing, which is my long time question,

you told me that 'it WOULD make sense that won't get very big …' in the last two lines but what is the context/intent behind this WOULD used instead of WILL?

Is it to the effect that "all the way up" example is what you said but not what I said?
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cookiez
12 Apr 2017

  • Englisch (US)
  • Englisch (UK)

So when I said "it would make sense that it won't get very big", that "would" was referring to the potential result of the person blowing up the balloon only a little bit, not the fact that the balloon won't (will not) get big, if you decide to try and blow it up.

As for the "even if ... will" construction, "will" is fine, although using "would" also sounds okay.

"Even if we leave now we still wouldn't make it on time" still sounds okay to me. The difference is that you might use "will" if you are a little bit angrier or more urgent. It just slightly changes the tone of the sentence.

polychromatic
12 Apr 2017

  • Japanisch
@cookiez
Thanks for your help :)
I've got to study your comments carefully.
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"Even if you blow up this balloon, it will not be that big." Is the combination of "even if" and "will" in this context natural?
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