unless + a negative construction

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ESL forum > Grammar and Linguistics > unless + a negative construction

unless + a negative construction

aldonza

unless + a negative construction

Hi there,

I�m working on sentence transformation and I am not sure about the following sentence.

"My uncle would be able to help us if he didn�t work extra hours".

UNLESS___________________________________________________________________________.

This is my attempt:

Unless my uncle didn�t work extra hours, he would be able to help us.

It sounds awkward to me and I know that "unless" is negative and it can�t be followed by a negative verb.

But, what is the best answer then?

I wonder if you can help me. Thanks in advance!

10 May 2012

valentinaper

Why is it that we think "unless" cannot be followed by a negation?

Consider the following: I �ll help you clean up, unless you don �t want me to.

It sounds OK to me!

10 May 2012

nhatminh0904

Hi!

My uncle wouldn �t be able to help us unless he worked extra hours.

10 May 2012

anaisabel001

Hi,

Unless my uncle worked extra hours, he would be able to help us.
Have a nice day!

10 May 2012

Mariethe House

Problem: My uncle works extra hours which means he can �t help us
so: If my uncle didn �t work extra hours, he would be able to help us
Therefore: He must work fewer hours if he wants to be able to help!
Conclusion:
Unless my uncle works fewer hours, he won �t be able to help us
or:
Unless my uncle doesn�t work so many hours, he won�t be able to help.
( If you want to keeep the original meaning of the sentence, you have to use the present tense )

I think this sentence doesn�t agree with the past! Smile

Good gracious! This sounds complicated. Can�t you leave your poor uncle alone? LOL

10 May 2012

Apodo

@Marithe: Great explanation!

10 May 2012

miruvir

Marithe UNLESS CAN�T BE FOLLOW ED BY A NEGATIVE!!!!!

10 May 2012

dafodil

Unless means "if not", so it can�t be followed by a negative according to the grammar rules.

10 May 2012

ueslteacher

http://www.onestopenglish.com/support/ask-the-experts/grammar-questions/grammar-unless-and-if/146350.article

Sophia

10 May 2012

Mariethe House

Sorry Dafodil and miruvir but where is your reference? And by the way , unless you don�t know,Miruvir capital letters are a way of shouting at people! So, I pray you, will you not shout at me! I am just giving my opinion!! Smile

Definition of UNLESS

: except on the condition that : under any other circumstance than

: without the accompanying circumstance or condition that : but that : but

I don�t see why it is not possible to say:
Except on the condition that ( Unless) he doesn�t work extra hours, my uncle won�t be able to help us.....

( I must say this sentence is a bit awkward and doesn�t sound very "natural")

grammar rules are sometimes a bit rigid and can�t take in all the exceptions or subtleties of the language!

10 May 2012

britishlinecerkezkoy

Unless already makes the following sentence negative, so you just change the negative sententence into positive after using unless.

My uncle would be able to help us unless he worked extra hours.

10 May 2012

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