Not if I can help it (1) What does “not if I can help it” mean? Is the sentence below correct? “Would you go traveling without any preparation?Not if I can help it.” (2) What does “not if” mean? How

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Pei Yung

Not if I can help it (1) What does “not if I can help it” mean? Is the sentence below correct? “Would you go traveling without any preparation?Not if I can help it.” (2) What does “not if” mean? How can I use it in normal conversation? Thank you.

2017年7月15日 02:12

解答 · 5

Phil｜Accent Trainer

專業教師

"If I can help it" means if I can avoid it, if I have another option. "Not" is short for the previous phrase (which we don't need to repeat) "I would not go traveling without any preparation," so the whole thing would be "I would not go traveling without any preparation if I had another option."

2017年7月15日

Pei Yung

Thank you, Phil.

2017年7月16日 · 回复

Phil｜Accent Trainer

不用謝

2017年7月16日 · 回复

Gary

'Not if I can help it' means something like 'Not if I can avoid it'. Your sentence is OK, but perhaps slightly (but only slightly) odd, as you have sort-of doubled up on the 'doing something' idea (preparation and avoiding) "Will you being going to her party? Not if I can avoid it" / "Will you take a slow train? Not if I can avoid it". I'm not sure 'not if' is really a logical grouping. "What about the traffic? I will avoid it if I can" "I will avoid her if I can"

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2017年7月15日

Pei Yung

Thank you, Gary. I am clear on the first question. To clarify my second question, I found an example on the Internet: A: Hurry up! We might be able to catch up the program. B: Not if there is a queue. And now I`m also clear on that.

2017年7月16日 · 回复

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