They are annoying.
These little mistakes that enter our conversations have the effect of irritating paper.
Or a fruit with undesirable effects, sources of itching.
So with
"if not"
, frequently misused.
The sentences:
"he runs a lot, otherwise he goes swimming regularly",
or
"I spend my holidays by the sea, otherwise I like to walk in the mountains"
abound in our conversations.
Le Figaro
returns to the good use of this formula, thanks to the academics' insights.
"Otherwise"
, as a conjunction, means
"if it is not"
, remind the immortals in their column
"To say, not to say"
. At the beginning of the 15th century, the word was written
senon
, that is to say
"if not, except, except"
, notes the dictionary. It is used in sentences of the type:
"I know nothing, except that he came"
, or else
"all loved him, if not as a brother, at least as a friend"
.
The word is also used to say
"without what, otherwise"
.
For example, we say
"you have to work, otherwise you will only get bad results."
It also means
“even if it is not”
.
Camus uses it in this sense in
L'Homme revolté
:
"When it (the revolt) advances history and relieves the pain of men, it does so without terror, if not without violence."
But let us be careful not to use it in the sense of
"elsewhere, on the other hand."
Here, the conjunction has no place.
We should therefore be careful not to say
"he has an apartment in the city, otherwise he also has a house in the country"
, or
"the whole family is fine.
Otherwise, her sister has just married ”
.
Let us prefer to use
"besides he also has a country house"
,
"besides his sister is getting married"
, or
"as for you, how are you?"
. The wise have spoken!
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