if only
31
3.0
- idiom
:
ojalá
- Oh no, if only someone had warned us.
I could have done so much more if only I had one more chance.
- I could have done so much more if only I had one more chance.
- Could have gone pro if only I had any skills and practiced.
- You went Oh, if only I'd known I didn't have to do that.
- The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit.
- Well, if only we had a rubber mallet.
- Yes, if only this war had never begun.
- Oy, if only the road wasn't so long and treacherous.
- So if only I had made that correlation prior to shopping.
- Yeah, if only there was some coach out there with a winning pedigree.
- That's a sad little blank screen to see, with all those little blank notches indicating what could have been if only this car had lived longer.
- A OK could have a baby if only I had a penis.
Examples
-
If only we had some surplus to offer.
-
Yes, if only this war had never begun.
-
I could have done so much more if only I had one more chance.
-
Of course, if only it were as simple as that.
-
If only all the other girls were as tough as you.
-
If only you could see what kind of company he keeps.
-
If only there had been someone to talk to about the images I studied during the day.
Academic text (2007) -
And sometimes I look back and think, man, if only we'd had Internet access then.
Blog text (28) -
It's a nice sentiment, if only it were true.
-
Oh, if only your mother were alive to see this day.
How Regretful
31
3.0
481
1.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'if' (a conditional) and 'only' (a limiter/emphasis) give a loose clue that a counterfactual or restrictive condition is involved, but the conventionalised exclamative use meaning 'I wish/regret that...' is not fully predictable from those constituents alone. Many languages have similar conditional-emphatic constructions (e.g. French 'si seulement'), so there is partial cross-linguistic support, but B1 learners who only know the words will likely need exposure to grasp and use the expression correctly.
Etymology
If only is like a short wish: the word if starts an imagined different situation and only makes that wish stronger. So when people say if only they mean 'I wish' or show regret about something that did or did not happen.