Anonymous  +  295599 Mon, 20 Nov 06 06:08 PM To me it sounds a bit out of the ordinary bt have learnt it is the correct usage... My Query?? A) Looking forward to learn wat effect does this "IF ONLY Because" phrase renders... B) Under what circumstances do we use it. Anonymous

	Grammar Geek  +  295644 Mon, 20 Nov 06 08:17 PM We should all come home for Christmas, if only because it will make our mother happy. It's not the most standard usage - and it's a rather awkward, I think, but you can think of it as "we should do it for this reason, even if you don't otherwise have a good reason to." Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,506 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	CalifJim  +  295753 Tue, 21 Nov 06 05:30 AM X if only because Y X even if/though the only reason for X is/was that Y Jack ate the last cookie if only because he wanted to wash the plate. He ate the last cookie even though the only reason for doing so was that he wanted to wash the plate.  He didn't eat it because he was hungry, or for any other reasons.  He just wanted to get rid of it so he could wash the plate. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,128 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Klavier  +  303445 Wed, 13 Dec 06 03:17 PM Then, what would be the difference between: Jack ate the last cookie if only because he wanted to wash the plate. Jack ate the last cookie because he wanted to wash the plate. Klavier Joined on Thu, Sep 23 2004 Chile Full Member 357 "If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants" Isaac Newton Difference Between

	Marius Hancu  +  303447 Wed, 13 Dec 06 03:25 PM  Latin wrote: Then, what would be the difference between: Jack ate the last cookie if only because he wanted to wash the plate. Jack ate the last cookie because he wanted to wash the plate. See: ---------- if only used when you want to say how doing something simple would make it possible to avoid something unpleasant: If only she'd listen to what he's saying, I'm sure they could work it out. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=55497&dict=CALD ---------- thus you should change your example to fit. The way it is, I am reading the 1st: Jack ate the last cookie even though it was just because he wanted to wash the plate. which might not be that bad in the end. (the only reason for eating the cookie was because the wanted to have the plate ready for washing, not because he liked it) Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Veteran Member 11,673 Difference Between

	CalifJim  +  303600 Thu, 14 Dec 06 12:31 AM Jack ate the last cookie if only because he wanted to wash the plate. Jack ate the last cookie because he wanted to wash the plate. The difference is that the second sentence leaves out the idea that the only reason for eating the cookie was to wash the plate.  It also leaves out that certain stylistic 'something' that the first has.  The reason in the first sentence has a certain subtractive value, whereas the reason in the second has additive value.  In the first sentence, but only because might replace if only because.  In the second sentence, one can easily imagine extending the thought with further reasons:  because ... and because ... and because ... CJ CalifJim