Page:The king's English (IA kingsenglish00fowlrich).pdf/348

334

Where there is a natural opposition between two sentences, adversative conjunctions may yet be made impossible by something in one of the sentences that does the work unaided. Thus if in vain, only, and reserves and sole, had not been used in the following sentences, but and though would have been right; as it is, they are wrong.

Such mistakes probably result from altering the plan of a sentence in writing; and the cure is simply to read over every sentence after it is written.

This formula has enjoyed more popularity than it deserves; either 'when' or 'if' by itself would almost always give the