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Contrasting Elements ("not") in Correlative Conjunctions:

When you have a correlative conjunctive that includes a contrasting "not" element (as in: "if not...then...") does that do anything funky to the commas? In other words, because "not" seems to turn one part of the correlative conjunction into a contrasting element, does that influence the comma rules for the correlative? Specifically:

  1. Should "if not...then..." be set off by a comma/parenthetical (i.e., "[,] if not...then...) because one of its elements is negative, so we treat the whole coordinated pair as negative?

  • Example: "She had to leave him, if not for herself then for her kids."

  • Example: "He was assured---if not in himself then in the others."

  1. Or should only the correlative's contrasting element be enclosed in a comma/parenthetical (i.e., "[,] if not [,]...then..."). My word processor loves this idea. But I take serious issue with it. Contrasting elements, which are always set off from the rest of the sentence parenthetically, are elements that can be removed without breaking the grammar of the sentence; hence, for "if not...then..." it makes more sense to treat the entire correlative as contrasting (as we do in question 1) because the grammar would break if we treated only one element as contrasting and then tried to remove it. Here's what I mean:
  • Example: "She had to leave him, if not for herself, then for her kids."

Does grammar remain intact if we remove parenthetical?

Test: "She had to leave him then for her kids."

Answer: No, it doesn't.

What do you guys think?

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    There is no reason to include then if the if not part is omitted. It would be more natural to say for the sake of her kids.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented 2 days ago
  • "She had to leave him, if not for herself then for her kids." looks good to me as it's clearly non-essential and you'd expect a pause and shift in tone. But some publications/style guides have very funky/specific rules for commas around subordinate clauses. If you don't have a style guide, then there is a lot of latitude about how you use commas so do where you have a natural break or pause - there are a lot of existing questions saying the same thing.
    – Stuart F
    Commented yesterday

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