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I'm doing some research on conditionals and this questions bothers me. There are cases when will is ok in if-clauses, but is it ok to use "to be going to" in if-clauses?

Ngram gives some examples such as

  • It'll be there by seven in the morning if I'm going to leave it.

  • If I'm going to be less like Katherine, I'll have to work on reining in my honest opinions some.

But in general, I haven't managed to find any info about this.

I believe it's not really typical to use this construction in if-clauses, but if so, what about the examples above?

Marshmellow
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    Will is OK in if-clauses when it's the deontic "be willing to" sense of will. There are no such lexical restrictions on its periphrastic modal analog be going to. It can be used in just about any if clause to represent the future. E.g, If it (*will/is going to) rain, I'm staying home. – John Lawler Jul 18 '22 at 18:09
  • @JohnLawler thank you very much!) btw is there any info why the epistemic sense that "will" has is inappropriate in if-clauses? (Especially, if there are no restrictions of this kind connected with be going to) – Marshmellow Jul 19 '22 at 12:42
  • @Marshmellow: you're welcome. It's just one more oddity of modal auxiliaries. Each one is unique and has unique affordances and prohibitions; they're effectively idioms. – John Lawler Jul 19 '22 at 14:05

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In a comment, John Lawler wrote:

Will is OK in if-clauses when it's the deontic "be willing to" sense of will. There are no such lexical restrictions on its periphrastic modal analog be going to. It can be used in just about any if clause to represent the future. E.g, If it (*will/is going to) rain, I'm staying home.

tchrist
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