ものなら details
write + let's + if only it were possible to
kakou mononara
if only it were possible to; if you were to — and it would be a disaster
できるものなら、あの日の判断をやり直したい。
dekiru mono nara, ano hi no handan o yarinaoshitai.
If it were possible, I would take back the decision I made that day. neutral
会議中に居眠りでもしようものなら、部長に一日中嫌味を言われる。
kaigichuu ni inemuri demo shiyou mono nara, buchou ni ichinichijuu iyami o iwareru.
If you so much as nod off in a meeting, the department head will needle you about it all day. neutral
- contraction
Examples
if it were actually possible to do it — the speaker believes it is not, and either wishes or dares
できるものなら、あの日の判断をやり直したい。
dekiru mono nara, ano hi no handan o yarinaoshitai.
If it were possible, I would take back the decision I made that day. neutral
帰れるもんなら、今すぐ家に帰りたいよ。
kaereru mon nara, ima sugu ie ni kaeritai yo.
If I could go home, I'd go this very minute. casual
止められるものなら、止めてみろ。
tomerareru mono nara, tomete miro.
Stop me if you think you can. casual
if you were to do it — and the consequence would be severe; the act is treated as reckless
会議中に居眠りでもしようものなら、部長に一日中嫌味を言われる。
kaigichuu ni inemuri demo shiyou mono nara, buchou ni ichinichijuu iyami o iwareru.
If you so much as nod off in a meeting, the department head will needle you about it all day. neutral
遅刻でもしようもんなら、コーチにめちゃくちゃ怒られるよ。
chikoku demo shiyou mon nara, koochi ni mechakucha okorareru yo.
Turn up late even once and the coach will absolutely lay into you. casual
規定の手順を一つでも飛ばそうものなら、検査のやり直しをお願いすることになります。
kitei no tejun o hitotsu demo tobasou mono nara, kensa no yarinaoshi o onegai suru koto ni narimasu.
If even one step of the set procedure is skipped, we will have to ask you to redo the inspection. formal
Formation
potential form＋ものなら — 帰れるものなら, 行けるものなら, できるものならattaches to verb stem (special attachment){V-volitional}ものならattaches to volitional
Variant notes
- もんなら — もの→もん — the usual shape of either row in speech (遅刻でもしようもんなら, 帰れるもんなら), though ものなら itself is perfectly sayable there too.
Notes
premise, a volitional one always lands a bad consequence. Both take the
spoken contraction もんなら.
Related patterns
Similar
なら picks up a premise the other person has just supplied and answers it (行くなら送るよ); ものなら supplies its own premise and always evaluates it — out of reach on the potential row, reckless on the volitional one — so it never relays a topic neutrally.
たら sets up any condition and stays neutral about whether it holds (帰れたら電話する); the potential row of ものなら presupposes that it does NOT, which is why 帰れるものなら pairs with a wish or a dare and never with a plan.
Lookalikes
The もの is not the same もの — ものだ generalises about how the world IS (よく遊んだものだ), while in ものなら it has bleached to a bare hypothetical case; reading ものなら as "it is a thing that…" yields nonsense every time.