Jun 8, 2005 18:38
19 yrs ago
6 viewers *
English term

"if" or "when"

English Marketing Linguistics wording
"We are only satisfied *** you are too."

Which word would you use in this typical marketing slogan and why?

It is the last statement finishing off a list titled "Mutual success".

Thank you for your help. :-)

Discussion

Non-ProZ.com Jun 15, 2005:
BTW I really like the different suggestions for wording the sentence, but my client was bent on using this construction. ;-)
Non-ProZ.com Jun 15, 2005:
I couldn't select Armaat's answer so we went with "if" (unlike I wrote in my comment on the suggestion selected). ;-)
Craig Meulen Jun 9, 2005:
Here's the fourth agree for armaat's answer!
Ken Cox Jun 9, 2005:
And thirded. You could also say '...unless your are' - the difference being 'when' in the first case (armaat's suggestion) and 'if' in the second case, as per Cilian's explanation.
Andy Watkinson Jun 9, 2005:
Seconded.
Can Altinbay Jun 8, 2005:
armaat, you should submit this as an answer so I can agree with you. It's the best of the lot.
Melanie Nassar Jun 8, 2005:
I would say, "We're not satisfied until you are."

Responses

+9
4 mins
Selected

if or when

if you use "when" it means you're going to keep trying until they are satisfied, which you expect but you don't know when it's going to happen

using "if" means you're uncertain that it will occur in the first place

hopefully not too confusing
Peer comment(s):

agree Refugio : Right, "if" seems to imply more of a money-back policy, while "when" seems to imply that they will do what they can to make it right.
2 mins
agree Marian Greenfield
5 mins
agree Attila Piróth
13 mins
agree Johan Venter
13 mins
agree Kim Metzger : Michael Swan says: use 'when' if you're sure sth will happen, 'if' you're unsure whether it will happen or not. (Practical English Usage)
45 mins
agree Madeleine MacRae Klintebo : When is more positive (and I'd skip the 'too')
46 mins
agree Charlie Bavington : that's the difference alright - I would think Derek probably needs to use "when"
2 hrs
agree pearl1
8 hrs
agree Gareth McMillan : Agree- time factor rather than positivity (is that a word?). // Hi! Of course electronegativity's a word.......doesn't he play for Man United?
14 hrs
well, if electronegativity is a word... (Hi BTW)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you Cilian. My client wanted (and got) "it". ;-)"
+4
7 mins

when

my choice, because it is more positive i.e. "it is only a question of time before we accomplish our task to give you full satisfaction"
whereas IF is conditional and thus somewhat questionable
Peer comment(s):

agree Melanie Nassar : I agree that it's more positive
10 mins
agree Eva Olsson
2 hrs
agree Laurens Landkroon
3 hrs
agree KNielsen : Absolutely right.
5 hrs
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+1
7 mins

when

Although both are fine grammatically, and have the same meaning, I think "when" is somewhat more positive. If you use "if" then you admit: it can happen that the client will not satisfied. If you use "when" then you may argue that it is only a question of time that the client will be satisfied.
You can also use "if and when" but it is very heavy-going.

Peer comment(s):

agree KNielsen : Right.
5 hrs
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46 mins

if you are

I cannot see how you can use "when" unless you change the tense of the verb. We will only be satisfied when you are
We are only satisfied if you are.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

unless

:)
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+2
2 hrs

Once you're satisfied - we're satisfied

As marketing slogans go, I think this one is back to front - starts talking about the supplier first, then the customer. Also a bit short of pith - it's too wordy as it stands. And I think the sense is not if or when, but until.
So I would do it this way. Possibly "Only when you're satisfied arer we satisfied."
Peer comment(s):

agree Christine Andersen : Quite the best solution!
5 mins
agree Linda 969 : yes the customer should come first
11 hrs
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+4
5 hrs
English term (edited): We are only satisfied *** you are too.

We’re satisfied only when you are.

ProZ is the site where you come with a simple question and go away with a headache!

OK, let’s see what you have:
Title: Mutual success [I thought this was all about mutual satisfaction...]
Last statement:
"We are only satisfied *** you are too."
Your question: Which word would you use in this typical marketing slogan and why?

First of all, drop that ‘too’.
Most people seem to agree that ‘when’ is more positive than ‘if’--so let’s use ‘when’ in these examples.

One question to answer is, do you want ‘satisfied’ once or twice, e.g.
- We are only satisfied when you are.
or
- We are only satisfied when you are satisfied.

Do you want ‘We are’ or a contracted ‘We’re’?
- We’re only satisfied when you are. [A contracted form would be wrong if ‘you are’ is not followed by satisfied.]
or
- We’re only satisfied when you’re satisfied.

The strong tendency is to place ‘only’ right before the verb, but grammarians insist that the best placement is precisely before the words intended to be limited.

So your ‘grammatically correct’ options are:
- We are satisfied only when you are.
- We are satisfied only when you are satisfied.
- We’re satisfied only when you are.
[The fourth option didn’t sound good to me.]

‘If’ is still valid but, as we’ve said, not positive enough.
In any case, I found a few:
- We are satisfied only if you are.

The present tenses describe a habit: this is the sort of promise we make to all our customers. But we can look at it as the future promise we make to the customer as he walks into our shop. We can then use the future tense in our main clause (but not in the if- or when- clause).
- We will only be satisfied when you are (satisfied).
- We’ll only be satisfied when you are (satisfied).
- We will be satisfied only when you are (satisfied).
- We’ll be satisfied only when you are.

But you don’t have to restrict yourself to if’s and when’s. Google will always provide a few more variations.
There’s also ‘until’:
- We’re never satisfied until you are. (49 Google hits)
- We’ll never be satisfied until you are.
And ‘unless’:
- We will never be satisfied unless you are.
- We cannot be satisfied unless you are satisfied.
Or a different order in the you’s and we’s:
- If you're not satisfied, we're not satisfied.

Now if you don’t want to be so laconic and decide to show some enthusiasm, here are a couple of variations (always found in Google):
- We will not be satisfied unless you are completely overjoyed with your purchase.
Or from this Italian Walking & Cycling Agency:
- We are satisfied only when You are very happy, absolutely satisfied and completely
relaxed!!!

How’s the headache?

Now all of the above are valid, used by people on their sites, though admittedly not all of them in Anglo-Saxon countries.
Which one would I use? Well, I like my only’s correctly positioned, so:

- We’re satisfied only when you are.

But people are more likely to say:

- We’re only satisfied when you are.

But then I’ve got a headache too after all this.
Peer comment(s):

agree Vicky Papaprodromou : Hahahaha... And YOU' RE SATISFIED WITH OUR HEADACHE ONLY WHEN YOU CAUSE IT... Have I ever told you I adore your sense of humour?//Not only headache but also fever??? :-) ... Thought you never blush...
31 mins
Is there an emoticon for 'you make me blush'?
agree Oso (X) : ¶:^D !!!
6 hrs
Exactly!
agree Craig Meulen : I'll have to archive this answer - as an English trainer who repeatedly has to explain the difference between "when" and "if" to German speakers ..... But I prefer not to give my participants a headache!!
8 hrs
In fact, I skirted the 'if' issue, as that had already been covered. If I'd thrown that in, we'd be talking of 'major headache'.
agree James Girard : We are only satisfied when you are.
15 hrs
Thanks, J.
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18 hrs

if and when

I would use the two prepositions together, this stresses the fact that it is essential (if) and will happen sooner or later (when).
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1 day 2 hrs
English term (edited): We are only satisfied *** you are too

once/if

We are only satisfied once our clients are satisfied.
If, for any reason, you are not satisfied...

"When" is rarely used in this context.
Something went wrong...
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