syntax.conditional-stacking

What it flags

Sentences that chain multiple conditional clauses. Each if / when / unless / quand / si opens a branch the reader must keep on a mental stack until the outer clause resolves; two or three of them stacked in one sentence is a known load multiplier for readers with aphasia, ADHD, and anyone reading under cognitive pressure. Plain-language guidelines (FALC, plainlanguage.gov) recommend splitting conditional chains into separate sentences or a bullet list.

At a glance

Detection

Per sentence, count the conditional connectors and report counts above max_conditionals.

• English — sum of word-bounded matches against the language list (if, unless, when, whenever, while, until, provided, assuming, in case, as long as, as soon as, even if, only if).
• French — sum of word-bounded matches against the language list (si, sauf si, à moins que, à moins de, quand, lorsque, lorsqu', dès que, tant que, pourvu que, à condition que, à condition de, au cas où, même si, en cas de) plus the elliptic clitics s'il / s'ils.

Parameters

Examples

Three conditionals, colour-matched across the rewrite — position already pairs them, the tint just confirms each branch carries through. lucid-lint reports; the rewrite is always yours.

English

Before (flagged):

If we ship, when the build passes, unless the gate fails, we deploy.

What lucid-lint check --profile public reports:

warning input.md:1:1 Sentence stacks 3 conditional clauses (maximum 2). Split the conditions across separate sentences or convert them to a bullet list. [syntax.conditional-stacking]

After (your rewrite):

We deploy when all three checks hold:

• the ship command ran,
• the build passes,
• the gate does not fail.

French

Before (flagged):

Si nous expédions, quand le test passe, à moins que la barrière échoue, nous déployons.

Three conditional connectors (si, quand, à moins que). French rewrite to come with the FR translation pass.

Known false positives

The English list mixes pure conditionals with temporal conjunctions (when, while) that often introduce conditional-like sub-clauses. Pure-temporal usages may produce a false positive on long sentences. Use disable-next-line when the temporal reading is unambiguous.

Suppression

See Suppressing diagnostics.

See also

• syntax.nested-negation
• structure.deep-subordination
• Conditions

References

• Johnson-Laird & Byrne (1991)
• Evans & Over (2004)
• Gibson (1998)

See References for the full bibliography.