What does it mean when someone says if and when?
The idiom “If and when X, (consequence)” has the meaning “if X happens, then when X happens, (consequence)”. In other words, the “(consequence)” will not happen unless X happens, and will not happen before X happens.
How do you use if?
In speaking, we often use if to introduce a polite request. If is usually followed by modal verbs will, would, can or could when it is used to be polite: If you’ll just tell Julie that her next client is here.
What is the word if in grammar?
The word “if” is categorized under conjunctions because it connects the clauses “you can walk” and “the rain stops.”
Does if/then need a comma?
“If, then” statements require commas to separate the two clauses that result. If I use correct punctuation, then I will include commas where necessary. If Hillary Clinton wins the election in 2008, then she will become the first female president. Even when the statement drops the word then, a comma must be used.
How do you use if in a sentence?
In these sentences we use the simple present in the if clause and the simple future in the result clause. If you work hard, you will succeed. If you ask him, he will help you….Examples:
- If he comes, ask him to wait.
- If it rains, we will get wet.
- If you study hard, you will pass your exam.
Where do we use if and indirect speech?
We can use if or whether to report indirect yes-no questions and questions with or. If is more common than whether: Call the bakeries around town and find out if any of them sell raspberry pies. I rang Peter from the station and asked if I could drop in to see him before going back or if he’d meet me.
How do you use if and when in a sentence?
We use if to introduce a possible or unreal situation or condition. We use when to refer to the time of a future situation or condition that we are certain of: You can only go in if you’ve got your ticket.
When were vs if?
• Both the words, if and when, are used as conjunction, but if is used as a conditional conjunction while when is used as a conjunction indicative of the time. These are the differences between if and when. However, they both can either be used at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence.
Does grammar really matter when we learn English?
Because English grammar is usually seen in such a negative sense, it is all the more important that people replace those lies with the truth that learning English grammar really is important for anyone who wants to have a proper perspective of the English language.
When to use if?
You use if when there’s uncertainty about whether the event will happen at all. It’s quite common — especially in informal contexts — to use when/if as a shorthand way of signifying when, but allowing for the possibility that the event in question may not in fact occur.
use “as if” in a sentence. it looks as if he were sick. it sounds as if the government doesn’t know what to do. He behaves as if he were somebody. He looked as if he had been ill. He shook his head as if to say No. i’m not a child, but sometimes you talk to me as if i were a child. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten for days.