Grammar: How to use IF & WHETHER properly
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Learn how to use "if" and "whether" properly in English. Whether you like it or not, "if" and "whether" are not always interchangeable. In fact, if you use the wrong word, it can change the entire meaning of your sentence. In this lesson, we will review the uses of the two words and see how to use them in a way that will reduce confusion and clarify your ideas. How can you be sure whether to use "if" or "whether" in the proper context? Watch the lesson, and find out! www.engvid.com/...
TRANSCRIPT
Hi again. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. My name's Adam. Welcome again. Today's lesson is a grammar lesson, and this is a question that I am asked often. What is the difference between "if" and "whether"? Okay? It's a very good question. It's pretty simple, straightforward, but we're going to look at both of these in relation to each other.
First of all, let's make sure everybody understands "whether" is not spelled the same as "weather", like sunny, raining. This is about rain, sun, snow, wind, temperature; this is similar to "if", it's about having choices. Okay?
So, in some situations, "if" and "whether" are interchangeable, but the best way to not make a mistake, not to mix them up in the wrong context is to always use "if" for conditionals; always use "whether" when you're talking about two alternatives, two choices. Okay? You'll see what I mean.
When they can be interchanged. First of all, when they are used as noun clauses, means they can be the object or the subject of a sentence, they can mean the same thing. But again, avoid using them the same if you don't want to make mistakes. "Do you know if Dan is coming?" Do you know what? If Dan is coming. "Do you know whether Dan is coming?" In this case, they basically mean the same thing. Yes or no: is he coming or is he not coming? You could add the "or not?" here: "Do you know whether Dan is coming or not?" But the word "whether" already gives you a choice between yes or no in this particular case, so this is not necessary. It's understood. Okay?
Now, let's look at these two sentences: "I don't know if the exam is on Friday or Saturday.", "I don't know whether the exam is on Friday or Saturday." So here, we're looking directly at a choice. When I use "whether": "I don't know whether the exam is on Friday or Saturday." So again, you have two options when you look at "whether". Friday is one option, Saturday is another option. The problem here is if you use "if", "if" is not limited to two options. "I don't know if the exam is on Friday or Saturday, or if it's next week sometime." So here, although they seem to mean the same thing, the "if" gives you other options that the "whether" doesn't. "Whether": one, two. "If": one, two, or something completely different.
So if you want to avoid making this mistake, use "whether" for the choices, use... Save "if" for when you have your conditional sentence. Now, what is a conditional sentence? A conditional sentence is using "if" as an adverb clause. There's a condition. If "A" happens, "B" will happen. Okay? One thing needs to happen for the second thing to happen, that's the condition. So: "Let me know", oh, sorry. I forgot this word, here. "Let me know if you're coming.", "Let me know whether you're coming." In this case, they're both okay. "Let me know whether you're coming or not."
Now, what's the difference between: "Let me know if you're coming", "Let me know whether you're coming or not"? If you are coming, yes, let me know. This is a conditional. If this is true, do this. "Let me know whether you're coming or not." If you're coming, let me know; if you're not coming, let me know. So in this case, both apply. Okay? So, again, use this to... The condition. This is the condition, this is the result. Here, this is going to happen regardless. So we're going to look at this in a second in more detail. Okay?
"I'll come over if you want me to." If you want it, I will do it; if you don't want it, I will not do it. So this is the condition. If you want me to, I'll come over. This is the condition, this is the result. So your best option is to always use "if" with conditionals, use "whether" to talk about two alternatives.
Now, the other common use of "whether" is to mean "regardless". Doesn't matter what happens, regardless of the situation, here's what I want you to do. "I'm coming over whether you like it or not." Okay. "Whether you like it or not" means if you like it, I'm coming over; if you don't like it, too bad, I'm coming over. So this verb is going to happen regardless of this situation.
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If I met Adam today, I would thank him for his wonderful English lessons. I will give him a big Thank- You hug whether he likes it or not.
Jess Maya me too😀 he is wenderful teacher
Terrific!I did love it
Wow snavvy teacher
lol nice exercise xD
If you upload more english videos, we'll watch them.
Whether you watch them or not, Adam's gonna continue teaching us.
Der König perfect!
+Der König Cool example haha!
+Life Happened "gonna" is correct! In real life people don't say "going to" unless they're in a very formal situation, or if they tend to speak way slow! Btw, I'm talking about the spoken English!
+Juan Pablo Ledesma And what if it's the written English?
Tobacco Worm Depends on the person you're writing to. e.g. If you write to your friends, it basically means that the situation is informal, but if you write to your boss or somebody else who you show respect, then use the formal way. Even though nowadays the language has been changing over the time. Today we have been adopting a lot of terms that in the past were considered part of an informal language. :)
Whether you like it or not, the explanation was EXCELLENT. thanks
Whether you understand it or not
Yes
Thank you very much I've been struggling with "whether" since I started to learn English, i searched on internet pages and I seemed very difficult to me, but this explanation made it make sense to me, thank you again!
Hi adam, you are the best teacher
+Santiago Bula one of the best rather
certainly he is explains very perfectly
Because of that he is one of the best
sadly he never responds :D
Toll
Good explanation! Thanks.
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Perfect explanation! Finally got it.
Good work for foreigners to understand english language , Mr.Adam
Hey Adam! Your lessons are very good buddy! Super easy to understand. I am from Brazil, I am studying English in Canberra at the moment and your lessons are helping me a lot on my study. Your videos are the best :) cheers
Whether you read this or not: You are a Great Teacher. Thank you.
I'm brasilian and I'm learning English and you very helped me. Thanks, I I was very happy when I saw that the video was subtitled in Portuguese.
I can understand all that you say your english is very clear thankyou
THANK YOU SO MUCH my test is today about if and whether in indirect speech i didn't know when to use them so thank you this is incredibly helpful (:
hi teacher Adam, I am a new student since last month and I really understand your teaching and I am very happy to have a teacher like you.
After watching this video many times and taking your quiz test, now I clearly got it.
What you want to say is that both if and whether can be used interchangably in a sentence , but imply different meaning. Sometimes we can only use one of them. Which one has to be used , has nothing to do with a specific type of sentence, instead it has much to do with what the speaker implies. A sentence that contains two different options, does not necessarily mean to have whether in itself. If it says two options but implies more than two, we use 'if'. Similarly if a sentence contains neither of the options but strictly implies two options, we mandatorily have to write whether instead of 'if'.
For conditionals, use if.
For mentioning the fact that implies the idea of 'regardlessness, use whether.
thank you for sharing your knowledge, I've been having difficulty in my pronunciation, and really want to improve. Godbless, continue sharing your knowledge, It is really helpful!
i will visit your chanel everyday whether you are upload new videos or not. I love the way Adam explain. he is a great tuitor
Me encantan tus tutoriales porque explicas sutilezas del idioma. Thanks for your lessons.
Whether you read this or not I want to thank you for all this really useful videos, I"ve even learnt how to speak as a native speaker thanks to you and I've only watched a handfull of your videos so far...
Hi Adam!
you're my favorite teacher , thanks so much for your lesson :D
for the lesson
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Mehmet Yusuf e
If my name were Mahmet yusuf, I would avoid to say F*CKin as hell.
Dear Adam, Thanks so much. I’m learning a lot from you. I will continue to watch your lessons.
Knows the subject and explains very lucidly and succinctly
You're such a very skillful teacher😍
a very simple and informative lesson, thanks a lot 👍
Adam, that's incredible how you describe this rule so brilliantly - I have been trying to understand the concept of conditionals since I was in middle school (over 10 years ago) and until this day I was not so sure about this topic. After your - literally - two sentences describing an example of a conditional, I stopped the video and started laughing with joy that I finally understood what it was all about! I'm in awe of your ability to share the knowledge so straightforwardly, without disturbing or unnecessary comments which I often saw in other English lesson videos. I've subscribed to your channel immediately and can't wait to learn from your other videos! Thank you so much for your work. It already made my life easier, and I'm just getting started! :)
Fantastic explanation. I got caught off guard when asked this question in my English class last night. I just said that they're basically interchangeable but there is a rule for it. "I'll teach it in detail next class."As a native English speaker we use if and whether without even thinking about it and I've hardly ever thought about the grammar aspect. Very interesting. Thanks.
Hi! I loved the way you teach! It's quite easy to understand!
Congratulations and keep up the nice job!
Thanks Adam. You are a good teacher and handsome too!
no homo tho
Not more than you paulino...
What a wonderful teacher he is...wow......i have no words...to appreciate him
He is a good teacher who explains very well.
The conjunction 'if' & 'whether' are so similar & tricky to use. Actually, I didn't know the differences between if & whether exactly & completely. Anyway, thanks a lot for a great lesson.
Takehiko Mori I agree with you. After watching this program I took my dictionary to check the pronuncition (whether & weather). It is exactly the same.
I have found that only whether may be before to+ verb e.g. Have you decided whether to accept the offer yet? and after a proposition e.g. ...the problem of whether to accept the offer.
Anyway Adam is great. He encouraged me to learn more about "whether":)
Renata Matsili
HI, thanks for your comment. Yes, 'whether' & 'weather' are homophones & they sometimes cause confusion. Well, I'm enjoying & learning a lot from his & other engVid teachers' video too.
what a important lesson!!! i do liked it!!
The important
I love how you teach! it's very useful to me because this year I have to do the FCE and it's quite hard, I'm from Argentina and all the videos from you and the other teachers help me a lot! you speak very clear to me and I understand almost all, keep doing this!!
would you please help my improve english conversation.😊😊😊
Thanks Adam. You clarified it for me very skillfully.
in love of him!
I'm not sure ... Because I don't know if he loves me?. You know ... But thank for the correction!. :)
Haha
Good day! :)
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Maria Claudia Angeles
But whether and weather are the same pronounce, isn't?
Yes ! But your understanding depends on The Context.
Homonyms
@@starlightwhispers6781 homophones
Let me know if you're comming.
Let me know whether you're comming.
I have never thought about this difference and I'm a little bit surprised how great it is. But you, Adam, explained it as clear as you always do. Thank you for that.
Thanks from Russia! This lesson is real closure of putting a dot above an i.
I think I had started understanding these differences between them somewhere in past while reading, watching and listening.
He makes the difficult easier. Thank you teacher !
Adam, you are an excellent teacher with a natural talent to convey knowledge so well!
Good heavens, finally I got that right! Whether and if have been always a problem for me! Thanks a lot!
I appreciate you had wonderful explain to the two different words.
Here, I raise a question that how to distinguish the phrases "whether or" and "either or" when I prepared for the TOEIC test. Listed below are the two cloze questions.
1. When John had to decide "_________" to apply for a new job or keep his old one, he kept his old job because there were not that many job opportunities available.
(A) whether
(B) either
The answer is (A)
2. A majority of the customers who completed the survey rated Sasaki mobile phones as "_________" good or excellent.
(A) whether
(B) either
The answer is (B)
It seems like the meaning of the options (A) or (B) is to pick up the choices following the blanks respectively.
I'll thank for taking time to reply those questions.
adam sir your teaching method are very excellent even non native English speaker also easily understand your lesson ---- a man from Asia at India
Your lesson contains lots of precious information. Thank you!
Thanks very much Mr.Adam for this nice video, you are my favorite English Teacher. The way you Teach and explain is absolutely fantastic.
you're the number one in explaining wether all the people in the world know it or not
thanks ser
my english improve
You’re lessons are very useful Gracias 😊
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Grammar is fascinating, whether we agree on it or not; but if we stick around Adam and team EngVid will help us master it.
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Thank you, teacher. Great class, and the transcript helps a lot.
Very clear explanation. Thank you, Adam!
Thank you Adam for your classes. You are a great teacher. You explain very well in a short time.
you're the best teacher that I've ever had, sir.
Simplicity and precise information make engvid video best for learning
Thank you a lot Adam, this lesson helped me a lot , very useful thanks again
Whether you see this comment or not, I wanna say you that u are good tutor and smart Person!! Thank you for given this opportunity to be fluently.. God Bless you Sir.
Adam e Ronnie os melhores professores do EngVid.
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This was quite useful! Thank you very much!
Your teaching is easy to understand and easy to use. I love to watch your videos, Adam !
This is one of the most tricky topics in English, so your video is one of the most seen; it would be great if you create a new video and you go over step by step and give more examples.
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Best wishes
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Decent guy with a great approach towards teaching...
I'll learn more the English Grammar if I watch your videos.
I'll watch your videos, whether I have private classes or not.
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Thank you so much as for me this class is too help full for under standing the meaning
He is the best teacher. Thanks
Today is Thanksgiving so We thank you for your lessons :-)the explanations you give us really help ! It 's easy to understand and We can tell you really like what you do ! Have a wonderful day.
Hi Adam. Many thanks for your effort. Please let us show some more examples like by vs from, in vs in to vs into, with vs along with etc. 🙏
Thanks for your teaching, Adam, that's much easy to understand what is the difference between them
Nice! I'm a student of english. I got portuguese like my first language. Thanks to you I'm learning too many things!
Thank you Adam. As usual, very clear and informative your explanations!
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The best English teacher ever ❤
Thank you so much for this video.
Gonna Know about whether
I like your lessons ..so easy to understand and I could see how nice you are thank you
Adam, great as usual!
I wanna know the difference between (entire - whole ), (local - domestic)
Thank you for this video, it is short but very well explained.
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I refer to Adam's lectures if I need clarifications in my grammar structures.
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It's a really good explanation. Thank you Adam.
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