Conversational Expressions with IF: Real Conditionals in English

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Let’s go over the tasks from our previous lesson.

I asked you two questions. First:

The answer is no.

Don’t confuse two different uses of IF. IF doesn’t always state a condition that goes along with a result.

IF can mean “whether” or “whether or not” in an embedded question.

The sentence could be rewritten as:

A yes-no question is implied: Should I buy the course? Yes or no?

So "if" when used as "whether" presents a choice.

Buy or not buy? Yes or no?

This isn’t a conditional sentence with an if-clause and a result. Instead we have one independent clause:

I can’t decide. Decide what? The object of the verb is a noun clause, an embedded question.

To learn more, watch my lesson on embedded questions.

Here's the second question I asked.

A few of you posted your ideas, and you had really helpful answers. Let's look at three.

Claire wrote that in the first sentence...

In the second sentence...

Ra'ed agrees. He wrote...

Here's more insight.

So to sum up, we cannot replace IF with WHEN as easily as we did in present and past real conditionals.

The meaning difference is too big in these future conditionals about real or likely situations.

Using WHEN would make the situation sound certain.

Now let’s talk at the bonus task. I asked you to complete these sentences with your own ideas.

You came up with reall good examples. And very funny ones, too! Let’s take a look.

Let's take a look at the first.

I would change this because the focus should be on what you want to do and what you intend to do,

not what you're going to let someone else do.

So how about we say, "If it's all right with you, I'm going out."

Like, "Do you have any objections?"

That's a good one.

Wilfried wrote...

Good example. Let's add an exclamation point.

Okay. Susana wrote...

Let's use a contraction to be consistent.

That sounds very appropriate for a work context.

You're agreeing on the schedule. Next...

So choose: Either "If they continue bothering me, I'll scream" OR

"If they bother me one more time..." Let's do that.

Gabriel wrote...

That works.

That's good. It expresses the right amount of frustration behind that expression. Good.

Marat, you wrote:

Very good example. It's something many of us might say when we need permission to leave

and we're asking nicely...in a friendly, but polite way.

Well, if you don't like barbecue sauce, that makes sense.

If you'd like to see more of my corrections to student examples, then visit me on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone who posted an example.

It’s important to remember in these real conditionals about the future, we don’t use WILL in the if-clause.

We use a present tense verb.

In the result clause, we can use WILL, BE GOING TO, or a modal verb

The bonus task asked you to use two expressions that are fairly common in conversation.

You’ll find that first one especially useful.

That's a nice, friendly way to make a request or state an intention.

A variation is: If it’s okay with you…

…So if it’s okay with you, I’d like to share more conversational expressions with if-clauses.

These expressions work well with real conditionals about different time periods. There are five expressions.

Here’s a similar expression for making requests or stating your intentions in a nice way.

A coworker asks you about a report, "Is it ready?"

You can say...

A related expression is: If you’ll excuse me…

This is an exception to the rule about not using IF and WILL together.

"If you'll excuse me" (= if you're willing to excuse me) is a set expression and it’s a polite way to excuse yourself to leave or exit a room.

This expression kind of assumes that your listener will agree and not try to stop you.

Here’s an expression you can use to make a kind offer to just about anyone...a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a classmate.

The modal verb CAN is good for everyday conversation. We’re stating what we’re willing and able to do.

The next expression works with IF or WHEN because we’re talking about a real situation in the present or past .

If you think about it,… allows us to present something we think is very logical.

Our final expression is a fun one with some attitude.

We add this to a clear intention or a promise.

I’ll take my first example from a song sung by the famous American singer Frank Sinatra.

The song is called “If It’s the Last Thing I Do.”

Frank Sinatra sings...

The man is promising to win a woman’s heart. It’s the one thing he hopes to do before he dies.

Can you think of another example? How about this one?

We’re just about done with this lesson, so let me tell you what your homework is.

First, answer this question.

I’ll confirm the answer in the next lesson.

For your bonus task, I’d like you to finish this sentence with your own ideas.

Post your ideas in the comments.

And remember if you share examples, I might use them in my next video.

That's all for now. I'll see you again soon for another lesson on conditionals.

Please remember to like this video and subscribe.

Thanks for watching and happy studies!