if

The word “if” has a strong effect on a sentence. Use “if” to  consider things that might or might not happen. This is also an essential word for making conditional sentences.  

  • Roger doesn’t know if he can go. 
  • Do you know what would happen if I mix these two things together? 
  • It’ll be too dangerous if we travel in the dark. 
  • Beatrice doesn’t know if she will stay or go. 
  • If the house costs too much, we won’t be able to afford it. 

if 

a. if = a possible situation

Some situations are dependent on a variety of possibilities. That’s when you need to use “if.” 

  • If it rains today, we will need to bring an umbrella. 
  • I’m not sure if this old phone still works. 
  • If we leave early, we might be able to get good seats at the game. 
  • Don’t buy any lettuce at the store if it looks old and wilted. 
  • Raya doesn’t know if she has to work next week. 
  • If I had known the beans were bad, I wouldn’t have planted them. (This is a past conditional sentence. You’ll learn about conditional sentences in Section B.) 
  • Do you know if the weather will be nice next week? 

a. if = a possible situation

Young woman with hand near face in green foliage
  • Raya doesn’t know if she has to work next week. 
  • If she doesn’t get enough hours at work, she will have to to look for a different job. 
  • If you know of a good company that is hiring new employees, you should tell Raya about it.  

Note: The word “if” can go at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.

b. using "if" in conditional sentences

There are four main types of conditional sentences for present, past, and future situations. Notice how the verb changes in each situation. I will cover conditional sentences in a future lesson. 

  1. future situations: future conditional / first conditional
  •  You’ll be hungry later if you don’t eat breakfast now. 

2. present situations: present conditional / second conditional 

 

  •  You would be hungry if you didn’t eat breakfast. 

3. past situations: past conditional / third conditional 

 

  •  You would have been hungry if you hadn’t eaten breakfast earlier. 

4. universal truth: present conditional / zero conditional 

 

  • You become hungry if you don’t eat breakfast. 
  •  If you mix red and blue, you get purple. 
  • If you believe something is wrong, tell me. 

b. using "if" in conditional sentences

red cook pot
  •  If you leave something in the oven for too long, it will burn. 
  • If you leave something in the oven for too long, it burns. (These sentences are considering a possible situation in the future or at any time.) 
a person in a red dress holding an umbrella
  • If she didn’t have an umbrella she would get wet. 
  • If she hadn’t brought an umbrella, she would have gotten wet. 

(These are present and past conditional sentences.)

 

c. even if / only if

The phrase “even if” is used when a condition is not important or doesn’t matter for the result. 

  • We’re going to the beach tomorrow even if it rains. 
  • Even if it costs a lot of money, we still need to find a place to live. 
  • Roger is determined to be successful even if it means he’ll have to sacrifice a lot of time spent with his family. 

Use “only if” when a condition is essential or absolutely important. 

  • I’ll go watch the band perform only if there’s no cover charge. (It has to be free.) 
  • Only if you arrive early will you be able to find a good seat in the classroom.  (The class is very popular and there are a lot of people expected to show up.) 
  • Our supervisor will let us leave work early tonight only if we get all of our work finished. 

c. even if / only if

First published on December 6, 2025. 

 

You can click here to go to the English Vocabulary page.