Grammar: How to use IF & WHETHER properly
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2015
- 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/grammar-if-whet...
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.
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. :)
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
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!
Good explanation! Thanks.
Whether you like him or not, he remains one of the best english teachers i ever seen.
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
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 (:
Me encantan tus tutoriales porque explicas sutilezas del idioma. Thanks for your lessons.
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!
Hi! I loved the way you teach! It's quite easy to understand!
Congratulations and keep up the nice job!
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.
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.
These lessons are so precious 💖 I rewatch them almost everyday, especially in summertime 'cause I wanna improve my English skills 💕💕💞
Good work for foreigners to understand english language , Mr.Adam
Dear Adam, Thanks so much. I’m learning a lot from you. I will continue to watch your lessons.
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
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
Hi Adam!
you're my favorite teacher , thanks so much for your lesson :D
for the lesson
Charismatic, talented, perfect teacher! Thank you for interesting lessons! I'm an English teacher, and my great respect to you !
Your teaching is easy to understand and easy to use. I love to watch your videos, Adam !
a very simple and informative lesson, thanks a lot 👍
I can understand all that you say your english is very clear thankyou
Adam, you are an excellent teacher with a natural talent to convey knowledge so well!
Thank you Adam for your classes. You are a great teacher. You explain very well in a short time.
You're such a very skillful teacher😍
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.
Thank you Adam. As usual, very clear and informative your explanations!
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! :)
what a important lesson!!! i do liked it!!
The important
you're fuckin cool as hell. Believe that, I have been in Usa for 2 years and I saw many many different kind of teacher I have never seen like you a teacher because you're explanation is so clearly, thanks coolest teacher
Mehmet Yusuf e
If my name were Mahmet yusuf, I would avoid to say F*CKin as hell.
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, I have been watching your videos for a few weeks now and I really like them.The way you explain things is really very helpfull. Thank you so much for you lessons!!
Thanks Adam. You are a good teacher and handsome too!
no homo tho
Not more than you paulino...
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! :)
wow, many people in love with adam xD
Effortless English yep! :P
Maria Claudia Angeles
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.
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.😊😊😊
But whether and weather are the same pronounce, isn't?
Yes ! But your understanding depends on The Context.
Homonyms
@@starlightwhispers6781 homophones
Hi Adam,Thanks a lot. You are just an awesome teacher. I find your lecture abosolutely instructive, easy to follow, and fun. It is so easy to follow your great examples. Thanks for the good job!Khos
Thanks very much Mr.Adam for this nice video, you are my favorite English Teacher. The way you Teach and explain is absolutely fantastic.
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.
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.
Thanks Adam. You clarified it for me very skillfully.
Thank you, teacher. Great class, and the transcript helps a lot.
Adam, you are a good teacher! Thanks for sharing, this is v useful!
I love watching your videos.
Wow, definitely you're the best teacher!!!! Thank you so much 💕 this lesson was incredible 🎉
Best wishes
Very clear explanation. Thank you, Adam!
I loved the class, Adam! Thank you very much!
Thank you a lot Adam, this lesson helped me a lot , very useful thanks again
you're the best teacher that I've ever had, sir.
Thanks for your teaching, Adam, that's much easy to understand what is the difference between them
When I Listen to all the Engvid teachers I can understand perfectly without uses the Subtitle. It's awesome.
Perfect explanation! Finally got it.
Adam, great as usual!
I wanna know the difference between (entire - whole ), (local - domestic)
Hello teacher Adan! Thanks for your excellents lessons. I had learnt a lot with them. God bless you and your work. Big hug!
You're doing great, Adam! Best wishes from Russia! Strangely enough, I learnt this particular subject intuitively and I have never made a mistake (so far). Today, I've finally known the rules :)
Your lesson contains lots of precious information. Thank you!
he is one of my favorite teachers ,,he makes it simple and clear
You are amazin, the way you teach is perfect!
Thank you so much for these videos.
Your lectures is very helpful for us you are my best teacher .Thank you so much Adam Sir.
Adam e Ronnie os melhores professores do EngVid.
Knows the subject and explains very lucidly and succinctly
It's a really good explanation. Thank you Adam.
Good heavens, finally I got that right! Whether and if have been always a problem for me! Thanks a lot!
Thank you Adam for the lessons!
You make it so clear! Thanks a lot 👊🏽
Hi Adam!
You are really great👍😊
After watching that video, the concept of if and whether is clear now.
Thanks
You are a great teacher I learnt a lot from you thank you !!
you're the number one in explaining wether all the people in the world know it or not
thanks ser
my english improve
Thank you, you don't know how was is essential for me.Never stop you are the best
Excellent, you’re the best teacher for me now omg👏🏻👏🏻
thanks for your lesson. Very helpful and your explanation is very straight forward.
Great lesson on if/weather. I understand the concept much better now. Thanks ❤
Great job! I like it so much! I am brazilian and I am learning English and I am so glad I understood what you said in this video and your explanation
Thank you very much indeed!. This lesson is great and helpful
He makes the difficult easier. Thank you teacher !
Hey Adam, I like so much your vídeos. it helps me a lot!
love ur teaching so much, I'm improving my eng currently :3
You’re lessons are very useful Gracias 😊
Dear Teacher Adam,I like your teaching skill so much. Keep it up. THANK YOU~
Thanks u sir
Your teach I am very satisfied
He is a good teacher who explains very well.
Nice! I'm a student of english. I got portuguese like my first language. Thanks to you I'm learning too many things!
Hi Adam! Thanks for your lessons! Really useful!
Thanks so much Mr Adam for your lesson, it is useful for me.
This was quite useful! Thank you very much!
Thanks so much... it is so clear! thanks for sharing. Greetings and blessings from Mexico
Hello Mr Adam, this video is GREAT, REALLY HELPFUL!!!
I like your lessons ..so easy to understand and I could see how nice you are thank you
Thanks alot Mr Adam .your way is simple and enjoyable thanks again
Thank you for this video, it is short but very well explained.
Thank you so much as for me this class is too help full for under standing the meaning
adam sir your teaching method are very excellent even non native English speaker also easily understand your lesson ---- a man from Asia at India
Thank you , you do great job . I learn a lot every video you upload
Adam, you are the best!! Thanks!
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.
I love that teacher
His pronunciation, method, etc
Thanks
It´s a very good explanation! I really didn't know how to use them in appropriate sentence.
This video is so interesting for me because can I see always always when I need learn more about my English thank you brother
Very clear to me. Many thanks! Regards from Mex City
Thank you Adam! Very clear as always
Thanks alot Mr.Adam......its really so informative and helpful.......