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  • 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. Okay? So that's when we must also use the "or not". Remember here,

  • I said "or not" can come out because it's understood here. Here are your two options.

  • Here, it's not about options. Here, it's about saying something is regardless. Doesn't matter

  • what you like, what you don't like - I'm coming over. Okay? "I'm coming over if you like it",

  • it means: you like it, I'm coming; you don't like it, I'm not coming. Okay?

  • So: "whether", to talk about regardless, you must have the "or not". To give the options,

  • you don't need the "or not". If, in a noun clause-means this situation-is the object

  • of "know". Know what? If he is coming. Yes or no. Here, it's a conditional. So first

  • of all, you must understand: is it a noun clause object or is it an adverb clause condition?

  • So, to avoid making mistakes, especially in written English: use "if" for conditionals,

  • use "whether" for alternatives or to mean "regardless". Okay? It's a little bit tricky,

  • but when you see more examples, it will become much clearer.

  • So if you want to see more examples, come to www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there that

  • will test your understanding of this. Ask any questions you have on the comments section.

  • Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Come back. I'll see you again. Bye.

Hi again. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. My name's Adam. Welcome again. Today's lesson

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