Grammar-Quizzes › Connectors › Connective Prepositions › If vs. When
If vs. When
Express a singular condition vs. a recurring action
If—conditional vs. If / When / Whenever—cause-effect
| IF—CONDITION | |
|---|---|
An if phrase often signals that a condition will follow. That is, if relates a clause with a requirement. "Only after X happens will Y happen." The condition is a singular event that triggers the indicated response. The speaker does not know whether the activity in the if phrase will occur. Present and past tenses with habitual meaning do not occur in this usage, nor do progressive tenses (as duration is not the focus.) |
|
| ACTIVITY | CONDITION (REQUIREMENT) |
| MAIN CLAUSE | IF + CLAUSE (PP) |
We will buy some CFL bulbs |
if these do not work. "provided that" |
We will buy less-toxic products |
if we can find them.
|
We will walk to the store |
if it is near us.
|
*We will be recycling the old light bulbs |
*if the store is accepting them.
|
| IF / WHEN — EFFECT AND CAUSE | |
|---|---|
An if or when phrase can express a routine response to a situation . That is, if or when relates a clause with timing (frequency). "Anytime X occurs, Y results." That X will occur is predictable (if) or expected (when). The speaker knows that the activity in the if or when phrase is likely to occur. When expresses more certainty than if. Present and past tenses with habitual meaning occur in this usage, but not progressive tenses. |
|
| ROUTINE ACTIVITY | TIME–RELATED ACTIVITY |
| MAIN CLAUSE | WHEN + CLAUSE |
We usually buy CFL bulbs |
if/when we need light bulbs. "on the occasion that" |
We look for less-toxic products |
whenever we buy cleaning products. "any occasion that" frequency |
We walk to the store |
anytime we can. "any occasion that" frequency |
*We are recycling the old light bulbs |
*whenever the store is accepting them. "any occasion that" frequency |
if – (1) expresses a condition "X provided that", a singular point in time (conditional adjunct preposition); (2) expresses timing "whenever"; any point in time (temporal adjunct preposition); marks a subordinate clause in a yes-no questions (subordinate marker). See If/Whether.
CFL – compact fluorescent light bulb
recyclable (Adj) – can be treated (reprocessed) and reused
when–expresses a point in time (temporal location ) "at the time"
whenever – expresses "any point in time" (temporal frequency) "anytime"
[if + clause] is a prepositional phrase— if is a connective preposition that takes a clause as its complement (and a few other word forms).
(Huddleston 6 §3.3.18, 8 §9[9],12 §6.4) See Grammar Notes for details.
Punctuation
Commas
Clause Position and Comma Use
| INITIAL-POSITION | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IF PHRASE | EFFECT CLAUSE |
If I need light bulbs, |
I buy them. |
If had time, |
I visited my friends. |
A comma separates the condition, a prepositional phrase headed by | FINAL -POSITION | |
|---|---|
|
|
| EFFECT CLAUSE | IF PHRASE |
I buy light bulbs |
if I need them. |
I visited my friends |
if I had time. |
No comma is used when the
Common Mistakes
Error and Solution
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
|---|
If I went shopping, I was taking a cloth bag. |
|
| SOLUTION |
|---|
If I went shopping, I took a cloth bag (1 event or multiple events, customary) |
If I went shopping, *I would take a cloth bag (multiple events, customary, 'used to') |
Grammar Notes
Traditional Grammar and Current Description
Traditional and Linguistic Description
| TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR | LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
If-clauses "also called adverb clauses present possible conditions. The main clause expresses result." (Azar 17-6, 20-2)
When and if. To talk about repeated, predictable situations and events (in the sense of 'whenever'), both when and if can be used with little difference in meaning. When / If you heat ice it turns to water. When / If I'm in Liverpool I usually stay with my sister. (Swan 618)
|
If "Multiple Situations" 8 §14.1.1 If—frequency adjunct— If he has time, he (usually) visits us. "In cases like this, if implies when, and as with adjuncts of temporal location like when phrases there will often be an accompanying frequency adjunct..." (743) When—temporal location expression—When he has time, he (usually) visits us. ( 6 §3.3.18, 8 §9.11) Whenever/ Everytime (8 §9.11) "frequency adjuncts" |
Works Cited
- Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
- Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum."Reciprocals." The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Swan, Michael. "Each other and one another." Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice
Energy Conservation
Coordinate the present and past real-conditional verb forms
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-16" button.
- Then – refers to a time in the past (before we were concerned about conservation.)
- Now – refers to the present.