How to Use IF and WHEN Basic English Grammar
We are rolling. Welcome back, Internet.
Welcome back to our weekly live stream.
My name is Alisha, and this week we are going
to talk about a grammar point.
We are going to talk about “if” and “when”
this week.
I’m going to talk about the difference between
these two grammar points and I’m going to
talk about some patterns you can use with
them.
A little bit of this might be a review for
some of you, but I’m also going to include,
maybe a kind of bonus grammar point about
the word “when.”
So, we have lots to do as always.
So, as everybody joins, please make sure to
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So, we’re going to start in about two minutes,
so until then, a couple of points while we
get everything loaded.
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Hello, Twitter users, Facebook users, as well.
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Jessica, Sharibar, Rosemberge, Zaidan, Habib,
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And on Facebook, Hone, Yorleni, Balk, Fareed,
Hakeem, Emmanuel, hello everybody, welcome.
Alright, so as I said, today, we’re talking
about the difference between “if” and
“when.”
We’re going to start in just a moment.
So– Look at this thumbnail they made.
Oh gosh, they made me the referee.
I’m the between “if” and “when”
for today.
Anyway, that is our topic for today.
So, I chose this topic because we talked about
this very, very quickly in a live stream a
couple of weeks ago and there were a lot of
questions about it, but also, I noticed people
make a lot mistakes with this point.
So, we’re going to talk about that.
But, before we do, a couple of announcements
and an example sentence to begin you thinking.
So, I try to share some kind of from my life
every week in this live stream.
So, this week I did the same one.
I made an example sentence.
So, here it said, “Lots of posts about a
different project, but” I said, “it’s
business as usual for the English Class, the
English Channel.”
I can’t see.
So, business, as usual, means regular activities.
It’s business as usual, it’s regular activities
for that thing.
Then, I said, “If you have time, join our
live stream tomorrow.”
If you have time.
So, why did I choose “if” and not “when?”
That’s what we’re going to talk about
today.
“If you have time” not “When you have
time.”
So, this is a key difference there.
If you have time, please join us.
So, I think you guys, all had time so you’re
here today now.
Great, alright, it is three minutes past the
hour so I think we’re going to get started.
It is time to begin.
Good, lots of people watching.
Woohoo!
Hi, everybody.
So, let’s get rolling.
So, “if” and “when” are two points
for today.
So, I want to start with a quick overview,
a quick introduction to the differences here.
So, let’s start then with the word “if.”
I’m going to keep the blackboard like kind
of separated like this for today’s lesson.
So, I hope we can keep everything here.
I hope I can write clearly.
I want to start with the word “if.”
So, one of the key points about the word “if,”
we use “if” for something that has a chance
of happening.
Can you see that?
It has a chance of happening.
Something that is not definite.
It has not been decided.
It’s just a chance that something might
happen, a possibility.
Some of you asked in a previous live stream,
do we use “if” for, conditionals?
Yes.
We use “if” for conditions.
I’ll write “conditions” but maybe you
know the grammar point “conditionals”
kind of a point, that kind of expression,
an “if conditional.”
We can use the word “if” to make a conditional
statement.
I’ll show some examples in just a moment.
So, if it’s for chances, this is a big thing,
a chance.
Something that’s just has a chance of happening.
So, that’s another one.
We can also understand this as “unreal.”
So, unreal means not real.
The prefix “un” means not, so unreal situations.
So, not real situations.
This is a different way to understand the
word “condition.”
I hope these are good keywords to keep in
mind for today.
I’m going to introduce now—yeah, we’ll
see in just a moment.
A couple of examples that you can use.
Just a couple of common patterns that use
the “if” word here.
Yes, so we’ll see this in just a moment.
I prepared it over here, thank you.
So, some examples of how to use “if” to
talk about something that’s just a chance
of happening or a conditional.
First one is, “If I have time this week.”
So, I used that in my tweet example earlier
too.
“If you have time this week.”
“If I have time.”
Here, this “if” means there’s only a
chance the person will have time, the listener
will have time.
So, I used “if” here not “when.”
I’ll explain “when” in a little bit.
Same thing here, “If he gets a new job”
this means there’s only a chance he’ll
get the new job.
Same thing here, “If the project is successful.”
So, these are all conditional statements.
They’re not true now.
They’re not real statements now but they
might be in the future.
These are a few patterns, simple patterns
we can use for “If Statements.”
This one is quite useful, “If I have time
this week or if I have time this weekend.”
Okay, but these are all future situations,
potential situations in the future.
We can use “if” as I talked about.
We can use “if” to talk about unreal situations
in the past.
I prepared two example sentences just to give
you an example of this.
So, these are future conditionals to talk
about maybe potential situations in the future.
However, we can use “if,” to talk about
unreal situations in the past.
Let’s look at some examples.
Yay!
Alright, we got them.
So, first one here.
By the way, this is kind of tough.
Oh, I can’t see.
What does it say?
“If I’d gotten ready earlier, I wouldn’t
have missed the train.”
So, this is kind of some advanced grammar
point.
Both of these used advanced grammar points.
“If I had gotten” this is a past-perfect
conditional sentence actually, past-perfect,
for those of you with more advanced grammar
knowledge, past-perfect here.
“If I’d,” this “If I’d” means
if I had.
“If I had gotten ready earlier, I wouldn’t,
I would not have missed the train.”
I would not have missed the train.
So, this is an unreal situation.
The speaker did not get ready early enough.
“Earlier” here the comparative form shows
us the speaker wishes he or she had prepared
earlier than he or she did.
So, again, an advanced grammar point here.
But, this is a past unreal situation so we
can use “if” to talk about that.
Same thing here, we see the similar grammar
point, different situation.
“If you’d” this “you’d” is “you
had,” “If you’d listened to your mother,
you wouldn’t be in trouble.”
So again, a past unreal situation.
It means the listener did not listen to his
or her mother and therefore, got in trouble.
So, this is some like advice, “If you’d
listened to your mother, you wouldn’t be
in trouble.”
Again, these two sentences are more advanced
grammar points.
I just want to give them as examples if you
are at that level that you are okay if you’re
comfortable with these kinds of sentences
but they both use the “if” to express
an unreal situation, one of our key grammar
points today.
So, that’s a quick introduction to “if.”
Now, let’s go to the word “when.”
We’ve talked about how “if” is for chances
conditions, not real situations.
We use “when” for things that are like
100%.
They are definite.
They part of your schedule.
They are certain actions.
They are regular actions, regular behaviors.
Things you do every day or every week or every
year or every month whatever, something regular,
something that is planned, as well.
So, planned actions here.
These are things that we know are going to
happen.
It’s 100% going to happen, or it’s part
of a regular schedule.
They’re regular things we do.
That means that if you’re using “if,”
when you should use “when” you can cause
some serious communication problems.
So, let’s look at a couple examples of how
to use the word “when.”
I prepared a few examples.
They’ll appear at the bottom down here.
I made three for this one.
Let’s look at some examples of regular actions.
Oops, squeaky chair.
First, right here, “When I wake up in the
morning, I feel sleepy.”
So, I’ve used “when” here because every
day, I hope, we wake up every morning.
This is a regular activity.
“When I wake up in the morning, I feel sleepy.”
This is a regular situation.
This is something that is 100%, I hope, going
to happen.
So, we should use “when” here.
Same thing here but you can see the position
of “when” has changed.
“I always drink a lot of water when I go
drinking with my friends.”
Using “when” here shows this is a regular
activity.
This is common for the speaker.
“I always do this when I go drinking.”
Same thing here, “He always,” so, you
can see this pattern “always, always”
yes?
“He always screams when he watches scary
movies.”
So, these are a couple, maybe strange, of
examples of how to use “when” for regular
actions, regular situations.
Using “if” in these sentences might sound
strange especially this one, “If I wake
up in the morning I feel sleepy.”
That sounds kind of dark like there’s a
chance you might not wake up in the morning,
so please be careful to use “when” for
actions that are typical.
So, that’s a quick introduction to the differences
between these two points.
I’m going to take a quick break and then
we’re going to look at “if” and some
uses of “if” and we’ll look at “when”
and some uses of “when.”
So, for now, let’s take a break.
I think there are a lot of people watching.
Whoa, so many.
Great, hi, everybody.
If you are just joining too, please make sure
to hit the “Like” button.
And, as always, we have a bunch, a bunch means
a lot, a bunch, a bunch, a bunch of free stuff
for you guys this week.
What could be interesting this week?
“If” and “when.”
Oh, here’s a good one.
Yes, so for travel, I know it’s spring for
lots of you now.
So, if you’re traveling or if you’re going
to like, business trips or whatever, you can
check out this PDF if you’re traveling,
checking in to a hotel and there are some
phrases you can use back here that could may
be used with “if” and “when” conditionals.
“If you have time, can you meet me for dinner
at the hotel,” or something like that.
Oh, here’s maybe another good one.
This one is super important, I think, for
today’s grammar point.
This one is super important, the romance one,
for today’s grammar point.
Like “If you have time” and “When you
have time,” that’s a key difference.
“If you have time” and “When you have
time,” this could be a very important topic
for this grammar point today.
“If you have time, let’s get coffee”
and “When you have time, please call me”
or something.
There are small differences in nuance between
these two expressions.
We’ll talk about those in a little bit later,
but anyway, these are just a couple of examples
of the free stuff you can find at EnglishClass101.com.
Please check the link below the video on Facebook
and above the video on YouTube, Twitter, and
Twitch.
You can download these, and we have a bunch
more for free.
Oh sorry, did I say below the video?
Oh sorry, above the video on Facebook, and
below the video on YouTube, above the video
on Twitter, and I don’t know where it is
on Twitch, actually but either way, please
check the link for these free stuff.
You can download these for free from our website.
They are free PDFs, so please go check it
out.
I think there are 13 now, a lot of different
topics.
These might be some good ones for today.
Yeah, there you are.
You can see them.
Good, so, please go download these.
You can download them now or you can download
them after the lesson, whatever you like.
Okay, let us continue.
Phew, I’m warm today.
It’s getting warm.
Okay.
Let’s go on to the next part of today’s
topic.
We’re going to talk about the word “if.”
We’re going to focus in on “if” now.
If you’re just joining, yes, today, we are
talking about “if” and “when” so,
please make sure to hit the “Like” button
on the video and of course, share if you like.
Yes, these are handy little buttons.
Okay, please hit the “Like” button.
It’ll help other people find the video.
Good, okay.
Let’s continue on to our focus.
We introduced “if” and “when” at the
beginning of today’s lesson, in the first
part of today’s lesson.
Let’s go to focus on “if” now, please.
So, I’ve talked about this point in a previous
live stream and I talked about this in an
episode of “Ask Alisha” on the YouTube
channel, so if you want some more details
about this next point, please check the YouTube
channel.
I said that “if” is used to introduce
unreal situations.
Unreal, if you missed it means not real.
It’s not true.
It’s not real future, past, whatever, but
when we make our “if” sentences, a simple
basic “if” sentence, there are two parts
to the “if” sentence.
There’s what we call the “if clause.”
A clause means like the part of the sentence.
For today, I won’t go into all these details
but the part of the sentence that contains,
that includes the word “if.”
That’s one part of the sentence then we
also have what we can call a “main clause”
as well.
So, the main clause is the part of the sentence
that does not include the word “if.”
It has a suggestion, some advice, the speaker’s
opinion, something like that.
So, there are two parts to a simple “if
conditional” statement, “if clause”
and “main clause.”
We can actually change the order of these
two parts.
We can use the “main clause” first and
the “if clause” second.
This is fine.
You can choose which you prefer.
I’ll show you some examples of the difference
here.
Nahom on YouTube, “Is this video live?”
Yes, it is.
You are watching live right now.
Yes, it is live right now.
So, these are two points I want to mention.
We can switch the order of these two but I
want to show some examples of how it could
change the emphasis of your sentence.
Let’s look at the first one, “If I have
time this weekend, I think I’ll go to my
friend’s party” and “I think I’ll
go to my friend’s party if I have time this
weekend.”
These two sentences they mean the same thing,
really.
The only difference is here.
“If I have time this weekend,” this is
my “if clause.”
See, here is “if” so that means it’s
my “if clause,” and you can see it, I’ve
ended it with a comma here.
So, if you’re using your “if clause”
at the beginning of your sentence, use a comma
after.
“If” is what’s called an “introductory
clause.”
You’re introducing the idea in your sentence
finish you “if clause” with a comma.
See, no comma here, yeah?
Because “if” is at the end of the sentence
in this one.
So, here’s my “if clause,” “If I have
time this weekend,” second part, “I think
I’ll go to my friend’s party.”
This is my “main clause” here, “I think
I’ll go to my friend’s party.”
On YouTube, Larissa says “Is my sentence
okay?
‘If you want to go to the party, must the
homework.’”
Almost.
“if clause,” okay.
“If you want to go to the party, you have
to do your homework.”
Close, okay, good.
Here, we have the same two sentences.
This one, the top one, the emphasis is on
your schedule, “If I have time this weekend,
I’ll go to the party.”
The second one, the emphasis is more like,
“I think I’ll go to my friend’s party.”
So, it’s like we’re putting the party
first, kind of, maybe you’re excited about
that or your schedule is secondary, but either
way, both of these are okay.
We can use either sentence to express this
idea.
Let’s look at oh–maybe I don’t have time
to do that.
Should we skip it?
We’ll have time?
Really?
It’s okay?
Yeah, okay, cool.
Let’s look at one more example of this then.
I made one more example sentence.
Perhaps, if you are very enthusiastic about
a friend’s success, for example, let’s
look here.
The next example of switching “if clause”
and “main clause” is this next one we’ll
see in just a minute, thank you.
This one, “You should buy a new suit if
you get the job,” and “If you get the
job, you should buy a new suit.”
Okay, we see the same thing here.
In the first sentence, “You should buy a
new suit if you get the job,” we have main
clause, “you should buy a new suit,” if
clause, “if you get the job.”
The second sentence is the opposite.
“If you get the job,” if clause.
“You should buy a new suit,” main clause.
So, what’s the difference here?
The meaning is the same thing.
The meaning is totally the same but, maybe,
the speaker is really excited their friend
is applying for a new job or something.
The speaker is really excited and gives their
suggestion first, “You should get a new
suit.”
They might say it first and then “if you
get the new job,” they add that at the end.
So, maybe this is a situation where if you’re
super enthusiastic about supporting your friend
or something, you can use the main clause
first.
“Oh, you should do this, if you get the
job.”
It kind of shows that you’re more enthusiastic
here, but again, both of them are okay.
Castro on YouTube says, “If I have money,
I will buy a watch.”
Perfect, no problem there.
Good, good, good.
So, these are a few examples, and yes, we
can change the order, “if clause - main
clause,” “main clause - if clause,”
both are okay.
Alrighty then, let’s take another break
then we’re going to move on the next section
of today’s live stream.
So, break time.
If you’re just joining, we are talking about
“if” and “when.”
These two and this hilarious thumbnail.
I’m a referee between “if” and “when?”
“If” and “when” can be friends.
They can be friends.
We just need to know when to hang out with
them, that’s all.
Everybody’s very peaceful here.
Anyway, today, we are looking at “if”
and “when” and if you missed it, we have
lots of free stuff for you guys, our free
PDFs.
This week, I was kind of pushing this one.
I think this one is a very good one to practice
your “ifs” and “whens” here because
if you use “if” and “when” incorrectly
when making date plans or even just friend-related
plans for a coffee, or a drink, or something.
You use “if” when you mean “when,”
or rather you use “when” when you mean
“if.”
You can make some people a little bit angry
if there’s a misunderstanding.
So, good one.
Please check this out from EnglishClass101.com.
It is free and this one is also free.
You can get it from the link above the video
on Facebook and below the video on YouTube,
above the video on Twitter.
I don’t know how many people are watching
on Twitter.
Anyway, there are other ones too.
And, here’s another one too.
Oh, dining could be another good one for this
grammar point, like if you have a chance or
when you have a chance like talking to staff
at the restaurant, this could be another really
good one for this grammar point.
Yeah, please go check this out for free on
the website EnglishClass101.com.
Okay, let’s go to our last point for today.
Though the last point as you can probably
guess is about “when.”
It’s about the word “when.”
We talked about “if” here.
Do I need to do that?
Okay.
So, we talked about the word “when” here
a little bit at the beginning of today’s
lesson.
We talked about how we use “when” for
things that are definite, for regular actions,
for planned actions, and so on.
I want to give you one more use of “when”
that’s quite different from “if.”
So, kind of a bonus grammar point for today.
We can also use “when” for interrupted
actions.
So, interrupted actions, I’ll give you a
visual.
An interrupted action means an action that
was stopped by something else.
To give you a visual here’s–oh, this is
quite small.
Sorry, I’ll make it bigger.
Okay, that’s better.
So, let’s imagine you’re doing some activity
here and then, something happens at this point
in time and the activity changes.
Can you see it?
I hope you can.
This part where something happens, your activity,
your first activity stops and something else
happened in that moment.
So, this is an interrupted action.
When we use this, first, for this part, I’ll
call this “part one,” we use the progressive
tense to talk about your continuing action.
We use progressive tense or maybe, you know,
continuous tense, both are okay.
Progressive tense or continuous tense where
we use “when” to mark this point when
something changed.
“When” is this point for change and then
here, “part two,” that action when we
want to describe that action that made us
change, that part, we use past tense, simple
past tense for this example.
This is a very basic introduction to this
style of sentence making.
I want to introduce some points.
This is sort of hard to kind of imagine, so
let’s look at some examples of how to make
sentences with this way.
So, first again, remember, continuing action,
“part one” here, progressive tense, “ing,’
something, something “ing.”
Interrupted action, when we marked the interrupted
action with “when.”
Finally, two, Simple past tense to explain
what happened at this point.
Let’s look at some examples.
Oh, it’s already up.
Sorry, I was so excited about my grammar explanation.
God, what a nerd. Okay.
“I was listening to music when the doorbell rang.”
So, here is a great example, past progressive
“I was listening to music,” progressive
tense, “when,” here’s my interruption,
“the doorbell rang.”
So, “to ring” is my present tense verb
here, “rang” is past tense.
Good.
So, nice examples on YouTube, Mr. Xrel, “I
was working when he called me.”
Perfect.
Nice.
Good Booboo on Facebook says “When I was
searching on Facebook, I found your page.”
Good.
“When I was searching on Facebook, I found
your page.”
That’s okay, yes.
Or “I was searching on Facebook when I found
your page.”
Something like that, nice.
It could be good.
Other examples, so past progressive again,
“She was cleaning her room,” here’s
our progressive tense, “cleaning her room
when,” so here’s my interruption, the
action stops right here.
“She was cleaning her room when her mother
called,” right here.
So, here’s our simple past tense, “called,”
“when her mother called” right here.
Another one, “He was working on his computer
when his boss arrived.”
Yeah, nice one on YouTube, Bharam, “Alisha
was teaching English when I saw her.”
I would say though that the sentence is okay,
but remember, there’s some change, in this
case.
Something changes the progressive tense like,
“Alisha was teaching English when she fell
down.”
You stop what you’re doing for a moment
because of the change.
Yes, some kind of pause, some kind of stop.
If you want to talk about two actions happening
at the same time, you can use the progressive
tense to do that like, “I was listening
to music and studying.”
You can use the progressive tense, both of
those together.
Good.
“I was cleaning my clothes when it started
to rain.”
Perfect, Clarissa, nice one.
Freedom, “I was playing football when my
mother called me.”
Perfect.
Nana, “I was watching your video when my
son called me.”
Perfect.
It’s good.
Emmanuel, “When I was cleaning my backyard,
I found your keys.”
It’s perfect, great.
Okay, on YouTube, you have a scandalous example,
“When I was searching for my ex on Twitter,
I realized I was blocked.”
Whoa.
Nice one, that’s a great one.
Okay, good examples, you guys.
Fantastic.
You can use this “when” to explain some
change in your past action but also just be
careful too that it is quite different from
“if.”
Sorry, my hair is, I’m fussing a lot.
It’s quite different from “if” because
“if” is just used for chances, “when”
is used for definite.
Sorry, it’s falling on my face, Producer.
That’s quite a nice introduction and a little
bonus grammar point here.
So, please think about this, but the big takeaway
point, I think for today is this difference
between a chance for “if,” “If something,
if I have time, if you have time,” and a
100% action.
I mentioned this can be a big problem when
you’re making plans with people.
If you say, “If I have time I’ll call
you.”
And “When I have time, I’ll call you.”
They sound very similar but if you say “When
I have time, I’ll call you,” the listener
expects that you’re going to call.
If you say, “If I have time, I’ll call
you,” the listener thinks there’s a chance
that person might not call.
Keep these small differences in mind when
you’re making plans with people so you don’t
give the wrong expectation.
It can be really important when you’re building
relationships, work relationships, friendships,
whatever.
Good stuff to know.
Let’s wrap up today’s lesson.
Yes, I have to go already, sorry but thank
you so much for coming again this week.
I’m very excited about next week’s lesson,
though.
I hope you are excited about next week.
Of course, we are going to be back with a
new topic, “How to Share Previous Conversations.”
Okay, what does this mean?
How to share previous conversations?
This is about like reporting the things that
people say.
So like, I said, he said, she was like, I
was all, so how to talk about conversations,
how to share things that people said in the
past.
Yes, so I want to focus on leveling up on
your conversation skills not just, “said,
said, said,” but using some native level,
at least American English style patterns to
explain the things that other people have
told you.
So, this will be next week’s topic.
Maybe, this will be a series, a conversation
live series, I don’t know, we’ll give
it a try.
So, this will be next week, April 18th.
Next week, April 18th, that’s a Wednesday,
10:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time, that is 10:00
PM, New York City time on Wednesday night.
If you don’t know your time zone, please
Google it.
I think a time and date or something like
that.
Yes, we are on live, Yeshua but we are finishing
the live stream now.
So, please join us again next week, April
18th.
We’re going to talk about sharing previous
conversations.
Actually, this is going to be really, really
fun, I think because if you watch TV, if you
watch movies, you will notice this point immediately.
If you watch next week’s live stream, I
think you will start to notice these patterns
right away.
You’ll see them right after if you watch
TV and movies in English, so quite useful.
Anyway, let’s finish up there.
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include them in “Ask Alisha” video, or
I don’t know, we’ll talk about them in
another live stream too.
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