喜樂美語

核心畫面

You can picture if as a fork in the road that may or may not be taken: it opens a 'what if this were so' world and then says what follows inside that world. If it rains, we'll stay in — you step into the imagined rainy world and look at what happens there. Everything else bends off this one move: an indirect question (I don't know if it's true) is leaving the fork open, not yet knowing which branch is real; 'even if' walks down a branch and finds it changes nothing; and the noun an if is the fork itself, frozen as a doubt or condition.

可以把 if 想成「一個可能走、也可能不走的岔路口」：它先打開一個「假如這樣的話」的世界，再告訴你在那個世界裡會怎樣…更多收起可以把 if 想成「一個可能走、也可能不走的岔路口」：它先打開一個「假如這樣的話」的世界，再告訴你在那個世界裡會怎樣。If it rains, we'll stay in——你先踏進那個「假想會下雨」的世界，再看裡面會發生什麼。其他用法全是從這一個動作彎出去的：間接問句（I don't know if it's true）是把岔路口先擱著，還不知道哪一條才是真的；even if 是走進其中一條岔路，發現它什麼都改變不了；而名詞 an if，就是把那個岔路口本身定格成一個疑問或條件。

原始詞典資料18 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

ifconj/ɪf/

  • 1

    Supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that; suppositive used to introduce a condition that may be (or prove to be) either true or false.

    • If crossing the road, make sure you look both ways.
    • If I give you the money would/will you buy it for me?
  • 2

    computingengineeringmathematicsSupposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that; suppositive used to introduce a condition that may be (or prove to be) either true or false.

    • if A then B else C
  • 3

    Supposing that; used with past or past perfect subjunctive to indicate a counterfactual or hypothetical condition.

    • If she hadn't told me, I wouldn't know.
    • "You would be healthier if you would give up smoking" "Well, if I were rich, I'd go to one of those hypnosis therapies to quit".
  • 4

    Supposing that; used with past or past perfect subjunctive to indicate a counterfactual or hypothetical condition.

    • I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth.
    • You're finishing your chowder if you sit there all afernoon!
  • 5

    Considering the fact that; given that; introducing a condition that is known to be true.

    • The drain's blocked — and if the drain's blocked, the water won't flow.
    • O what of Gods then boots it to be borne, / If old Aveugles ſonnes ſo euill heare?
  • 6

    When; whenever; every time that.

    • If you heat water to 100° C, it boils.
    • If it rains, it pours.
  • 7

    Although; used to introduce a concession; may..but.

    • He was a great friend, if a little stingy at the bar.
    • She won her team's admiration, if not the award, for her performance.
  • 8

    Whether; used to introduce a noun clause, an indirect question, that functions as the direct object of certain verbs.

    • I don't know if I want to go or not.
    • Quoth Matthew, “ […] / She doubts if two and two make four, / […] ”
另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    Introducing a relevance conditional; in case.

    • I have leftover cake if you want some.
    • If you want to go home, I have the car keys.
  • 10

    rareWhile; used to introduce a contrast.

    • If his Russian was music, his English was murder.
    • If the outcome of the land war on the Eastern Front is usually seen as decisive, historical views on the importance of the air war are mixed.

ifnoun/ɪf/

  • 1

    informalAn uncertainty, possibility, condition, doubt etc.

    • The board can't approve this project; there are too many ifs.
    • 1709, Susannah Centlivre, The Busy Body, Act III, in John Bell (ed.), British Theater, J. Bell (1791), page 59, Sir Fran. Nay, but Chargy, if——— ¶ Miran. Nay, Gardy, no Ifs.——Have I refus'd three northern lords, two British peers, and half a score knights, to have put in your Ifs?

這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。