student asking question

Can I say just "if" instead of "what if"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

In this particular sentence, it is better to say "what if" instead of "if." This is because saying "what if" poses the possibilities of what could happen if he made the bell sound; "what if" poses the question "what will or could happen." Just using "if" could be introducing a conditional statement or it can be used to pose a question. If Charlie Puth would have just used "if" it seems as though he was going to tell you something instead of posing a question. Ex: What if we went to Florida instead of California this spring? Ex: If he can do it then so can we! Ex: What if you went to Dartmouth for school? Ex: If I study abroad, would I get to travel to different countries also?

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