Man: If it looks like snow or if it looks as if we’re going to get lots and lots of rain or if it looks as if it’s going to be very windy, we all need to know what the weather is going to be like.
What does “if” mean in this dialogue?
Does it mean “Whether”?
like this:
Man: Whether it looks like snow or Whether it looks as if we’re going to get lots and lots of rain or Whether it looks as if it’s going to be very windy, we all need to know what the weather is going to be like.
It’s three conditionals strung together.
If it looks like snow…
If it looks like rain…
If it looks like wind…
If it looks like any of those three, we need to know.
Yes, you can use whether. Whether is also a conditional. It has only a slightly different meaning than if. If can be used with a single condition. Whether must have at least two alternatives.
In basic logic, if conditions can be strung together with or or and. If you string multiple if conditions together with or, it takes on almost the same meaning as Whether.
