If

How to spell if

2 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce if

What does if mean?

1. conjunctionIntroduces a condition: in the event that, or on the condition that.

If in a sentence

• If the train is late, the whole schedule shifts.

• The refund is automatic if the parcel never arrives.

Where does if come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from Old English 'gif', a conjunction meaning 'on the condition that' or 'in the event that'. It is part of the native Germanic stock of English and has close cousins in Old Frisian 'ef', Old Saxon 'ef', and Old High German 'ibu', all carrying the same conditional sense. Scholars believe it may originally have been related to a noun meaning 'doubt' or 'condition', so that to say 'gif' was effectively to say 'given the doubt that'. Over the medieval period the initial 'g' softened and dropped away in pronunciation, leaving the compact two-letter form we use today. Because it is so short and so common, modern writers almost never misspell it, but it is a textbook example of how an Old English everyday word can shrink yet survive unchanged in meaning for over a thousand years.

How the word is built

• if (a single unanalysable Old English conjunction; no prefix, root, or suffix to break down)