ESL Discussion Questions about If

If

conjunction

1 in case that; granting or supposing that; on condition that:Sing if you want to. Stay indoors if it rains. I'll go if you do.

2 even though: an enthusiastic if small audience

3 whether: He asked if I knew Spanish.

4 (used to introduce an exclamatory phrase): If only Dad could see me now!

5 when or whenever: If it was raining, we had to play inside.

noun

6 a supposition; uncertainty: The future is full of ifs. An impossibility

7 a condition, requirement, or stipulation: There are too many ifs in his agreement.

Makes sentences with "if."

When do we use the word "if?"

"If" is a big word. What do I mean when I say that "If is big word!"

Talk about historical counter-factuals. If there was no Hitler, there would be no Holocaust or WWII. If there was no Chairman Mao, there would be no PRC.

Talk about hypothetical.

What ifs. What would have happened if something was different?

What is the greatest what if of your life?

Introduce the students to the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

IF you can keep your head when all about you 
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Finish these sentences:

If I were you.....

If I could live my life again, I would.......

If only.....

If wishes were money, I'd be

If wishes were ______, I'd be

What would you do if ______________.

What do the following expressions mean?

No if, ands, and buts.

If shoes were clues, you would be barefoot.

as if;

 damned if I do, damned if I don't;

 make as if to;

 no ifs or buts;

 nothing if not;

 (if) push comes to shove;

 what if.