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If vs It - What's the difference?

if | it |

As an initialism if

is interactive fiction.

As a symbol it is

the iso 3166-1 two-letter (alpha-2) code for italy.

if

English

(wikipedia if)

Conjunction

(English Conjunctions)
  • Supposing that, assuming that, in the circumstances that;
  • If it rains, I will get wet .
  • Supposing that;
  • I'd prefer it if you took your shoes off.
  • Although;
  • He was a great friend, if a little stingy at the bar.
  • (computing) In the event that a statement is true (a programming statement that acts in a similar manner).
  • If A, then B, else C.
  • Whether;
  • I don't know if I want to go or not.
  • * 1715–1717 , , Alma; or, The Progress of the Mind , Canto III:
  • Quoth Matthew, “”
  • (usually hyperbolic) Even if; even in the circumstances that.
  • * 2004', (singers), “'''If It’s The Last Thing I Do” (song), in ''You Do Your Thing (album):
  • If' it’s the last thing I do / '''If''' it takes me from Tubilo to Timbuktu / '''If''' it’s the last thing I do / I’m gonna dodge every road block, speed trap, county cop / To get my hands on you / ' If it’s the last thing I do.

    Usage notes

    * Specifically a subordinating conjunction.

    Derived terms

    * iff * if and only if * if clause * if only * as if * even if * if so be

    Alternative forms

    * ifen * iffen

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (informal) An uncertainty, possibility, condition, doubt etc.
  • * 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 ?
  • * 1791 January, "Richard?on’s Chemical Principles of the Metallic Arts''", in ''The Monthly Review , R. Griffiths, page 176,
  • Well might Bergman add, (in his Sciographia,''), if the compari?on that has been made, &c. be ju?t.” The pre?ent writer makes no ''ifs about the matter, and has ?uperadded a little inaccuracy of his own, […]
  • * {{quote-news, year=2013, date=April 9, author=Andrei Lankov, title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff., work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=Even if they managed to strike Japan, the United States or South Korea with nuclear weapons — a big if , given that they do not have a reliable delivery system — they could not save themselves from ultimate defeat.}}

    Derived terms

    * big if *

    See also

    * and * else * false * or * then * true

    Statistics

    *

    it

    English

    (wikipedia it)

    Alternative forms

    * (dialectal) (l)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m) ( > English dialectal . More at (l).

    Alternative forms

    * itt (obsolete)

    Pronoun

  • The third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, to an inanimate thing with no or unknown sex or gender.
  • Put it over there.
    Take each day as it comes.
  • A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a child of unknown gender.
  • She took the baby and held it in her arms.
  • * 1847 , Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre , Chapter IV:
  • A child cannot quarrel with its' elders, as I had done; cannot give ' its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.
  • Used to refer to oneself when identifying oneself, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
  • It' s me. John.
  • The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement. (known as the dummy pronoun or weather it)
  • It is nearly 10 o’clock.
    It ’s very cold today.
    It ’s lonely without you.
  • The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object. (known as the dummy pronoun or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive)
  • It is easy to see how she would think that.
    I find it odd that you would say that.
    He saw to it that everyone would vote for him.
  • All or the end; something after which there is no more.
  • Are there more students in this class, or is this it ?
    That's it —I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
  • (obsolete, relative) That which; what.
  • * 1643 , (Thomas Browne), Religio Medici , II.2:
  • In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
    : See for other personal pronouns.
    Derived terms
    (Derived terms) * buy it * do it * for it * move it * that’s it * watch it
    See also
    * he * her * him * I * me * she * thee * them * they * thou * us * we * ye * you

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
  • * 1995 , Neil Weiner, Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius, Shattered innocence (page 8)
  • Too often, children become an "it " in their homes and their humanness is devalued.
  • * 1920 , (Herman Cyril McNeile), Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
  • His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an it : an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…"
  • The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
  • In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it
  • * 2000 , Katherine T. Thomas, Amelia M. Lee, Jerry R. Thomas, Physical education for children (page 464)
  • When there are only two children left who haven't been tagged, I will stop the game, and we will start over with those children starting as the Its .
  • (British, uncountable) The game of tag.
  • Let's play it at breaktime.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (colloquial) most fashionable.
  • * Vibe , Vol. 15, No. 9, p. 202, September 2007:
  • Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it " bag.
  • * David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun , Associated Press, 2010:
  • With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.

    Etymology 2

    Abbreviation

    (Abbreviation) (head)
  • (language) Italian.
  • Italy.
  • Derived terms
    * gin and it, gin-and-It
    See also
    * IT

    Statistics

    *