what if

See also: what-if

English

Etymology

Dates back at least to Old English hwæt ġif, of the same meaning. A similar expression occurs in Latin in the Vulgate, Acts 23:9, "Factus est autem clamor magnus. Et surgentes quidam pharisaeorum, pugnabant, decentes: Nihil mali inveniumus in homine isto: quid si Spiritus locutus est ei, aut angelus?" ("And there arose a great cry. And some of the Pharisees rising up, strove, saying: We find no evil in this man. What if a spirit hath spoken to him, or an angel?" Douay-Rheims translation)

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adverb

what if (not comparable)

1. Used to introduce a suggestion or proposal for a future event.

   What if we arrange it for 9:00 instead of 10:00?

2. Used to introduce a speculation about a future event.

   What if we could learn to get along? What would happen then?

3. Used to introduce a speculation about a past event. Often the basis for counterfactual historical interpretations.

   What if Abraham Lincoln had not been assassinated? How might the Reconstruction of the Southern States have been handled?

Synonyms

• (introducing a suggestion): what about, how about

Derived terms

• what-if

Related terms

• what now

Translations

used to introduce suggestion

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 不如 (bat¹ jyu⁴)

  Mandarin: 不如 (zh) (bùrú)

  Classical Chinese: 何如 (hérú), 莫若 (mòruò), 莫如 (mòrú)

• Czech: co takhle
• Finnish: entä jos, mitä jos
• French: et si
• German: was wenn
• Greek: και αν (el) (kai an)
• Indonesian: bagaimana jika, bagaimana kalau
• Norwegian: hva om
• Old English: hwæt ġif, hū ġif
• Polish: a jeśli
• Portuguese: e se (with imperfect subjunctive or future subjunctive), que tal (with personal infinitive)
• Spanish: y si, qué tal si
• Swedish: tänk om
• Tagalog: paano kung
• Turkish: peki ya

used to introduce speculation about future

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 萬一 / 万一 (maan⁶ jat¹)

  Mandarin: 萬一 / 万一 (zh) (wànyī)

  Min Nan: 萬不二 / 万不二 (bān-put-jī/bān-put-lī)

• Czech: co kdyby
• Finnish: entä jos, mitä jos
• French: et si
• Greek: και αν (el) (kai an)
• Hungarian: mi lenne, ha
• Indonesian: bagaimana jika, bagaimana kalau
• Norwegian: hva om
• Old English: hwæt ġif, hū ġif
• Portuguese: e se
• Spanish: y si, qué pasaría si
• Swedish: tänk om
• Tagalog: paano kung

used to introduce speculation about past

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 萬一 / 万一 (maan⁶ jat¹)

  Mandarin: 萬一 / 万一 (zh) (wànyī)

  Min Nan: 萬不二 / 万不二 (bān-put-jī/bān-put-lī)

• Czech: co když, co kdyby
• Finnish: entä jos, mitä jos
• French: et si
• Greek: και αν (el) (kai an)
• Indonesian: bagaimana jika, bagaimana kalau
• Old English: hwæt ġif, hū ġif
• Swedish: tänk om
• Tagalog: paano kung