LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

Siempre que tengamos elección o alternativa emplearemos whether : Jill didn´t know whether she should go to the ball (la alternativa es no ir.) Es mejor no añadir la coletilla or not: I don´t know whether (or not) I should marry Jill. No hace falta ese or not. If no implica duda alguna: If you come, you´ll get the money. If you don´t come you won´t get the money . En ambos casos la traducción es SI, sin tilde, porque sí, con tilde, es yes . Por cierto que si pronunciamos la h en whether (juéther), no nos confundiremos con weather .

If and whether and can and may are not interchangeable in serious speaking and writing. Yes, yes... I know that native speakers, even academics, have adopted of late an irresponsable usage of may/can and if/whether lowering the effectiveness of language and the clarity of communication. But that is their problem, not ours. We will stick to effective English. IF , si, suponiendo que, a condición de, aunque, incertidumbre: Drink if you want to. If he comes I will tell him. A small cake if very tasty. His career is full of ifs. WHETHER, si, indicando duda, posibles alternativas: Tell me whether you´ll come to my party. I ignore whether he is rich. See whether she has finished the task. CAN, poder, saber: Can you do it? Can she speak Farsi? I can play the piano. MAY, poder, permiso, May I come in? You may not touch that. May I ask you a question? We have the old example of  the nine-year old Bobby who asks Johnny´s mother: "Can Johnny come out and play?" To whi...

Todos sabemos que I had money significa, yo tenía dinero, pero que si añadimos if tendremos if I had money que hay que traducir con subjuntivo, si yo tuviera/tuviese. Si decimos if I spoke French la frase debe ir seguida de condicional, I would visit France . O sea: si hablase francés (que no lo hablo, pero supongamos), visitaría Francia. Con el pretérito pluscuamperfecto I had known , yo había sabido, tenemos los mismo : if I had known, si you hubiese sabido… Por ejemplo: If I had known she was not going to accept, I would have not offered to marry her . Si hubiese sabido que no iba a aceptar, no le habría propuesto casarme con ella. Que puede tener la variante: -Had I known she was not going to accept, I would have not offered to marry her. De haber sabido que no iba a aceptar, no le habría propuesto casarme con ella. Con el verbo to be se puede omitir el if en pasado también: If I were a butterfly, I would have pretty wings. -Were I a but...