# what-if

**Pronunciation:** WHAT-IF

**CEFR level:** B1

**Part of speech:** noun

## Meaning

What-if means the identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.

## Examples

- The article uses what-if to mean (countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.
- The teacher asked students to find what-if in the reading.
- Check the words around what-if to choose the right meaning.

## Common patterns

- a/the what-if — Use an article when the noun is countable in context. — The article mentioned a what-if.
- what-if in context — Use surrounding words to choose the correct sense. — We checked what-if in context before translating it.

## Collocations

- what-if example — The teacher gave a what-if example.
- what-if meaning — We checked the what-if meaning before moving on.

Canonical URL: https://anaversity.com/dictionary/english/what-if

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