What is the difference between "if" and "that" in this sentence?

I wrote this sentence;I ate three doughnuts. They were really good, but now I'm worried if I will gain weight.Some English speakers corrected it for me as;I ate three doughnuts. They were really good, but now I'm worried that I will gain weight.I used "if", because I thought it expressed future possibilities.Could you explain what is the difference in these and the reason that I can't use "if" here?Thank you very much for your help!

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Recommended Answer:

The corrected sentence is grammatical, but doesn't mean quite what you want to say, which is only a *possibility* of gaining weight.The problem is "worried if"; the two words don't go together that way. You're using them as a kind of shorthand for "worried about the possibility that", but we don't use it that way in English."If" can express future possibilities but only with certain verbs, and I think they all have a sense of "questioning"--I wonder if I'll gain weight, I don't know if I'll gain weight. "Worry" doesn't include that meaning.I think the best would be:I ate three doughnuts. They were really good, but now I'm worried that I might gain weight.

Other Answers:

  • The only reason I can give is that the word "that" implies that you are worried specifically about gaining weight, whereas the word "if" seems to imply that you will be worried after you gain weight.This is what the first sentence seems to imply: "If I gain weight, I will be worried." Which doesn't make sense.Mainly, "that" just sounds better to American English speakers.Hope that helped!
  • I see where your confusion is. I'd be confuse too! Lets see if I can try to help. (:You should have said; "I ate three doughnuts. They were really good, but now I'm worried (that) I'll gain weight,". Saying "I'm worried if.." implies you'll be worried IF you do gain weight later, not that you are worried now that you might be in the process of gaining weight because of the doughnuts.
  • The first sentence is not horrible, and people will certainly understand you.If you "worry", you are imagining a bad situation. Even though the situation might not happen, your worry is real. You are saying "This is my worry: I will gain weight." It is understood that your worry might not become reality.
  • The only difference is that you are worried THAT you will gain weight. THAT is correct, and if is not. It's not that big a deal, though. When you figure how many GROSSLY incorrect grammatical errors most English speakers make all the time, this is very minor.
  • The two sentences which we are concerned with are:I am worried if I will gain weight.I am worried that I will gain weight.The above sentences are both compound sentences. They are made of two complete thoughts connected together with conjunctions if or that:I am worried. ..and ..I will gain weight.Both of your compound sentences are correct, and they make sense. However they do not mean the same, and I think those who corrected you, did not correct your GRAMMAR but they found it obvious that if you ate three doughnut, they would have no doubt that you would gain weight. As far as they are concerned there was no IF about it that you would gain weight. However, your IF sentence could make good sense too because it is possible that the three doughnut were all you had all day, and in that case you would not gain weight from them.
  • The word "if" has nothing to do with something happening in the future. It has everything to do with expressing a condition. It marks something that is necessary for something else.To say that you're worried if you will gain weight is to say that gaining weight in the future is a necessary condition in order for you to be worried now. Since your worry is a present tense situation and the weight gain is a future tense condition, this sentence doesn't make much sense.The word "that" doesn't mark a condition. It simply marks that the following clause names or describes something. That you will gain weight is the thing that worries you. You're worried now about a future possibility.This usage of the word "that" is optional if it is obvious that the subordinate clause is nominative. You could simply say "I'm worried I will gain weight."

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