In case and ...

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In case one or both of them are not business days, you will have go include one/two more days in your count. 1. Why people use "in case" here instead of the simpler word of if?2. I think the red "go" is a typo, the right one is "to". Do you think so?Have a nice day.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

No really good reason. To my ear, "in case" in this context implies that this well might occur. I think "if" would be be appropriate if under normal conditions this would not be expected.

I agree that "go" should be "to."

Clive · Answer

Hi,

In case one or both of them are not business days, you will have go to include one/two more days in your count.

1. Why people use "in case" here instead of the simpler word of if?

2. I think the red "go" is a typo, the right one is "to". Do you think so? Yes.

in case - The idea is that you want to be ready for a possible situation.
eg Take your umbrella in case of rain / in case it rains.
This means that you take your umbrella. That way, you will be ready for any rain. But the rain may or may not come.

if - The idea is that you specify a condition.
eg If it rains, take your umbrella. This means You look out of your window. You see rain, so you take your umbtella. Or you don't see rain, so you don't take your umbrella.

Now let's look at your sentence.

In case one or both of them are not business days, you will have to include one/two more days in your count. Add one/two more days to your count. That way, you will be ready in the situation that one or both of them are not business days.

If one or both of them are not business days, you will have to include one/two more days in your count. Check the calendar to see if one or both of them are not business days. Depending on what you find on the calendar, add or don't add one/two more days to your count.

Best wishes, Clive

Avangi · Answer

Hi Clive. I'm not awake yet so I'm probably going to regret this.
It seems like you're saying that with "in case," you add the days anyway, as a prophylactic, and with "if", you only would add the days if and when the need arises, as a remedy. That is, you would add one day to your count if one day were not a business day, and two days to your count if two days were not business days.

If the philosophy with "in case" is as you say, why not go ahead and add the two days, rather than writing it as "Add one/two more days to your count," implying that you'd add one if one, and two if two of the days were not business days? That is, if this is intended as a prophylactic, how would you know whether to add one day or two? You wouldn't. So you'd always have to add the two up front. (What about holidays?) (What if there's a charge for these extra days?)

I'm thinking it's more like, "In case you see storm clouds, take your umbrella." Or, "When in Seattle or Honolulu, always carry an umbrella."

I know I'm suddenly going to wake up and realize I'm wrong. Apologies in advance.

Best regards, - A.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
It seems like you're saying that with "in case," you add the days anyway, as a prophylactic, Yes and with "if", you only would add the days if and when the need arises, as a remedy. That is, you would add one day to your count if one day were not a business day, and two days to your count if two days were not business days.

If the philosophy with "in case" is as you say, why not go ahead and add the two days, rather than writing it as "Add one/two more days to your count," implying that you'd add one if one, and two if two of the days were not business days? That is, if this is intended as a prophylactic, how would you know whether to add one day or two? You wouldn't. So you'd always have to add the two up front. Yes, if someone said the sentence in question to me, I'd probably add two days just to be sure. It dependson how accurate the count is supposed to be. Don't forget that I didn't write the original sentence, so please don't hold me too accountable for it.

(What about holidays?) (What if there's a charge for these extra days?) We are not told here what to do in these cases. If I thought it were important, I'd ask about it.

I'm thinking it's more like, "In case you see storm clouds, take your umbrella." It's the same, isn't it?
If it's a sunny day and your mother says 'Take your umbrella in case of rain', you're going to take it, aren't you?

Or, "When in Seattle or Honolulu, always carry an umbrella." Well, this is a slightly different phrasing.

You might like to also consider what you would do if your mother said this to you.
"In the case of rain, take your umbrella".
This is not the same as 'In case of rain . . '.

Best wishes, Clive

Avangi · Answer

CliveYou might like to also consider what you would do if your mother said this to you.
"In the case of rain, take your umbrella".
This is not the same as 'In case of rain . . '.

I see your point. So the long and the short of it is that the OP does not present an acceptable usage of "in case of," and the writer's intention (in view of the one/two) would be better expressed by "In the case of," or, actually, "if."

I wish I had taken my mother's advice more often.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
Yes.
If the OP said that sentence to me, I'd probably ask for clarification of what he meant. Or perhaps the context would make it clear.

Mother always knows best.

Clive

Avangi · Answer

Thanks, Clive.

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