It's not my fault if / That

The word "that" would be appropriate when you already know that the other person does not like the food. In other words, the other person has already tasted the food and indicated to you that he doesn't like it.

The word "if" could be used, for example, when the other person has not yet tasted the food, but you fear there is a possibility that the other person will not like it when he ta

Maybe I'm crazy, but I see a difference. (1) Here is some food. Please eat it. IF (IF!) you do not like it, please remember that I did NOT cook it. Therefore, it is Not my fault.(2) Here is some food. What? You say THAT you do not like it? Listen here, sir: I spent 5 hours in the kitchen cooking this dish (meal). I spent $50 buying the ingredients. I am considered the top chef in this count

I get the impression that "if" is often used in such structures even though "that" would be the expected choice. Maybe it's only so in some vernacular speech, or maybe I am even exaggerating it because of L1 influence.

Ooops, your bleeding. Sorry if you I hurt you, but I didn't notice you were behind me and I hit you by accident. (But I know I hurt you, because you are bleeding).

You might see "if" used that way, Kooyeen. That's why I wrote "for example" in my previous post when I wrote my comment about "if". You would use "that" to refer to something that is a (confirmed) fact, but "if" is used with a variety of degrees of sureness.

To me the word "if" suggests some degree of doubt or unsureness. It may be a very small degree of unsureness, but nevertheless, th

YankeeYou definitely would not use "that" if you are referring to something that you know is fact.

Hi,
was there a mistake there? Did you mean "You definitely would not use IF"?

Well, what I was saying is that I suspected that "if" was used even if somebody knew something was definitely true, but still used "if" as a way to make the apology less

Yes, Koyeen, that was a typo. If you read everything else I wrote, I think that should be clear.
I'll fix it now.

Even if you feel 99% sure that something is factual, there is still that 1% element of doubt.

Another thing to consider is the fact that someone may be mortified by the thought of having hurt someone else, even though it was by accident. By using "if", the "hurt you" part has not yet been stated as fact, and thus you've given the other person a very easy way to say something incredibly g

YankeeEven if you feel 99% sure that something is factual, there is still that 1% element of doubt.
[...]

By using "if", the "hurt you" part has not yet been stated as fact, and thus you've given the other person a very easy way to say something incredibly gallant, brave or polite (in order to sooth your mortification)
[...]

Oh, y