OzForex Foreign Exchange dealer Michael Judge said the dollar could go
above US79ยข on Tuesday should the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate,
which is currently at 2.25 per cent.
can "should the Reserve Bank cut…." expressed as "if the Reserve Bank cut…"?
I have no idea what the sentence means to be?
Best Answer
"can "should the Reserve Bank cut...." be expressed as "if the Reserve Bank cut..."?"
Almost. "We don't have enough cans of beer should Jim visit us, who is known to be very thirsty." can be expressed as "We don't have enough cans of beer if Jim visits us, who is known to be very thirsty." Both mean almost exactly the same, but "should" is followed by a conditional and "if" is not. You could also say "We don't have enough cans of beer if Jim were to visit us, who is known to be very thirsty." Now for organisations like "Reserve Bank" there's the question if you should use plural or singular, which would be "cut" or "cuts"; American and British English could disagree.
There is a very slight difference in meaning. The "should" is more of a possibility that you prepare for. An umbrella is useful should it rain. Rain is a possibility that you might prepare for. An umbrella is not useful if you fall down the stairs and break your neck. Falling down the stairs and breaking your neck is not something you prepare for.
"Something very bad happens if you do something very stupid." I wouldn't use "should" because the "doing something very stupid" is not something I would expect yo to do.