If or since, does it make a difference?

Question

In these sentences below, does it makes a difference if I replace *if* with *since*? 1）*If you are unemployed, why did you leave your last job?* 2）*If you are innocent, why did you flee?* 3）*If you are a Christian, why do you believe in a personal God like this?* My questions: 1. Does *if* here suggest a hypothesis, which means anyone who speaks these words is not sure or does not admit the fact? 2. Does replacing *if* with *since* make the clause a fact rather than a hypothesis? 3. If replacing *if* with *since* does make a difference, can *if* still be used if the context can imply that the clause is indeed a fact? Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Great question! It has less to do with whether the clause is factual and more to do with context. Looking at your first example, "If you are unemployed, why did you leave your last job?", there is an implied answer if you substitute the word "since." This means you asked, "Are you unemployed?" and the person responded, "Yes." "If" in this case indicates that the answer has not been provided yet. In your example, 'If you are a Christian, why do you believe [...]", "if" is questioning the certainty of the claim that this person is a Christian. "Since" would not belong in this type of question, but instead in a sentence such as "Since you are a Christian, you should love your neighbor." "Since" is more of a conditional conjunction, so think cause-and-effect, whereas "if" is a questioning term. Does that make sense? I hope this helps a little!