What is a conditional statement in excel?

Answer 1

A conditional statement would be something that carries out an action depending on some criteria. The main example is the IF function and some of its other related functions, like SUMIF or COUNTIF. A simple example often given is getting a spreadsheet to say "Pass" or "Fail" based on a score someone has got in an exam. So, say you have the exam score in cell A1 and you want to display their result in A2, based on 40% being the pass mark, this formula would be entered in A2:

=IF(A1>=40%,"Pass","Fail")

If the score is 40% or more it will display "Pass", otherwise it displays "Fail". If you then try different values in A1, the text in A2 will change accordingly.

Answer 2

A conditional format is setting a format on a cell that is based on a condition, normally a value in a cell. So you might want to do something like colour a cell differently if it is over a certain value. You might have a list of cells that calculate results from an exam and displays the word Pass or Fail. By using conditional formatting you could get the cells with Pass to be green and the cells with Fail to be red. It is done under the Format menu.

Answer 3

If...Else

Microsoft explains the syntax of the Excel IF function:

=IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)

What that means, simply put, is this:

=IF("if the condition stated here is true", "then enter this value", "else enter this value")

=IF(B4>50, "Pass", "Fail")

nested If statements are just an extension

=IF("if condition stated is true", then "this value, else if("if this condition stated here is true", then "this value, else "this value"))

It looks hard buts once you have a handle on it you should find it alright. lets have a look at an example for grades from an exam:

From 0 to 44 earns F grade

From 45 to 54 earns D grade

From 55 to 74 earns C grade

From 75 to 89 earns B grade

From 90 to 100 earns an A grade

this is what the nested IF function would look like:

=IF(B4<=44,"F",IF(B4<=54,"D",IF(B4<=74,"C",IF(B4<=89,"B","A"))))

In one cell, you are allowed to nest an IF function up to 7 times. Any more and you will have to refer to an external cell which has its own nested IF's.

IF functions are commonly used in report and statement generation.