Abstract: This chapter discusses how we use aspects of language. It shows that we use causal models to produce and understand speech even when we have no idea that we are doing so. Two aspects of language are considered that illustrate this usage: what pronouns refer to and the meaning of conjunctions like and if. The meaning of if is especially complicated, and the details of the causal model framework are particularly helpful for understanding it.

Keywords: pronouns, conjunctions, causal models, speech,