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I was taught that "in case" does not mean "if". As in:

  • I will give you my card in case you need it. (Take it and use in case of need in the future)

  • I will give you my card if you need it. (When you need it, I will give it to you.)

But then I do not understand the following:

In case you have seen this man...

Should it not be if?

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  • QOI gives a good answer, but your question does not provide sufficient context. 'In case you have seen this man, let me know' doesn't work, whereas QOI's example is fine.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 16, 2014 at 12:07

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I don't think it's inherently incorrect. Depending on the context you could use in case in a sentence in a past tense (e.g. Please check your phone's pictures in case you have seen this man but didn't notice).

I think it's just the sentence you chose makes it hard to find a fitting context.

With this I don't mean to imply that if and in case are interchangeable, just that you could use in case in that sentence without it being incorrect.

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    Here, 'in case' means / connotes 'to examine the possibility that you have ... ' (with the implication of your taking relevant further action). Not replaceable by 'if' (with the same meaning) here.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 16, 2014 at 12:13
  • That's true, but I didn't mean to imply that they are interchangeable, just that in case can be used correctly in a similar sentence. I'm going to edit my answer to reflect this.
    – QOI
    Dec 16, 2014 at 12:17
  • I was not saying you were, just suggesting additional analysis. (Can I get away with the comma there?)
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Dec 16, 2014 at 12:28

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