whether

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz (“who”). Cognate with German weder (“neither”), Swedish hvar, Icelandic hvorr (“each”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Pronoun [edit]

whether

  1. (obsolete) Which of two. [11th-19th c.]
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXVII:
      The debite answered and sayde unto them: whether of the twayne will ye that I lett loosse unto you?

Conjunction [edit]

whether

  1. (obsolete) Introducing a direct interrogative question (often with correlative or) which indicates doubt between alternatives.
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark II:
      whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?
    • 1616, William Shakespeare, King John, I.i:
      Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?
  2. Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities (usually with correlative or).
    He chose the correct answer, but whether by luck or by skill I don't know.
    • 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, BBC Sport:
      The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.
  3. Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question; if, whether or not.
    Do you know whether he's coming?
  4. Used to introduce a disjunctive adverbial clause which qualifies the main clause of the sentence (with correlative or).
    He's coming, whether you like it or not.

Usage notes [edit]

  • There is some overlap in usage between senses 2 and 3, in that a yes-or-no interrogative content clause can list the two possibilities explicitly in a number of ways:
    Do you know whether he's coming or staying?
    Do you know whether he's coming or not?
    Do you know whether or not he's coming?
    Further, in the first two of these examples, the "or staying" and "or not" may be added as an afterthought (sometimes indicated in writing with a comma before), such that the whether may be uttered in sense 3 and then amended to sense 2.
  • Sense 4 does not have a counterpart that introduces only a single possibility; *"He's coming, whether you like it" is ungrammatical.
  • In traditional grammar, the clauses headed by whether in senses 2 and 3 are classified as noun clauses, and those headed by whether in sense 4 are classified as adverb clauses.

Translations [edit]

introducing indirect questions)
if, whether or not
introducing adverbial clause; no matter whether or not
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Related terms [edit]

Statistics [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=whether&oldid=20343536"