whether

English

Etymology

From Middle English whether, whather, from Old English hweþer, hwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaþar, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz (“who”). Cognate with German weder (“neither”), Swedish var, Icelandic hvor (“each of two, which of two”)

Pronunciation

• enPR: wĕ'thə(r), IPA^(key): /ˈwɛðə(ɹ)/
• enPR: hwĕ'thə(r), IPA^(key): /ˈʍɛðə(ɹ)/

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• Rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: wheth‧er
• Homophones: weather, wether (both in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Conjunction

whether

1. Indicates doubt between possibilities (usually with correlative or).

   He chose the correct answer, but whether by luck or by skill I don't know.

   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

     As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, […]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. […] I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

   • 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1–0 Ukraine”, in 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.

   • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless. One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished.

2. Without a correlative, introduces a simple indirect question.

   Do you know whether he's coming?

3. Introduces a disjunctive adverbial clause qualifying the main clause (with correlative or).

   He's coming, whether you like it or not.

   Whether or not you're successful, you can be sure you did your best.

   • 1931 April, Francis Younghusband, “Preface”, in The Epic of Mount Everest‎, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, →OL, page 5:

     The years have gone by and still we know not whether or no Mallory and Irvine reached the summit. But the will to climb Mount Everest is still alive.

4. (obsolete) Introduces a direct question between alternatives (often with correlative or).
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark ij:[9]:

     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?

   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?

Usage notes

• Traditional grammar classifies senses 2 and 3 as whether heading a noun clause, but classifies sense 4 as whether heading an adverbial clause.
• 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.

• The or not can be placed after whether or after the verb, although in senses 2 and 3, or not is not required.
• Sense 4 does not have a counterpart that introduces only a single possibility and thus requires or not if no other possibilities are presented. For example,

“He’s coming, whether you like it” is ungrammatical. Grammatical versions are “He’s coming, whether you like it or not” or “He’s coming, whether you like it or dislike it”.

• The main verb in adverbial clauses with whether is sometimes in the subjunctive mood, especially if the verb is be:

I shall be glad to play any instrument, whether it be a violin or a trumpet.

Derived terms

Related terms

• either
• neither
• whethersoever

Translations

Determiner

whether

1. (obsolete) Which of two.
   • a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC:

     But to whether side fortune would have been partial could not be determined.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Whilst thus the case in doubtfull ballance hong,
     Vnsure to whether side it would incline,

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 11:6:

     In the morning sowe thy seede, and in the euening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

   • , George Herbert, “The Pearl”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, , →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, , 1885, →OCLC:

     In vies of favours whether party gains...

Pronoun

whether

1. (obsolete) Which of two.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:

     The debite answered and sayde unto them: whether of the twayne will ye that I lett loosse unto you?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Matthew 21:31:

     Whether of them twain did the will of his father?

   • 1720, [Daniel Defoe], The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, London: J. Brotherton, , J. Graves , A. Dodd, , and T. Warner, , →OCLC:

     I told them we were in a country where we all knew there was a great deal of gold, and that all the world sent ships thither to get it; that we did not indeed know where it was, and so we might get a great deal, or a little, we did not know whether; […]

   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. , volume I, London: Benj Motte, , →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag):

     On the 17th, we came in full view of a great island, or continent (for we knew not whether;) on the south side whereof was a small neck of land jutting out into the sea, and a creek too shallow to hold a ship of above one hundred tons.

   • 1847, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Woodnotes II:

     "Whether is better, the gift or the donor? / Come to me," / Quoth the pine tree, "I am the giver of honor."