WHETHER

Etymology

Determiner

whether

(obsolete) Which of two.

Pronoun

whether

(obsolete) Which of two. [11th-19th c.]

Conjunction

whether

(obsolete) Introducing a direct interrogative question (often with correlative or) which indicates doubt between alternatives.

Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities (usually with correlative or).

Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question.

Used to introduce a disjunctive adverbial clause which qualifies the main clause of the sentence (with correlative or).

Usage notes

• 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 adverbial clauses.

• 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.

Source: Wiktionary

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Wheth"er, pron. Etym: [OE. whether, AS. hwæ; akin to OS. hwe, OFries. hweder, OHG. hwedar, wedar, G. weder, conj., neither, Icel. hvarr whether, Goth. hwa, Lith. katras, L. uter, Gr. katara, from the interrogatively pronoun, in AS. hwa who. Who, and cf. Either, Neither, Or, conj.]

Definition: Which (of two); which one (of two); -- used interrogatively and relatively. [Archaic] Now choose yourself whether that you liketh. Chaucer. One day in doubt I cast for to compare Whether in beauties' glory did exceed. Spenser. Whether of them twain did the will of his father Matt. xxi. 31.

Wheth"er, conj.

Definition: In case; if; -- used to introduce the first or two or more alternative clauses, the other or others being connected by or, or by or whether. When the second of two alternatives is the simple negative of the first it is sometimes only indicated by the particle not or no after the correlative, and sometimes it is omitted entirely as being distinctly implied in the whether of the first. And now who knows But you, Lorenzo, whether I am yours Shak. You have said; but whether wisely or no, let the forest judge. Shak. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. Rom. xiv. 8. But whether thus these things, or whether not; Whether the sun, predominant in heaven, Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun, . . . Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid. Milton. Whether or no, in either case; in any case; as, I will go whether or no.

– Whether that, whether. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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