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Whether or ...?



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Meaning of 'Switched to a style', 'Fork for', MBO, LBO, etc | The noun 'work' and its plural
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Whether or ...? Fri Dec 29, 2006 22:13 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Hi!

I rarely found the word "whether" at this site to build a connection between reason and opportunity. So I wonder whether my use of this word is wrong?

Michael
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Whether Sat Dec 30, 2006 16:24 pm  Whether
 

I'm not sure how you use it, but the conjunction 'whether' means 'if' and expresses alternative possibilities or doubt: I don't know whether it is true; it depends on whether we have enough money or not.

It can also mean 'either': whether by day or by night.
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Whether or ...? Sat Dec 30, 2006 16:30 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Hi Conchita!

Thanks for your explanation! Like I mentioned I rarely came across "whether" at this site and I wonderred whether/if/ either I might use it the wrong way or whether/if/either this three words might be substituted from another optional?

Michael
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Whether or ...? Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:46 am  Whether or ...?
 

Hi Michael,

"Whether" is a tad (bit) old fashioned so maybe that is why, "if" is it?s modern day replacement. But not wrong to use it how you do.
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Whether or ...? Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:18 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Fan of Arabian horses wrote:
I wondered whether/if/ either I might use it the wrong way or whether/if/either...?

'Either' is the odd one out in your sentence, Michael. Don't use it when you mean to say 'if'. 'I wonder if' is the most commonly used expression.
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Whether or ...? Sun Dec 31, 2006 14:30 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Hi Conchita, Hi Stewart!

Thank you again! I don?t know why but anyhow I do like the word "whether" more than "if" at several occasions whether seeming a tad/bit old fashioned!

Conchita, does it make sense or is there a correct sense if I write the sentence you qouted "I wondered whether/if I might use them either"?

Michael
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Whether or ...? Sun Dec 31, 2006 17:17 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Fan of Arabian horses wrote:
Conchita, does it make sense or is there a correct sense if I write the sentence you qouted "I wondered whether/if I might use them either"?

Your sentence just needs a little editing:

I wonder(ed) whether/if I might use either (of them).
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Whether or ...? Sun Dec 31, 2006 21:23 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Hi Michael.

When in doubt, look at the Master, Bill Shakespeare:

Quote:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

A
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Whether or ...? Wed Jan 03, 2007 23:14 pm  Whether or ...?
 

Hi Alan!

Hmm..... I think Shakespeare offers the listener a choice between two opportunties "whether...... or.........", don?t he?

Nevertheless, hard stuff! I?m not quite sure whether ?tis might be a typo or an old-fashioned form of it?s or what?s the meaning?

Additional I don?t really know why Shakespeare calls it nobler in the sense of honorable?

Oh dear, really hard stuff if you?re a literary booby like I am! I myself hardly was able to understand Heinrich von Kleist?s "The Broken Pitcher"!

Michael
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Whether or ...? Wed Jan 03, 2007 23:47 pm  Whether or ...?
 

'tis = it is, shortened and scrunched together.

hehe
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