"Whether" and "if" and when to use them?
I know the meaning of those words, both of them mean Si but when should i use one and the other. Would you all give some clear examples of them, please? Thank you in advance!
4 Answers
This is an interesting question MIlagro. We use both 'if' and 'whether' in indirect questions, so you could say, 'I don't know if she's coming', or, 'I don't know whether she's coming'.
But in some circumstances we can only use 'whether'. For example, before infinitives with 'to', we only use 'whether'. We say, 'I don't know whether to tell him', but you wouldn't say, 'I don't know if to tell him'.
We also only use 'whether' after prepositions. So we say, 'We had a long discussion about whether to go by car or by train'. We couldn't use 'if' in that sentence.
We also prefer 'whether' when the clause beginning with 'whether' is a subject or a complement. So you say, 'Whether you are agree or not makes no difference to me'. (The 'whether you agree or not' is the subject of that sentence.)
And lastly, we use whether with 'or'. So we say, for example, 'I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry'. Now some people who think that there are correct and incorrect ways of speaking English think that you shouldn't use 'whether' with 'or', but actually most people these days do use it.
And lastly, 'whether' does tend to be more formal than 'if' so then in the cases where you could use 'whether' or 'if', if you are speaking more formally, you would probably use 'whether'.
The rule is to use if when you have a conditional sentence and whether when you are showing that two alternatives are possible.
Here's an example where the two words could be interchangeable:
John didn't know whether Ana would arrive on Friday.
.
John didn't know if Ana would arrive on Friday.
In either sentence, the meaning is that Ana may or may not arrive on Friday.
Here is an example where the words are not interchangeable.
John didn't know whether Ana would arrive on Friday or Saturday.
Because we used whether, you know that there are two possibilities: An a will arrive on Friday or Ana will arrive on Saturday.
The sentence has a different meaning when I use if instead of whether:
John didn't know if Ana would arrive on Friday or Saturday.
Now in addition to arriving on Friday or Saturday, there is the possibility that Ana may not arrive at all. These last two sentences show why it is best to use whether when you have two possibilities, and that is why I recommend using whether instead of if when you have two possibilities, even when the meaning wouldn't change if you use if. It's safer and more consistent.
If I hear the word "whether" and then a pause, I complete in my mind a phrase, "whether... or not..." This is like "should I do it or should I not do it?" I'm questioning the feasibility of an idea or an action. Some times "if" and "whether" coincide but the main difference is that "if" is used in a conditional sentence. "If this helps then I'll be pleased."
As I said, "whether" has that hanging pause, I expect it to be completed with "or not".
So simply put, "whether" looks at two alternatives and "if" doesn't care.
"Whether she invites me to the party or not, I'll go." "If she invites me to the party I'll go, if she doesn't then,I'll go anyway because I'm a dolt."
I'm finding this quite difficult to explain. I do hope it helps.
I am one of those people that thinks that there are correct and incrrect ways of speaking English, but I have no problem with using or with whether--in fact I would say it is sometimes necessary. I do have a problem with limiting whether to two options though, as it can be correctly used with longer lists of options.
