whether
Pronunciation Determiner
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Pronunciation Determiner
- (obsolete) Which of two.
- 1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, Book III
- But to whether side fortune would have been partial could not be determined.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book IV, Canto III:
- Whilst thus the case in doubtfull ballance hong,
- Vnsure to whether side it would incline,
- 1633, George Herbert, The Temple, The Pearl:
- In vies of favours whether party gains...
- 1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, Book III
- (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?
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Matthew 21:31 ↗:
- Whether of them twain did the will of his father?
- 1720, Daniel Defoe, Captain Singleton
- 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 27, [Jonathan Swift], chapter I, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: Printed for Benj[amin] Motte, […], OCLC 995220039 ↗, 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.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXVII:
- (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?
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark II:
- Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities (usually with correlative or).
- He chose the correct answer, but I don't know whether it was by luck or by skill.
- 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, OCLC 5661828 ↗:
- 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.
- Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question.
- Do you know whether he's coming?
- 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.
- French: si, que, soit, si oui ou non
- German: ob
- Italian: se
- Portuguese: se
- Russian: ли
- Spanish: si, si ... o
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003