whether "It would be better whether these are fully equipped tours" "Whether" is incorrect in this sentence. The correct word would be "if", but I don't understand why. I know that whether is more formal than if, but in this sentence it doesn't sound right. Could anyone give me an explanation? Thank you in advanced. :) |
Re: whether If has three uses - it can express : a) a condition, b) the idea "given that X is true" or c) the concept possibly yes, possibly no Whether doesn't just mean if - it means if or not. So it can only be used in contexts where there is a yes or no possibility - ie replacing if when it is used with its third use. Some examples : I don't know if/whether I shall go to the conference (possibly yes, possibly no) He asked me if/whether I liked cats (possibly yes, possibly no) In your context there is no yes/no possibility. Here if expresses a condition - not a yes/no alternative, and therefore whether cannot be used. Notice that it's a hypothetical condition (currently the tours are not fully equipped) and so the second form of the verb should be used : It would be better if these were fully equipped tours Other examples where if expresses a condition and therefore can't be replaced by whether include : If the phone rings while I'm gone, would someone answer it please? If I hadn't missed the plane, I'd be on the beach now! And some where it means Given that X is true... : If you saw him, why didn't you tell him about the meeting? If you knew about it, you should have told me. etc |
Re: whether Thank you Susan53. Your explanation has been very useful to me. I've always been taught that whether is formal for if, and clearly that's not true. |
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