If and whether

The words if and whether can be commonly confused by learners. Let's explore the differences between the two.

If and whether are words that connect one part of a sentence to another.

If

If describes a possibility.

James will go to the beach if it is sunny today.

This example talks about the possibility of sunny weather.

If James has his way, white ties will be banned.

This example talks about possibility of James getting what he wants.

We can use either ‘whether’ or ‘if’ when we report what people say.

Consider this example:

Is Jim attending the meeting?

We can use 'whether' or 'if' when we talk about what Jim has said.

Jim is not sure if he will attend the meeting.

Jim is not sure whether he will attend the meeting.

Whether

We use whether when we are choosing between two options. Sometimes we may need to use the phrase ‘whether or not’.

Dom isn’t sure whether he should invite Sally to the zoo.

In this example, Dom has two choices; to invite Sally or to not invite her.

I asked Sally whether she wanted to go to the zoo or the movies.

Here, Sally has two choices: to go to the zoo or the movies.

We add ‘or not’ when the sentence does not make sense on its own.

For example:

James is taking Dom to the zoo whether he likes it or not.