A friend has invited you on a skiing trip. It sounds like fun, but it seems expensive and you don't have much money. You say:
I'd love to go, but I don't know if I'd be able to manage it financially.
You're about to watch a basketball game on TV. There's a show before the game where the sports announcers discuss the game. They're talking about one of the players who suffered a knee injury last year. One of them says:
The question is whether his leg is fully recovered.
You're at the dentist's office. The dentist tells you that you are grinding your teeth at night, and suggests that you get a mouth guard to wear while you're sleeping. You're worried about how much it will cost, so you want to know if your insurance will pay for it. You ask her:
Do you know whether that would be covered by my insurance?
He tells jokes, but his face always stays serious. You get confused by this. Now you're talking about your uncle's personality with your mother, and you say:
I can never tell whether he's joking.
I can't tell whether it's finished or not. I can't tell whether she's being shy or just doesn't want to talk to me.The examples above use "whether", but you can also use other question words like "how", "what", "who", and so on:
I couldn't tell what they were saying. For the life of me, I can not tell how he did it.
A: You're quitting? Are you serious? B: No, I was just joking.You probably also know that "jokes" are little funny stories or sayings that you tell people. When you're doing this, it's called "telling" a joke:
He always tries to tell jokes, but he usually messes them up.
humor, jokes, personality, progressive aspect, whether On your lunch break at work, you're talking with a coworker about one of your company's competitors which is hiring a lot of new employees. Your coworker is worried about this competitor, but you aren't. You've just said "They've certainly added a lot of staff recently." Now you continue your thought:
Whether they're growing in terms of revenue, I'm not so sure.
There's a meeting scheduled for this afternoon. You're busy with other work and don't really want to go. You're not sure whether attendance is required at this meeting. When a coworker asks if you're going, you ask:
Do you know if it's mandatory?
You're going on a trip to a foreign country for a few weeks, and your roommate is helping you decide what to take with you. You aren't sure if you should take your notebook computer with you or not. You make a thoughtful face and say:
I'm trying to decide whether I should take my laptop.
Use this phrase when you are "in the middle" of making a decision – when you're thinking of the different possibilities. Here are a few more examples:
I'm trying to decide what to order.
Everyone's trying to decide where to go for drinks.
I'm trying to decide whether or not I should apply for this job I saw posted on my company's intranet.
"Whether" is similar to "if". In the example above, you can also say:
I'm trying to decide if I should take my laptop.
You might choose to use "whether" instead of "if" just because of the sound. "Whether I" sounds easier to pronounce than "if I".
In written English, you should follow "whether" with "...or not":
I'm trying to decide whether I should take my laptop or not.
You can also use "...or not" in spoken English, but you should put it right after "whether":
I'm trying to decide whether or not to take my laptop.
decision, modal, progressive aspect, whether You were planning to send an email to some friends inviting them to go out for dinner. Now you're not sure if you sent it. You say:
I can't remember if I sent it or not.
if, invitation, memory, whether 