Either vs Whether Hi ladies and gentlemen ! It's me again with doubts about something that has driven me crazy for a while. the Either and the Whether... I mean I confuse them most of the time and wh

Diego

Either vs Whether Hi ladies and gentlemen ! It's me again with doubts about something that has driven me crazy for a while. the Either and the Whether... I mean I confuse them most of the time and when I want to use it either in speaking or writing ( is this right ? Did I use it right ? ) I end up mix them up and doing a mess. Perhaps I'm overthinking all of this but I hope you can help me to get the differences with both of them, thanks ! Pd : Examples : Whether : You will eat your vegetables! whether you like it or not ! >> is this correct? Either : He is either at school or at home, I'm not sure, you should call him... > is right? I know that some of them, or maybe both, are used when you have 2 or more alternatives, right? how to use them correctly ? Silly questions again =( but I hope you can understand ! Greetings from Venezuela ! Have a good night/afternoon/day !

Feb 8, 2016 5:34 AM

Answers · 3

Hello, Yes these can be a little tricky. But great start, both of your examples are right! Whether is more like "if" but with more than one possibly. Always must be accompanied by an independent clause/separate sentence. It implies a condition or something indefinite. Either does not require another clause and does not imply a condition. Tomorrow it will either be rainy or sunny. --simple sentence I'm not sure whether it will with be rainy or sunny tomorrow (uncertainty/doubt, condition, like an "if statement) I believe it will be either rainy or sunny tomorrow (simple statement of two alternatives, possibilities, no condition) I hope this makes some sense. Try putting the sentence into an IF statement. If it works, "whether" can be used most likely. If not, you should stick to " either ".

February 8, 2016

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