One couplet words that is confusing both for the native speaker and non-native speaker alike ‘Whether vs weather’. The two words have almost the same spelling and sound exactly the same (i.e., they are homophones). To make matters worse, there are several other English words (some more common than others) that sound similar to these two. These are: wither, wether, and whither.
In this post I will clear the confusion by providing you with the what, what not, and how of all five words.
Let us understand the five words and how to use them.
Weather
The weather is a term that denotes the atmosphere and the pressures and changes that occur every day. It is similar to the word climate (weather is instantaneous; climate describes weather over time).
If we were to use this in an example, it would be the following:
Because of the weather change, the match had to be postponed.
Thanks to the pleasant weather, we did not feel tired after the trek.
Based on these sentences, the meaning and usage of weather are quite easily comprehensible. Now let us understand the meaning of the word whether and how to use it.
Whether
Whether is a conjunction that can be used as a substitute to the word if. It is used when introducing alternatives. Here are a few examples:
Whether we cover all of Europe or not, we will surely go to Euro Disney.
From this example, we can clearly see that the word whether does the job of the word if. What the speaker is trying to say is that, even if we do not visit every part of Europe, we will surely go to Euro Disney.
The word whether can also be used in another way.
Don’t confuse yourself with whether to go for engineering or medicine. Either option will help you to lead a comfortable life.
Whether you believe you can or cannot, you are right.
Based on this example, we can see that the word whether is the word before alternatives are presented. What we understand is that the word whether can be used in several ways; nevertheless, the central function is when alternatives are to be presented.
Wether
Now let us look at another word that is rarely used but resembles the words whether and weather. It is the word wether. You would not have heard of this word unless you are a sheep farmer or someone involved in animal husbandry.
The word describes a goat or sheep that is castrated at a young age. Let us see the word being used in a sentence.
In the 1943 sheep show, a 12-month-old wether won the first prize.
Wither
Wither is used to describe ‘decay and gradual death’. Let us understand it using an example.
The plants withered away as soon as winter set in.
In this example, wither suggests that the plants decayed and died when winter came.
Let us use another example:
She is dead now and will soon wither away from public memory.
Whither
Now let us take a look at my personal favorite, whither. The word dates from old English, when it was used as an adverb, meaning to what situation, position, degree, etc. This word can only be understood with the help of examples.
The church was at the end of the village, whither Justin was being taken.
In this sentence, we can make out that the word whither means to which. If we were to translate it into modern English, we would obtain ‘the church to which Justin was being taken was at the end of the village’.
In the next example, we look at how the word whither can be used to mean to which place. Used in a sentence, it would sound like this:
‘Whither are we heading?’ which translates in common English to ‘To which place are we heading?’
It could also be used to ask to which state? as follows:
‘Whither does water change to when heated?’ translates to ‘to which state does water change when heated?’
If you need more help determining which closely-related English word you should use, please contact me.