different between neither vs whether

English

Etymology

Alteration (after either) of nauther, from Middle English nawther, noþer, naðer (whence also Modern nor), from Old English n?wþer, contraction of n?hwæþer, corresponding to no + whether. Compare Latin neuter (“neither”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: n?th??(r), n?th??(r), IPA^(key): /?na?ð.?(?)/, /?ni?ð.?(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?na?ð?/, /?nið?/
• Rhymes: -i?ð?(?), -a?ð?(?)
• ,
• See either for pronunciation by region

Determiner

neither

1. Not one of two; not either.
2. Not either (used with nor).

Translations

Pronoun

neither

1. Not either one of two.

   I've tried on both shirts, but neither fits properly.

Usage notes

Unlike the pronoun none, the pronoun neither is always singular.

Translations

Translations

Adverb

neither (not comparable)

1. Similarly not.

   Neither can she stop him, nor can he stop her.

   Just as you would not correct it, neither would I.

Translations

Usage notes

• Neither never functions as a conjunction. In instances where "neither" is collocated with "nor," the former constitutes a determiner or an adverb while the later constitutes a conjunction.
• Neither is used to mean none of two or more. Although some suggest that using the word neither with more than two items is incorrect, it has been commonly used to refer to more than two subjects since the 17th century.

• Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. - inscription on James A. Farley Post Office Building, New York

• There is considerable variation in the number of the verb employed with this construction.

• Examples:

• “That woman was neither a collector nor an art critic, but she understood the meaning I meant to give that work.” — Marcelle Ferron

• “Has anyone ever loved you so much that they tried to kill you, or perhaps sucked you down into a hole so that you had to kill them to get away? Yeah, me neither.” — Maynard James Keenan

• “You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work.” — Lee Trevino

• “As if it were gold and could be neither good nor bad nor worth more nor worth less but must always be worth the same no matter what.” — Alex Miller

• “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
  

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!” — Rudyard Kipling

• “Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all.” — Jesus Christ Superstar

Anagrams

• Therien, etherin, reineth, therein

References

English

Etymology

From Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz (“who”). Cognate with English either, German weder (“neither”), Swedish var, Icelandic hvor (“each of two, which of two”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?'th?(r), IPA^(key): /?w?ð?(?)/
• enPR: hw?'th?(r), IPA^(key): /???ð?(?)/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(?)
• Hyphenation: wheth?er
• Homophones: weather, wether (both in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Determiner

whether

1. (obsolete) Which of two.
   • 1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, Book III

     But to whether side fortune would have been partial could not be determined.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book IV, Canto III:

     Whilst thus the case in doubtfull ballance hong,

     Vnsure to whether side it would incline,

   • 1633, George Herbert, The Temple, The Pearl:

     In vies of favours whether party gains...

Pronoun

whether

1. (obsolete) Which of two. [11th-19th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXVII:

     The debite answered and sayde unto them: whether of the twayne will ye that I lett loosse unto you?

   • Whether of them twain did the will of his father?

   • 1720, Daniel Defoe, Captain Singleton

     I told them we were in a country where we all knew there was a great deal of gold, and that all the world sent ships thither to get it; that we did not indeed know where it was, and so we might get a great deal, or a little, we did not know whether; ...

   • On the 17th, we came in full view of a great island, or continent (for we knew not whether;) on the south side whereof was a small neck of land jutting out into the sea, and a creek too shallow to hold a ship of above one hundred tons.

Conjunction

whether

1. (obsolete) Introducing a direct interrogative question (often with correlative or) which indicates doubt between alternatives.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark 2:9 (the King James is almost the same):

     whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?

   • 1616, William Shakespeare, King John, I.i:

     Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?

2. Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities (usually with correlative or).
3. Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question.

4. Used to introduce a disjunctive adverbial clause which qualifies the main clause of the sentence (with correlative or).

Usage notes

• In traditional grammar, the clauses headed by whether in senses 2 and 3 are classified as noun clauses, and those headed by whether in sense 4 are classified as adverbial clauses.
• There is some overlap in usage between senses 2 and 3, in that a yes-or-no interrogative content clause can list the two possibilities explicitly in a number of ways:

Do you know whether he’s coming or staying?

Do you know whether he’s coming or not?

Do you know whether or not he’s coming?

Further, in the first two of these examples, the “or staying” and “or not” may be added as an afterthought (sometimes indicated in writing with a comma before), such that the whether may be uttered in sense 3 and then amended to sense 2.

• The or not can be placed after whether or after the verb, although in senses 2 and 3, or not is not required.
• Sense 4 does not have a counterpart that introduces only a single possibility and thus requires or not if no other possibilities are presented. For example,

“He’s coming, whether you like it” is ungrammatical. Grammatical versions are “He’s coming, whether you like it or not” or “He’s coming, whether you like it or dislike it”.

• The main verb in adverbial clauses with whether is sometimes in the subjunctive mood, especially if the verb is be:

I shall be glad to play any instrument, whether it be a violin or a trumpet.

Translations

Related terms

• whethersoever
• either
• neither