different between whether vs yet

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

English

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /j?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English yet, yit, from Old English ??et, g?ta, from Proto-Germanic *juta (compare West Frisian jit, jitte (“yet”), Dutch ooit (“ever”), German jetzt (“now”)), compound of (1) *ju (“ever”, adverb) (see aye), from Proto-Indo-European *h?yew-, accusative of *h?óyu (“long time”) and (2) the Proto-Germanic *ta (“to,towards”) , from Proto-Indo-European *do. More at aye and -th.

Adverb

yet (not comparable)

1. (usually with negative) Thus far; up to the present; up to some specified time; still

2. Continuously up to the current time; still.
   • 1730, Joseph Addison, The Evidences Of The Christian Religion

     facts they had heard while they were yet heathens

3. At some future time; eventually; still.

4. (after certain copulative verbs, followed by an infinitive) Not as of the time referenced.

5. In addition.

6. (degree) Even.

Synonyms

• (up to some specified time): erenow, so far, to date; see also Thesaurus:hitherto or Thesaurus:formerly
• (continuously up to the current time): even now, still
• (at some future time): at last, in time, sooner or later; see also Thesaurus:eventually or Thesaurus:subsequently
• (not at the time referenced): still
• (in addition): besides, further, moreover; see also Thesaurus:additionally
• (even): still

Derived terms

• not yet

Translations

References

Conjunction

yet

1. Nevertheless; however; but; despite that.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

   • Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; […].

Synonyms

• be that as it may, even so, withal; see also Thesaurus:nevertheless

Derived terms

• as yet

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English yeten, from Old English ??otan (“to flow, pour”), from Proto-Germanic *geutan? (“to flow, pour”), from Proto-Indo-European *??ewd- (“to pour”). Cognate with Scots yat (“to yet”), West Frisian jitte (“to scatter, shed, pour”), Dutch gieten (“to pour, cast, mould”), German gießen (“to pour, cast, mould”), Swedish gjuta (“to pour, cast”). More at yote.

Alternative forms

• yit
• yete (obsolete)

Verb

yet (third-person singular simple present yets, present participle yetting, simple past and past participle yetted or yet)

1. (dialectal) To melt; found; cast, as metal.

Noun

yet (plural yets)

1. (dialectal) A metal pan or boiler; yetling.

Etymology 3

From Middle English yeten, ?eten, from Old English ?ietan.

Verb

yet (third-person singular simple present yets, present participle yetting, simple past yot, past participle yotten)

1. (nonstandard, West Country) To get.

Anagrams

• -ety, Tye, ety, t'ye, tey, tye

Cahuilla

Noun

yét

1. female (animal)

Scots

Etymology

From Old English ??et, g?ta, from Proto-Germanic *juta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [j?t], [j?t]

Adverb

yet (not comparable)

1. yet, up to now, now as before, at present, still

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English yet.

Adverb

yet

1. still
2. already
3. yet