The Grammar Guide Spelling What is the difference between "wether" and "whether"?

What is the difference between "wether" and "whether"?

What is the difference between "wether" and "whether"?

The words wether and whether are often confused because they appear similar. We'll help you to understand the difference.

Out of the two words, whether is the most common. It appears about 1,709 times more frequently than wether.

Wether means a castrated buck goat when used as a noun.

We use whether to indicate doubt between alternatives when used as a conjunction. For example:

  • Whether he goes or not.
  • I'll love you whether you win or lose.

You can see that these words have very different meanings, so it's important not to confuse them.

A good way to remember the difference is to think that a castrated goat is missing something, so wether is missing an H. But unless you're writing an article similar to this, you'll probably never need to use the word wether. Chances are, you'll want whether.

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The definitions in this article were adapted from Wiktionary.

Examples of wether in a sentence

Ah kin you tell wether Ive a soul or not?
- Pygmalion and three other plays by George Bernard Shaw

Examples of whether in a sentence

Whether whole or broken…”
- The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff
You will have to decide whether or not to call out, It’s me.
- Some Girls: My Life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren
One of you call me tomorrow about whether or not we’re in business.”
- The Haunted Air by F. Paul Wilson
Had they said whether the killing was in the line of duty or something else?
- The Replacement Child by Christine Barber
Whether from the storm or the rest of the roof cutting the lines, I didn’t know.
- Touch of Darkness by C. T. Adams; Cathy Clamp

Test yourself

Choose the missing word in each question.