Ads
related to: whether vs or not grammar questions
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The main members associated with open-ended questions are how, what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose, and why, all of which also have -ever forms (e.g., whatever). Those associated with closed-ended questions are whether and if. [a] The main role of these words is to mark a clause as interrogative.
Interrogative sentences are generally divided between yes–no questions, which ask whether or not something is the case (and invite an answer of the yes/no type), and wh-questions, which specify the information being asked about using a word like which, who, how, etc.
Whether a listener is present or not is sometimes irrelevant. It answers the question: "Why has this been said?" The five basic sentence forms (or "structures") in English are the declarative, interrogative, exclamative, imperative and the optative. These correspond to the discourse functions statement, question, exclamation, and command ...
An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how. They are sometimes called wh-words , because in English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws ).
Whether is always a subordinator. It marks closed interrogative content clauses such as I wonder whether this would work.It is often possible to substitute if for whether, the main exceptions being when the subordinate clause functions as the subject, as in Whether it's true is an empirical question and cases with or not, such as I'll be there whether you are there or not.
In grammar, a content clause is a dependent clause that provides content implied or commented upon by an independent clause. The term was coined by Danish linguist Otto Jespersen . Content clauses have also traditionally been called noun clauses or nominal clauses , but current linguistics tends to view those names as misnomers and prefers ...
Whether you're trying to break the ice with a new acquaintance or spark a deeper discussion with an old friend, making an effort to learn more about the people around you is a great way to build ...
Indirect yes–no questions can be expressed using if or whether as the interrogative word: Ask them whether/if they saw him. Negative questions are formed similarly; however, if the verb undergoing inversion has a contraction with not , then it is possible to invert the subject with this contraction as a whole.