whetherquestions

Whether-questions are a class of interrogative clauses in English that concern the truth of a proposition and are typically introduced by the subordinating conjunction whether. They most often occur in indirect or embedded questions, where the main clause does not ask a direct question but reports, considers, or questions information. For example: I wonder whether he will arrive. In contrast, a direct yes/no question would be: Will he arrive?

Syntactically, whether-clauses function as the content of verbs such as know, wonder, ask, or doubt. The structure is subject to standard declarative word order within the clause introduced by whether. Negation can appear as whether or not: We are unsure whether or not they will attend. The choice between whether and if in indirect questions can carry subtle distinctions; many editors prefer whether in formal writing, especially when two alternatives are implied.

Semantically, whether-questions express uncertainty, consideration of alternatives, or evaluation of truth conditions. They can resemble yes–no questions in meaning while remaining embedded in another clause. They also appear in legal, academic, and journalistic registers to discuss possibilities without asserting one as true.

In other languages, equivalent forms exist, often with distinct usage rules and particles. English uses whether-questions to report or speculate about propositions, while direct questions remain phrased differently. See also: indirect question, yes–no question, complementizer, embedded question.