The repetition of whether in interrogative content clauses (where whether could be replaced by whether ) is unnecessary but grammatical. Fowler’s Modern English Usage (p676) has an example:

• I cannot remember whether they were lowered into the street or whether there was a window opening out at the back.

Whether is

often repeated as a clearer pointer than a bare or to an alternative that forms a separate sentence. Fowler states: Is

it a common and normal conditional clause in a sentence like “but I’m buying it whether I can afford it, or whether I have to take out a loan”? And when does whether mean regardless of whether or no matter whether for a given person?

In its explanation and exemplification of concessive conditional clauses the CaGEL explicitly refers back to an example similar to Fowler’s in its discussion of interrogative clauses: I

• don’t know whether the flight has been delayed or whether it has been canceled. I try to avoid delays for 10 minutes.

“The correlative sequence whether…or (whether) is

an alternative condition in that it combines the conditional meaning of if with the disjunctive meaning of either…or or.” It is therefore a means of coordinating two subordinate clauses. If the second unit is a full clause, whether may be repeated as in :

Whether Martin pays for the broken vase or (whether) he replaces it with a new vase, I’m not inviting him again, in any case. So,

the cagell would regard the OP’s sentence as ‘well-formed’, and following Fowler we could say that the repetition of whether serves to give the or clause just as much emphasis as it would have without it.

And in the Pence example, the repetition of whether separates and gives equal prominence to each of the three fairly long clauses heading by it.

Some people look in a Wikipedia to find an example sentence rather than a grammar book.

As an undergraduate you’ll come across various examples of Oxford based upon the Oxford English Dictionary. This will be my first start point.

1 Express a doubt or choice between alternatives.

‘he seemed undecied whether to go or stay’

‘it is still not clear whether or not he realizes’

‘2 i don’t know if he’s really going to move’ 1 Making an enquiry or investigation (often used in indirect questions)

“I’ll see whether she’s at home”

1. Indicating that a statement applies whichever of the alternatives mentioned is the case.

“I’m going whether you like it or not”,

“The same position applies if it is not known whether deportation order has been made or not”. ‘

Phrases

whether or no

1 Whether or not.

The only issue I thought arising would be whether or not the publication

was defamatory 2 In any case

(Anw: God should help us! ), whether or not, or no! What

will you do after receiving the feedback of all four proposals?

If I’m buying it whether I can afford it. 2) in india and no one can win it. What is this structure? I’m not sure whether

I can afford to buy an elevator or why.

(2) I’m buying it whether I can afford it or not. What are Oxford cases, which we can see that this is fine? I realize that if you change your order and you don’t buy the item, you are actually buying

the item (see 1.1), so you can actually save the item (see 1.2) and not let it go to an unauthorized shipper. Note that it is also possible, and perhaps more common, to swap the order, which would result in I was doing it if i really can’t afford it. See 1.2).

(3) I’m buying it whether I can afford it or whether I have to take out a loan. The Oxford examples don’t have this one given. I checked Cambridge. I didn’t

know whether he wanted to see me or were just ‘juicy’ no matter what happened.

But this example is from the other meaning of whether — “expressing a doubt or choice between alternatives (Oxford),” “used especially in reporting questions and expressing doubts (Cambridge). ” Your (3) is the meaning “Indicating that a statement applies whichever of the alternatives mentioned is the case (Oxford),” “used to introduce two or more possibilities (Cambridge). So

(3) does not work as written.

I’m buying it whether I can afford to buy it or (I) have to take out a loan. I don’t need I in my parentheses. It’s fine. I cannot have am in parentheses.

Is your President putting in place

the resources you need to accomplish your mission regarding the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking?

I am absolutely convinced that segregation is on its deathbed, and those who represent it, whether they be in the United States or whether they be in London, England, the system is on its deathbed (MLK).

The subjunctive is a herring. Life is subjective. It doesn’t change anything. But it does have its ways and things have to change.

The extra whethers in 5a and 5b aren’t needed. They serve a rhetorical purpose and this is an example of pleonasm, defined by Merriam-Webster as the use

of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense.

Poleonasm, which stems via Late Latin from the Greek verb pleonazein, is a fancy word for redundancy. My mom used the word “plus” to represent the English word “plenty,” and the word actually means more, which literally means plein. ” Pleonasm is commonly considered a fault of style, but it can also serve a useful function. “Extra” words can sometimes be helpful to a speaker in getting a message across, adding emphasis, or simply adding an appealing sound and rhythm to a phrase.

It is possible that the former part is the latter one of two. I need to read Oxford English Dictionary as an English teacher. Lt, uter and ne-uter (and Gr..) Originally, one could say something like: Whether do you prefer apples or oranges? In modern usage, it should therefore, one should think, always introduce two alternatives. Opinions or questions are always asked and you can never know if you can afford it. I don’t know whether I can afford it or not. It remains elliptical. Do you want to test for the answer?

Why is your (1) not all right? What would be your answer to all points I answered? What is the significance of this exact accident in history?

I’m buying it whether: (a) I can afford it [ie. 3′) to enjoy an interesting

watch: of course that is, except by the reason that (1) is not possible, is more obvious; for it seems to expand to: (3′) – I want the camera to “explore” (this could be), but it seems not to expand to: (3′)” What is it like to take a loan? I can afford it.

Is there any false information in this email? On this interpretation. What is an interpretation which makes (3) possible, or at least intelligible? What is the most natural interpretation of Your added example (5)?

Do you feel comfortable supporting president Obama in Congress?

Let’s simplify.

I guess the intention here is to write the equivalent of (7) We will do what is necessary, whether it

be A, or B, or C. The repetition of whether it

be is merely rhetorical.

How to pronounce (7)?

Just as a last sentence, both introduce precisely 2 things, so this is not quite all right. Now, one may argue that, since whether is no longer heard as which of two, (7) cannot be judged as harshly. What is about the sixth letter? Isn’t it like

(9) Both he was both tall (between ten and fourteen) both under dark, both handsome

Knowing a prescriptivist bent, I would say these considerations make (5) unacceptable. I can see how (5) and (6) may feel right and will be accepted by most people.

What’s different in a sense about how you say (3)? I agree with you. If you read (4) as having the same structure as (5), then it becomes equivalent to

(three.) I’m buying it whether I can afford it or I have to take out a loan.

I am thinking that, yes, if you accept (5), then you must in principle accept (3). Can I learn to recognize (7) and (3”)? And let me be clear that (3), if it should be accepted, should be so only by analogy and in principle: it looks dumb and there is no good reason to repeat the whether (in (5) you can see how one might want to do this for the rhetorical effect

after first sentence)

Can the or (that requires / is within the whether clause and not the whether clause) reside outside the whether clause since it, in all cases, is a “serious” or the “caught” or a “man” :-)?

… I’m buying it whether I can afford it, or whether I have to take out a loan.”. the or doesn’t “reside outside the whether-clause”. What is it part of it?

Why dictionary are not telling us what they are telling us?

I’m buying

1. something although I cannot afford to buy it. I’m comparing to other brands: what is it like to buy something. Why do people buy things that they can’t afford to buy?

2. I’m buying it whether I can afford it, or whether I have to take out a loan. To use whether, you need two

choices in your utterance on either side of the “or” conjunction. In the same utterances, two whatevers don’t work together.

MAIN POINT: Sometimes, the “or not” which provides two choices is implied and not stated outright.

What is the New York Times’ example of whether it’s the

truth? Often or not is redundant after whether, but not always. • When the whether clause is the object of

a verb, she wonders whether the teacher will attend. and yes, she is reluctant to let the sentence be omitted. What is the object of a preposition?

If a car has been damaged or not, what is the reason? When the clause is the subject of

the sentence: Whether the car will be ready depends on the mechanic. The clause is the subject of depends

but when a whether clause modifies a verb, or not is needed: They will play tonight whether or not it rains. The clause modifies play.)

whether or not explained by the New York Times

Final Comment: The “or” is mutually exclusive but is not always stated outright; it is implied. How genuinely true is this? Whether this is absolute true, is a matter for mathematicians. No verb, but “or” is implied. Whether you have an enjoyable week is for me to say. The “or” is implied. Remarks by Vice President Pence in Press Gaggle?

What can you teach someone to speak on a fly? There is no written language. Is it written too? Therefore, they cannot be expected to follow rules for written grammar. All of the American speakers are bilingual, their foreign accent is not clear enough. They speak English fluently. He repeats the word whether unnecessarily etc. A skilled, elegant and trained speaker would not.

How and Why does President Obama still fight for

human trafficking?

And here is how a more accomplished speaker might have expressed this: (5) And I

want to assure you that this President is going to continue to work with members of Congress, like Congressman Andy Harris, to make sure that you have the resources and the support you need to accomplish your mission — whether that be saving people from human trafficking, sparing families the scourge of narcotics, drug abuse, addiction, and overdose, or stopping the violence of MS-13 and other gangs that are flowing into our country

What are three options? The term u00bbwhether’ does not need to be repeated. What exactly was that

advice? I just don’t understand why.