What Is the Difference Between Wether, Weather and Whether?
Wether, weather and whether may all sound the same, but they have very different meanings in the English language. Wether refers to a castrated ram. Weather refers to atmospheric conditions and whether is a conjunction meaning if or in case. There is even a poem to help you remember them.
Whether the Weather Poem / Tongue Twister
Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot.
We’ll weather the weather,
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!
~ Anon
Wether
This is not a term you are likely to encounter in the UK. Nonetheless, it is something that you should be aware of. Wether refers to a castrated ram or billy goat.
e.g. A flock of wethers moved to higher ground.
Weather
Weather has two meanings, depending upon its use as a noun or a verb. As a noun, it refers to atmospheric conditions in respect of whether it is hot or cold, dry or raining, sunny, cloudy or windy etc.
e.g. What is the weather like outside?
As a verb, it can mean to erode or change appearance of something, typically following exposure to the atmosphere.
e.g. His face was badly weathered from working on the farm.
As a verb, it can also mean to endure or withstand.
e.g. The large ship weathered the storm with ease.
Whether
Whether is a conjunction that usually means: if or in case. It may also be used to introduce an indirect question, when there is some doubt. It is also not uncommon to, ‘whether or not.’ Frequently, the ‘or not‘ can be removed without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
e.g. I wonder whether she will get the job.
e.g. The waiter asked whether they had finished their meal.
e.g. Whether by accident or design, we had fantastic theatre seats.
If you need further help with your English, a good resource is The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: An Easy-to-Use Guide with Clear Rules, Real-World Examples, and Reproducible Quizzes, by Jane Straus et al.
