Whether vs. Wether

Wether is typically a misspelling of whether. The word whether means “if,” and wether is a castrated ram. Although the spelling is different, the pronunciations are the same. The "h" in whether is silent, making it sound just like wether. Unless you are writing about castrated male sheep, you will most likely not be using wether.

Weather is also a homophone of whether and wether. Weather is the state of the air and atmosphere. Although the pronunciation of the three words are the same, weather’s spelling is more distinct than the other two, and therefore is more likely not to be mixed up with whether.

How would we use each word in context? Here are some example sentences you can refer to.

Whether

I didn’t know whether Steve wanted to come with us or not.

In this example, the subject of the sentence does not know if Steve will come or not. Because whether can be replaced with if in this context, the correct spelling with whether with an h.

Whether the company changes its policy or not, Jillian will stay on the team.

In this sentence, even if the company changes its policy or does not, Jillian will stay on the team.

Do you know whether Madeline will get a promotion or not?

The inquirer here is asking the listener if they know if Madeline will get a promotion or not.

Wether

The shepherd fed the wether and its brothers.

A shepherd is a person who tends and guides sheep. You cannot feed whether or weather, so the correct word here is wether, the only living being out of the three words.

The new wether was listless and weak after its castration.

Wethers are rams, or male sheep, that have gone through castration.

The wether was not as aggressive as the other rams.

After castration, male animals tend to be less aggressive than those that were not castrated.

Weather

She checked today’s weather on her phone.

The subject of this example is checking the state of the atmosphere in her area on the Internet through her phone.

What’s the weather like in Poland this time of year?

The asker of the question above is inquiring what Poland’s weather, which includes temperature and other factors, is like.

The only thing I don’t like about England is the weather.

The subject of this sentence is stating that he, she, or they do not like England’s weather conditions.

Here are some practice questions you can try out. The answers are at the bottom of this page.

Singapore’s whether/wether/weather is hot and humid all year round.
The farmer took the young whether/wether/weather back to the flock.
What’s the whether/wether/weather like in Vancouver tomorrow?
Spain’s whether/wether/weather involves hot dry summers and mild winters.
I’m sure she’ll be successful whether/wether/weather she goes to college or not.
Let me check whether/wether/weather the restaurant is open today.
Did you know Portugal’s whether/wether/weather is considered one of the best in the world?
The shepherd took the lethargic whether/wether/weather behind the barn.
Whether/Wether/Weather you have someone helping you or not, you will be responsible for the success or failure of the project.
Did you check the whether/wether/weather before coming out today?

If you are still having trouble with whether, wether, and weather, check out Engram's AI will check your sentence for grammatical errors.