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I look up the examples of "no matter" in some web dictionary and don't find a sentence containing "no matter whether". But in the examples of "whether" and "irrespective" I do see sentences "He's going to buy a house whether he gets married or not." and "He was one of those men to whom a girl's left hand is simply a girl's left hand, irrespective of whether it wears rings on its third finger or not." So is "no matter whether" OK or a redundancy or grammatically wrong? But if it's a redundancy, doesn't "irrespective of whether" (in the aforementioned sentence) sound like a redundancy, too (because using "whether" suffices to convey the idea) ? Should I just use "no matter" or "whether", instead of "no matter whether", in sentences of this type? Or either way is OK?

For example, is saying "The conclusion holds true no matter whether the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation." a redundancy or grammatically wrong? Should I just say "The conclusion holds true whether the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation." or "The conclusion holds true no matter the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation."? Or either of the three ways is OK?

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  • ...in sentences like "No matter whether ..." no matter is not necessarily required, presumably because whether can function like if, e.g. "Whether Mary buys a dog or a cat, I'll throw it away". But I would say you seem to be assuming that "redundancy" is somehow undesirable. I'd say it's a normal, if not necessary, feature of all languages, not just English. I'd also say your final version is probably ungrammatical.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 14:45
  • So saying sentences containing "no matter whether" is OK because it's grammatically correct even it's a redundancy? Also, which one do you mean by my final version?
    – Captain Bohemian
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 14:56
  • I mean I don't like the version in your penultimate sentence above (The conclusion holds true no matter the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation), because I think to be grammatically valid at all it should include whether or if. But in both that sentence and the one in my example, a case can easily be made for saying they're actually ambiguous if you remove no matter, so it's not simply redundant anyway.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 15:01
  • OK, I think putting "no matter" in front of a clause without squeezing "whether" or "if" between them is probably grammatically incorrect. I made that kind of sentences because I just saw some examples in the web dictionary, such as "no matter the score, Mississippi football fans always win the tailgate." But what follows "no matter" here is a noun, not a clause. But I also saw the example "Football: Home is always where the heart lies no matter the fame says Neil Lennon; Northern Ireland v France." I don't understand this sentence so don't know if what follows "no matter" here is a clause.
    – Captain Bohemian
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 16:10
  • In your own question text you seem to imply that you understand no matter can be equated to irrespective of. Do you still not understand your cited "home/fame" example after making the substitution there? Consider Google Books' claimed 45000 hits for no matter the cost, where it may help to assume a "deleted" element such as what or how great after no matter.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 16:20

2 Answers 2

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Definitions

no matter - (adv) regardless of

whether - (conj) expressing a doubt or choice between alternatives

Explanation

No matter emphasizes that which option you choose is not important.

Whether informs the listener that multiple options are about to be presented.

Examples

The conclusion holds true no matter whether the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation. - Has emphasis from no matter

The conclusion holds true whether the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation. - Does not have emphasis from no matter

The conclusion holds true no matter the proof is carried out through this formulation or that formulation. - You can't say this. It is grammatically incorrect.

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    Is ``irrespective of" also an adverb and used in the same way as "`no matter"?
    – Captain Bohemian
    Commented May 16, 2016 at 16:20
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According to the book The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, these are considered "exhaustive conditionals" and here's an excerpt from the text that may answer the question about the usage of "no matter" versus "irrespective":

excerpt from The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language

When explicit markers like "irrespective" or "no matter" are used (I'm going to the party no matter whether you like it or not), such construction is called an "governed exhaustive conditional"; otherwise it's "ungoverned" (I'm going to the party whether you like it or not). Hence I suppose it's definitely not grammatically wrong but it's not considered a redundancy either.

As an ESL learner who had similar doubts, I highly recommend checking out Ch. 8 section 14.6 of the book. It's been very helpful for me.

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