Questions with "whether"

Question

Sorry for such a basic question, but I don't know how to google it.

How to correctly ask questions with whether?

Questions like these:

• Whether she made it blue or green?
• Whether she made it or I made it?

Hope it is clear what I mean to ask in these questions.

The problem for me that as far as I know in questions I always must put the verb before subject, but whether is already there and "Whether has she make it blue or green?" sounds confusing to me. I got even more confused when there are two verbs, e.g.: "Whether has she make it or have I make it?" Do I really suppose to add verbs in such questions?

Maybe I can't use whether like this at all? Then how do I ask a question in order to know which out of two situations is present, the first one (she made it) or the second (I made it)?

Answer 1

Whether is not a question word, although it looks like one.

Question words beginning with wh are the following:

• what
• which
• where
• who
• whose
• when
• why

The rule for making questions using question words is fairly simple:

Question word + auxiliary + subject + infinite or, "QUASI" is a useful acronym. ^{(It is not infallible but it works most of the time)}

1) Which colour did she choose to make it? Blue or green? (if there is a limited choice)

2) What colours did she use? (a wider choice of colours is inferred here)

3) Who made it? Did you? OR "Was it me or you?" (in this case, who is the subject of the question and does not require an auxiliary)

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You can omit the wh question word and ask a yes/no type question.

Auxiliary + subject + infinite

• "Did you use blue or green?" asked Maria.
• Maria asked, "Did you make it?"

If you wanted to use whether you have to rephrase your sentence. Note that the following are not questions. There is no question mark at the end.

• Maria asked whether she used blue or green.
• Maria asked whether [name] made it or not.

If you really need to make questions with whether then the following is acceptable

• Do you know whether she used blue or green to make her scarf (it)?
• Did you find out whether it was me or her who made it?

Answer 2

Mari-Lou's answer is correct for Standard English. Whether is not used in this manner in Standard English. However in Indian English, it can be used this way.

In Indian English, when the questioner isn't sure of something, they can use "Whether?":

"Can you tell me whether this bus goes to Chennai?"

A typical example of correct, Standard English usage of whether is as follows:

"It doesn't matter whether you do it or not."

But in Indian English, people do use whether for questioning. Even though it is not standard English your question could be understood in India if you ask with whether as follows:

Student: "Sir, But I want to use Zigbee technology!"

Professor: "Whether it is currently in use?"

Student: "Yes, sir."

In this snippet the Professor's query has an implicit or in it . You can try reading it the same as:

Professor: "Whether it is currently in use or not, you have to find out."