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Whether vs Regardless - What's the difference?

whether | regardless |

As a pronoun whether

is which of two.

As a conjunction whether

is Introducing a direct interrogative question (often with correlative {{term|or) which indicates doubt between alternatives.}.

As an adjective regardless is

having no regard; heedless; careless.

As an adverb regardless is

without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences.

As a preposition regardless is

paying no attention to; regardless of.

whether

English

Pronoun

(English Pronouns)
  • (obsolete) Which of two.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew XXVII:
    • The debite answered and sayde unto them: whether of the twayne will ye that I lett loosse unto you?
  • * Bible, Matthew xxi. 31
    • Whether of them twain did the will of his father?

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (lb)
  • *1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Mark II:
  • *:whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?
  • *1616 , (William Shakespeare), (King John) , I.i:
  • *:Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?
  • .
  • :
  • *
  • *:As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 19, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= England 1-0 Ukraine , passage=The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless. One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished.}}
  • ; if, whether or not.
  • :
  • :

    • Usage notes

    * There is some overlap in usage between senses 2 and 3, in that a yes-or-no interrogative content clause can list the two possibilities explicitly in a number of ways:
    Do you know whether he's coming or staying?''
    ''Do you know whether he's coming or not?''
    ''Do you know whether or not he's coming?''
    Further, in the first two of these examples, the "or staying" and "or not" may be added as an afterthought (sometimes indicated in writing with a comma before), such that the ''whether may be uttered in sense 3 and then amended to sense 2. * Sense 4 does not have a counterpart that introduces only a single possibility; *"He's coming, whether you like it" is ungrammatical. * In traditional grammar, the clauses headed by whether'' in senses 2 and 3 are classified as noun clauses, and those headed by ''whether in sense 4 are classified as adverb clauses.

    Related terms

    * whethersoever * either * neither

    Statistics

    * English interrogative pronouns English subordinating conjunctions

    regardless

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having no regard; heedless; careless.
  • * 1843 , :
    • I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others.

    Derived terms

    * regardless of

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Without attention to warnings or indications of bad consequences.
    • Tatiana knew the cauliflower was purple, but she ate it regardless .

    Synonyms

    * anyhow * anyway * at any rate * come what may * in any case

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Paying no attention to; regardless of.
    • Tatiana ate the cauliflower regardless of its colour.

    Usage notes

    * Phrases such as 'regardless if' and 'regardless to' are technically incorrect. English words affected by confusion