Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudgazer
No problem with the asking more questions. 
Yes, whether introduces two or more alternatives into a situation. Here's an example with three alternative choices:
Ex 1: Whether I tell him at breakfast, at lunch, or at dinner, he'll be happy.
If there is only one alternative presented, the other alternative is the negative of the first.
Ex 2: Whether I tell him, he'll be happy. = Whether or not I tell him, he'll be happy. = Whether I tell him or not, he'll be happy.
In both examples one of the choice is expected (and in this case, regardless of the choice, he'll be happy.) |
I would flag
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Whether I tell him, he'll be happy.
It doesn't sound grammatical to me.
Also, for the record, I consider
Ask him whether he likes peas or corn. 
Ask him if he likes peas or corn.
to be completely interchangeable. Trying to rationalise my instinct, it occurs to me that in either case the person who receives the instruction and follows it simplistically is going to ask "Do you like peas or corn?", so while there is a slight difference of register the semantic content appears to be the same.