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Strange use of “whether … than …” in official text


“Whether or not” vs. “whether”Can I use “because” more than once in a sentence?How to use “text” as a verbHow to conclude long “whether … or” clausesUse of “if”/“whether”Is the use of ”comfort” ok in this text?Question regarding the use of “rather than”“Enquire about whether” vs. “enquire whether”“whether” or “according as” or …?As strange a question as any






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








11















Is using "whether ... than ..." in the following grammatically correct? "This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018."



The phrase comes from the IRS publication 519 (2018), Chapter 1, Section "Dual-Status Aliens", Subsection "Last Year of Residency", Paragraph "Residency during the next year", with my bold.




Residency during the next year. If you are a U.S. resident during any part of 2019 and you are a resident during any part of 2018, you will be treated as a resident through the end of 2018. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




(I should add that I am obviously not looking for legal advice: in any case this paragraph does not apply to me.)










share|improve this question






















  • This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

    – Centaurus
    Mar 31 at 22:10






  • 3





    Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

    – Ev. Kounis
    Apr 1 at 12:30






  • 5





    This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

    – Rich
    Apr 1 at 20:33

















11















Is using "whether ... than ..." in the following grammatically correct? "This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018."



The phrase comes from the IRS publication 519 (2018), Chapter 1, Section "Dual-Status Aliens", Subsection "Last Year of Residency", Paragraph "Residency during the next year", with my bold.




Residency during the next year. If you are a U.S. resident during any part of 2019 and you are a resident during any part of 2018, you will be treated as a resident through the end of 2018. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




(I should add that I am obviously not looking for legal advice: in any case this paragraph does not apply to me.)










share|improve this question






















  • This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

    – Centaurus
    Mar 31 at 22:10






  • 3





    Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

    – Ev. Kounis
    Apr 1 at 12:30






  • 5





    This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

    – Rich
    Apr 1 at 20:33













11












11








11


1






Is using "whether ... than ..." in the following grammatically correct? "This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018."



The phrase comes from the IRS publication 519 (2018), Chapter 1, Section "Dual-Status Aliens", Subsection "Last Year of Residency", Paragraph "Residency during the next year", with my bold.




Residency during the next year. If you are a U.S. resident during any part of 2019 and you are a resident during any part of 2018, you will be treated as a resident through the end of 2018. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




(I should add that I am obviously not looking for legal advice: in any case this paragraph does not apply to me.)










share|improve this question














Is using "whether ... than ..." in the following grammatically correct? "This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018."



The phrase comes from the IRS publication 519 (2018), Chapter 1, Section "Dual-Status Aliens", Subsection "Last Year of Residency", Paragraph "Residency during the next year", with my bold.




Residency during the next year. If you are a U.S. resident during any part of 2019 and you are a resident during any part of 2018, you will be treated as a resident through the end of 2018. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




(I should add that I am obviously not looking for legal advice: in any case this paragraph does not apply to me.)







grammaticality






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Mar 31 at 21:34









Bruno Le FlochBruno Le Floch

15615




15615












  • This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

    – Centaurus
    Mar 31 at 22:10






  • 3





    Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

    – Ev. Kounis
    Apr 1 at 12:30






  • 5





    This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

    – Rich
    Apr 1 at 20:33

















  • This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

    – Centaurus
    Mar 31 at 22:10






  • 3





    Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

    – Ev. Kounis
    Apr 1 at 12:30






  • 5





    This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

    – Rich
    Apr 1 at 20:33
















This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

– Centaurus
Mar 31 at 22:10





This applies if it's true that you have a closer connection...

– Centaurus
Mar 31 at 22:10




3




3





Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

– Ev. Kounis
Apr 1 at 12:30





Phrasing it with regardless would definitely be clearer. I do agree that it is rather strange. One does understand nevertheless.

– Ev. Kounis
Apr 1 at 12:30




5




5





This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

– Rich
Apr 1 at 20:33





This isn't whether ... than, it is actually closer ... than.

– Rich
Apr 1 at 20:33










7 Answers
7






active

oldest

votes


















19














The phrase is saying "whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than you do to the United States". I see no cohesion between whether and than here.






share|improve this answer


















  • 11





    Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

    – Gilles
    Apr 1 at 11:21






  • 1





    @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 1 at 12:39







  • 3





    @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

    – PLL
    Apr 1 at 16:19












  • @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 2 at 13:27











  • @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

    – PLL
    Apr 2 at 13:55



















11














It's not strange. It's correct. Let's make it easier to digest by putting the subordinate clause first:




"Whether (or not) you have a closer connection to a foreign country
than the United States during 2018, this applies to you."




I added "or not" in parentheses because it is meant but is left implied, which is often the case in English and is the case in this sentence. Maybe this is what's throwing you off, like by you mistakenly thinking the "than" is providing the "or" alternative for "whether" that's been omitted, "than" and "or" both being conjunctions.



Here's a simplified version of the sentence:




"Whether or not you have a closer friend than Uncle Sam, this applies."




To be clear, the above sentence doesn't mean the same thing as your sentence. It is merely a similar sentence that doesn't use so many words so it becomes clearer what the structure is and what's being said.






share|improve this answer




















  • 6





    I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

    – nick012000
    Apr 2 at 5:59


















8















This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




Unlike the other answerers so far, I would call this sentence ungrammatical.
The word "whether" generally requires an alternative, such as "or not." The second half of the example sentence does provide such an alternative for its "whether," so my only objection to that half is the faulty parallelism. IMO it should have been written grammatically as




... and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or under the green card test.




(That is, maybe you're a resident under the substantial presence test, or maybe under the green card test; but it doesn't matter; the rule applies no matter which is the case.)




However, the first half of the example sentence has a "whether" without an "or not." Therefore it's just as ungrammatical as if you wrote a "both" without an "and":




This applies *both if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.




Two grammatical possibilities for this sentence would be:




This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018 or not.



This applies whether or not you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.





Since you saw this in an official government publication, I'm sure they meant "whether or not," and it was a simple typo. However, if you had seen this misuse of the word "whether" in a news article online, there would be another highly probable explanation. Many third-party news aggregators recycle content scraped from other sites after running it through a "thesaurus app" to disguise the plagiarism. (For example, see how many news aggregators refer to Macaulay Culkin's role in House Alone.) So, if I saw the word "whether" used like this in an online news story, I would just assume that it had been spewed out by a thesaurus match on the word if.



If and whether are generally synonymous:




She asked if it was raining out.



She asked whether it was raining out.




In this particular sentence, though, the substitution takes us from grammatical (with one meaning) to ungrammatical (where the most natural "fix" has the completely opposite meaning).




This applies [only] if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in only one case.]



This applies *whether [or not] you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in both cases.]







share|improve this answer























  • I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

    – Bruno Le Floch
    Apr 3 at 6:01











  • I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

    – Quuxplusone
    Apr 3 at 6:16


















7














In the sentence (which is quite ordinary, not strange)



whether



is used as a function word to indicate an indirect question involving stated or implied alternatives
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether).



Than



is not connected with 'whether' but with the comparative form
closer .



Here's an example from Reverso.context.net:



''Paragraph (1) applies whether the requirement referred to therein is in the form of an obligation or whether the law simply provides consequences for the absence of a signature.''






share|improve this answer
































    1














    The sentence in question is perfectly grammatical, but as pointed out in Hot Licks' comment, it is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. It follows the following pattern:




    X is applicable whether a comparison is true (you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018).




    This said, there's no relation between whether and than.






    share|improve this answer




















    • 1





      The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

      – Hot Licks
      Mar 31 at 23:15











    • Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

      – Lucian Sava
      Apr 1 at 10:29


















    -1














    It's ungrammatical, because "other" has been mistakenly omitted. It should have been "... a closer connection to a foreign country other than the United States". The "whether" has nothing to do with it.



    It might not be ungrammatical in a dialect of English other than mine (contemporary Midwestern American), but without the "other", it just doesn't work for me, at all.






    share|improve this answer


















    • 4





      Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

      – Peter Shor
      Apr 1 at 0:06











    • @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

      – Greg Lee
      Apr 1 at 0:11






    • 1





      I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

      – aschepler
      Apr 1 at 1:34


















    -1














    The only strange thing is the use of "and" to join the two "whether" clauses, instead of "or".



    There is no grammatical connection between "whether" and "than". The overall structure of the sentence is




    This applies whether [some condition is true] and whether [some other
    condition is true].




    IMO it would be more logical to write




    This applies whether [some condition is true] or whether [some other
    condition is true].




    The word "whether" is repeated because the first condition is long and contains several clauses. If the second "whether" was omitted, it is not clear what the "and" refers back to. Compare the original sentence with "... the United States during 2018 and 2019" or "... The United States during 2018 and Europe during 2017" for example.



    The first condition is "you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018." The word "than" is linked to "closer," not to "whether".






    share|improve this answer




















    • 1





      "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

      – AndyT
      Apr 1 at 14:47











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    7 Answers
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    7 Answers
    7






    active

    oldest

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    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

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    19














    The phrase is saying "whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than you do to the United States". I see no cohesion between whether and than here.






    share|improve this answer


















    • 11





      Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

      – Gilles
      Apr 1 at 11:21






    • 1





      @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 1 at 12:39







    • 3





      @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

      – PLL
      Apr 1 at 16:19












    • @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 2 at 13:27











    • @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

      – PLL
      Apr 2 at 13:55
















    19














    The phrase is saying "whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than you do to the United States". I see no cohesion between whether and than here.






    share|improve this answer


















    • 11





      Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

      – Gilles
      Apr 1 at 11:21






    • 1





      @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 1 at 12:39







    • 3





      @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

      – PLL
      Apr 1 at 16:19












    • @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 2 at 13:27











    • @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

      – PLL
      Apr 2 at 13:55














    19












    19








    19







    The phrase is saying "whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than you do to the United States". I see no cohesion between whether and than here.






    share|improve this answer













    The phrase is saying "whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than you do to the United States". I see no cohesion between whether and than here.







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered Mar 31 at 22:17









    Jim MackJim Mack

    7,31521833




    7,31521833







    • 11





      Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

      – Gilles
      Apr 1 at 11:21






    • 1





      @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 1 at 12:39







    • 3





      @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

      – PLL
      Apr 1 at 16:19












    • @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 2 at 13:27











    • @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

      – PLL
      Apr 2 at 13:55













    • 11





      Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

      – Gilles
      Apr 1 at 11:21






    • 1





      @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 1 at 12:39







    • 3





      @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

      – PLL
      Apr 1 at 16:19












    • @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

      – Jim Mack
      Apr 2 at 13:27











    • @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

      – PLL
      Apr 2 at 13:55








    11




    11





    Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

    – Gilles
    Apr 1 at 11:21





    Doesn't “whether” require a disjunction? I would have expected the sentence to be “This applies whether or not you have … during 2018” or “This applies whether you have … during 2018 or not”.

    – Gilles
    Apr 1 at 11:21




    1




    1





    @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 1 at 12:39






    @Gilles - I agree. The or not is implied here and (IMO) is usually redundant. Whether here already suggests a binary choice.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 1 at 12:39





    3




    3





    @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

    – PLL
    Apr 1 at 16:19






    @JimMack: I’d disagree; it seems at best borderline grammatical to me. Both “I’m leaving, whether you’re ready or not” and “I’m leaving, regardless of whether you’re ready” are certainly fine, but “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really doesn’t seem grammatical to me. If someone wrote that, it’d be clear from context what they meant, but I don’t think a native speaker would typically say or write it (except due to error, or as an unusual regionalism). In OP’s example, the omission isn’t so glaring because of the length, but as soon as I stop to look back, it feels wrong.

    – PLL
    Apr 1 at 16:19














    @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 2 at 13:27





    @PLL - 'Usually' is probably too strong. I'll switch that to 'often'. Yes there are uses where or not must be explicit, but to insist on it when the meaning is clear without it is (again, IMO) just a waste of words: redundant.

    – Jim Mack
    Apr 2 at 13:27













    @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

    – PLL
    Apr 2 at 13:55






    @JimMack: If I say “I’m going America next week”, then the meaning is perfectly clear, but still it’s ungrammatical, and needs to be “…to America…” (at least in standard English; in some dialects, omitting the to is OK). Just because an omitted word can be inferred from context doesn’t mean the omission is grammatically acceptable. Does “I’m leaving soon, whether you’re ready” really seem grammatical to you?

    – PLL
    Apr 2 at 13:55














    11














    It's not strange. It's correct. Let's make it easier to digest by putting the subordinate clause first:




    "Whether (or not) you have a closer connection to a foreign country
    than the United States during 2018, this applies to you."




    I added "or not" in parentheses because it is meant but is left implied, which is often the case in English and is the case in this sentence. Maybe this is what's throwing you off, like by you mistakenly thinking the "than" is providing the "or" alternative for "whether" that's been omitted, "than" and "or" both being conjunctions.



    Here's a simplified version of the sentence:




    "Whether or not you have a closer friend than Uncle Sam, this applies."




    To be clear, the above sentence doesn't mean the same thing as your sentence. It is merely a similar sentence that doesn't use so many words so it becomes clearer what the structure is and what's being said.






    share|improve this answer




















    • 6





      I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

      – nick012000
      Apr 2 at 5:59















    11














    It's not strange. It's correct. Let's make it easier to digest by putting the subordinate clause first:




    "Whether (or not) you have a closer connection to a foreign country
    than the United States during 2018, this applies to you."




    I added "or not" in parentheses because it is meant but is left implied, which is often the case in English and is the case in this sentence. Maybe this is what's throwing you off, like by you mistakenly thinking the "than" is providing the "or" alternative for "whether" that's been omitted, "than" and "or" both being conjunctions.



    Here's a simplified version of the sentence:




    "Whether or not you have a closer friend than Uncle Sam, this applies."




    To be clear, the above sentence doesn't mean the same thing as your sentence. It is merely a similar sentence that doesn't use so many words so it becomes clearer what the structure is and what's being said.






    share|improve this answer




















    • 6





      I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

      – nick012000
      Apr 2 at 5:59













    11












    11








    11







    It's not strange. It's correct. Let's make it easier to digest by putting the subordinate clause first:




    "Whether (or not) you have a closer connection to a foreign country
    than the United States during 2018, this applies to you."




    I added "or not" in parentheses because it is meant but is left implied, which is often the case in English and is the case in this sentence. Maybe this is what's throwing you off, like by you mistakenly thinking the "than" is providing the "or" alternative for "whether" that's been omitted, "than" and "or" both being conjunctions.



    Here's a simplified version of the sentence:




    "Whether or not you have a closer friend than Uncle Sam, this applies."




    To be clear, the above sentence doesn't mean the same thing as your sentence. It is merely a similar sentence that doesn't use so many words so it becomes clearer what the structure is and what's being said.






    share|improve this answer















    It's not strange. It's correct. Let's make it easier to digest by putting the subordinate clause first:




    "Whether (or not) you have a closer connection to a foreign country
    than the United States during 2018, this applies to you."




    I added "or not" in parentheses because it is meant but is left implied, which is often the case in English and is the case in this sentence. Maybe this is what's throwing you off, like by you mistakenly thinking the "than" is providing the "or" alternative for "whether" that's been omitted, "than" and "or" both being conjunctions.



    Here's a simplified version of the sentence:




    "Whether or not you have a closer friend than Uncle Sam, this applies."




    To be clear, the above sentence doesn't mean the same thing as your sentence. It is merely a similar sentence that doesn't use so many words so it becomes clearer what the structure is and what's being said.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited Mar 31 at 23:47

























    answered Mar 31 at 23:31









    Benjamin HarmanBenjamin Harman

    5,74031740




    5,74031740







    • 6





      I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

      – nick012000
      Apr 2 at 5:59












    • 6





      I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

      – nick012000
      Apr 2 at 5:59







    6




    6





    I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

    – nick012000
    Apr 2 at 5:59





    I'd argue that the omission of "or not" makes it incorrect.

    – nick012000
    Apr 2 at 5:59











    8















    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




    Unlike the other answerers so far, I would call this sentence ungrammatical.
    The word "whether" generally requires an alternative, such as "or not." The second half of the example sentence does provide such an alternative for its "whether," so my only objection to that half is the faulty parallelism. IMO it should have been written grammatically as




    ... and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or under the green card test.




    (That is, maybe you're a resident under the substantial presence test, or maybe under the green card test; but it doesn't matter; the rule applies no matter which is the case.)




    However, the first half of the example sentence has a "whether" without an "or not." Therefore it's just as ungrammatical as if you wrote a "both" without an "and":




    This applies *both if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.




    Two grammatical possibilities for this sentence would be:




    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018 or not.



    This applies whether or not you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.





    Since you saw this in an official government publication, I'm sure they meant "whether or not," and it was a simple typo. However, if you had seen this misuse of the word "whether" in a news article online, there would be another highly probable explanation. Many third-party news aggregators recycle content scraped from other sites after running it through a "thesaurus app" to disguise the plagiarism. (For example, see how many news aggregators refer to Macaulay Culkin's role in House Alone.) So, if I saw the word "whether" used like this in an online news story, I would just assume that it had been spewed out by a thesaurus match on the word if.



    If and whether are generally synonymous:




    She asked if it was raining out.



    She asked whether it was raining out.




    In this particular sentence, though, the substitution takes us from grammatical (with one meaning) to ungrammatical (where the most natural "fix" has the completely opposite meaning).




    This applies [only] if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in only one case.]



    This applies *whether [or not] you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in both cases.]







    share|improve this answer























    • I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

      – Bruno Le Floch
      Apr 3 at 6:01











    • I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

      – Quuxplusone
      Apr 3 at 6:16















    8















    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




    Unlike the other answerers so far, I would call this sentence ungrammatical.
    The word "whether" generally requires an alternative, such as "or not." The second half of the example sentence does provide such an alternative for its "whether," so my only objection to that half is the faulty parallelism. IMO it should have been written grammatically as




    ... and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or under the green card test.




    (That is, maybe you're a resident under the substantial presence test, or maybe under the green card test; but it doesn't matter; the rule applies no matter which is the case.)




    However, the first half of the example sentence has a "whether" without an "or not." Therefore it's just as ungrammatical as if you wrote a "both" without an "and":




    This applies *both if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.




    Two grammatical possibilities for this sentence would be:




    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018 or not.



    This applies whether or not you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.





    Since you saw this in an official government publication, I'm sure they meant "whether or not," and it was a simple typo. However, if you had seen this misuse of the word "whether" in a news article online, there would be another highly probable explanation. Many third-party news aggregators recycle content scraped from other sites after running it through a "thesaurus app" to disguise the plagiarism. (For example, see how many news aggregators refer to Macaulay Culkin's role in House Alone.) So, if I saw the word "whether" used like this in an online news story, I would just assume that it had been spewed out by a thesaurus match on the word if.



    If and whether are generally synonymous:




    She asked if it was raining out.



    She asked whether it was raining out.




    In this particular sentence, though, the substitution takes us from grammatical (with one meaning) to ungrammatical (where the most natural "fix" has the completely opposite meaning).




    This applies [only] if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in only one case.]



    This applies *whether [or not] you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in both cases.]







    share|improve this answer























    • I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

      – Bruno Le Floch
      Apr 3 at 6:01











    • I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

      – Quuxplusone
      Apr 3 at 6:16













    8












    8








    8








    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




    Unlike the other answerers so far, I would call this sentence ungrammatical.
    The word "whether" generally requires an alternative, such as "or not." The second half of the example sentence does provide such an alternative for its "whether," so my only objection to that half is the faulty parallelism. IMO it should have been written grammatically as




    ... and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or under the green card test.




    (That is, maybe you're a resident under the substantial presence test, or maybe under the green card test; but it doesn't matter; the rule applies no matter which is the case.)




    However, the first half of the example sentence has a "whether" without an "or not." Therefore it's just as ungrammatical as if you wrote a "both" without an "and":




    This applies *both if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.




    Two grammatical possibilities for this sentence would be:




    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018 or not.



    This applies whether or not you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.





    Since you saw this in an official government publication, I'm sure they meant "whether or not," and it was a simple typo. However, if you had seen this misuse of the word "whether" in a news article online, there would be another highly probable explanation. Many third-party news aggregators recycle content scraped from other sites after running it through a "thesaurus app" to disguise the plagiarism. (For example, see how many news aggregators refer to Macaulay Culkin's role in House Alone.) So, if I saw the word "whether" used like this in an online news story, I would just assume that it had been spewed out by a thesaurus match on the word if.



    If and whether are generally synonymous:




    She asked if it was raining out.



    She asked whether it was raining out.




    In this particular sentence, though, the substitution takes us from grammatical (with one meaning) to ungrammatical (where the most natural "fix" has the completely opposite meaning).




    This applies [only] if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in only one case.]



    This applies *whether [or not] you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in both cases.]







    share|improve this answer














    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018, and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or green card test.




    Unlike the other answerers so far, I would call this sentence ungrammatical.
    The word "whether" generally requires an alternative, such as "or not." The second half of the example sentence does provide such an alternative for its "whether," so my only objection to that half is the faulty parallelism. IMO it should have been written grammatically as




    ... and whether you are a resident under the substantial presence test or under the green card test.




    (That is, maybe you're a resident under the substantial presence test, or maybe under the green card test; but it doesn't matter; the rule applies no matter which is the case.)




    However, the first half of the example sentence has a "whether" without an "or not." Therefore it's just as ungrammatical as if you wrote a "both" without an "and":




    This applies *both if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.




    Two grammatical possibilities for this sentence would be:




    This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018 or not.



    This applies whether or not you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States during 2018.





    Since you saw this in an official government publication, I'm sure they meant "whether or not," and it was a simple typo. However, if you had seen this misuse of the word "whether" in a news article online, there would be another highly probable explanation. Many third-party news aggregators recycle content scraped from other sites after running it through a "thesaurus app" to disguise the plagiarism. (For example, see how many news aggregators refer to Macaulay Culkin's role in House Alone.) So, if I saw the word "whether" used like this in an online news story, I would just assume that it had been spewed out by a thesaurus match on the word if.



    If and whether are generally synonymous:




    She asked if it was raining out.



    She asked whether it was raining out.




    In this particular sentence, though, the substitution takes us from grammatical (with one meaning) to ungrammatical (where the most natural "fix" has the completely opposite meaning).




    This applies [only] if you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in only one case.]



    This applies *whether [or not] you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States. [It applies in both cases.]








    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered Apr 1 at 14:33









    QuuxplusoneQuuxplusone

    1,014811




    1,014811












    • I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

      – Bruno Le Floch
      Apr 3 at 6:01











    • I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

      – Quuxplusone
      Apr 3 at 6:16

















    • I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

      – Bruno Le Floch
      Apr 3 at 6:01











    • I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

      – Quuxplusone
      Apr 3 at 6:16
















    I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

    – Bruno Le Floch
    Apr 3 at 6:01





    I mostly agree with this answer. However, there are certainly cases where "or not" can be implicit when using "whether", for instance in the sentence "I'm wondering whether that was a cat." If you could elaborate on why omitting "or not" is ungrammatical in this case, that would clarify things.

    – Bruno Le Floch
    Apr 3 at 6:01













    I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

    – Quuxplusone
    Apr 3 at 6:16





    I agree that "I'm wondering whether that was a cat" is grammatical, but notice that that's a case where "whether" is synonymous with "if": "I'm wondering if that was a cat." I haven't yet thought of any exceptions to that correlation.

    – Quuxplusone
    Apr 3 at 6:16











    7














    In the sentence (which is quite ordinary, not strange)



    whether



    is used as a function word to indicate an indirect question involving stated or implied alternatives
    (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether).



    Than



    is not connected with 'whether' but with the comparative form
    closer .



    Here's an example from Reverso.context.net:



    ''Paragraph (1) applies whether the requirement referred to therein is in the form of an obligation or whether the law simply provides consequences for the absence of a signature.''






    share|improve this answer





























      7














      In the sentence (which is quite ordinary, not strange)



      whether



      is used as a function word to indicate an indirect question involving stated or implied alternatives
      (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether).



      Than



      is not connected with 'whether' but with the comparative form
      closer .



      Here's an example from Reverso.context.net:



      ''Paragraph (1) applies whether the requirement referred to therein is in the form of an obligation or whether the law simply provides consequences for the absence of a signature.''






      share|improve this answer



























        7












        7








        7







        In the sentence (which is quite ordinary, not strange)



        whether



        is used as a function word to indicate an indirect question involving stated or implied alternatives
        (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether).



        Than



        is not connected with 'whether' but with the comparative form
        closer .



        Here's an example from Reverso.context.net:



        ''Paragraph (1) applies whether the requirement referred to therein is in the form of an obligation or whether the law simply provides consequences for the absence of a signature.''






        share|improve this answer















        In the sentence (which is quite ordinary, not strange)



        whether



        is used as a function word to indicate an indirect question involving stated or implied alternatives
        (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether).



        Than



        is not connected with 'whether' but with the comparative form
        closer .



        Here's an example from Reverso.context.net:



        ''Paragraph (1) applies whether the requirement referred to therein is in the form of an obligation or whether the law simply provides consequences for the absence of a signature.''







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Apr 1 at 5:33

























        answered Mar 31 at 22:21









        user307254user307254

        1




        1





















            1














            The sentence in question is perfectly grammatical, but as pointed out in Hot Licks' comment, it is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. It follows the following pattern:




            X is applicable whether a comparison is true (you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018).




            This said, there's no relation between whether and than.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 1





              The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

              – Hot Licks
              Mar 31 at 23:15











            • Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

              – Lucian Sava
              Apr 1 at 10:29















            1














            The sentence in question is perfectly grammatical, but as pointed out in Hot Licks' comment, it is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. It follows the following pattern:




            X is applicable whether a comparison is true (you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018).




            This said, there's no relation between whether and than.






            share|improve this answer




















            • 1





              The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

              – Hot Licks
              Mar 31 at 23:15











            • Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

              – Lucian Sava
              Apr 1 at 10:29













            1












            1








            1







            The sentence in question is perfectly grammatical, but as pointed out in Hot Licks' comment, it is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. It follows the following pattern:




            X is applicable whether a comparison is true (you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018).




            This said, there's no relation between whether and than.






            share|improve this answer















            The sentence in question is perfectly grammatical, but as pointed out in Hot Licks' comment, it is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. It follows the following pattern:




            X is applicable whether a comparison is true (you have a closer connection to a foreign country than the United States during 2018).




            This said, there's no relation between whether and than.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Apr 1 at 10:28

























            answered Mar 31 at 22:25









            Lucian SavaLucian Sava

            17225




            17225







            • 1





              The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

              – Hot Licks
              Mar 31 at 23:15











            • Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

              – Lucian Sava
              Apr 1 at 10:29












            • 1





              The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

              – Hot Licks
              Mar 31 at 23:15











            • Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

              – Lucian Sava
              Apr 1 at 10:29







            1




            1





            The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

            – Hot Licks
            Mar 31 at 23:15





            The sentence is poorly constructed -- almost designed to confuse. But, yes, it's still "perfectly grammatical".

            – Hot Licks
            Mar 31 at 23:15













            Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

            – Lucian Sava
            Apr 1 at 10:29





            Indeed, I updated my answer, @HotLicks.

            – Lucian Sava
            Apr 1 at 10:29











            -1














            It's ungrammatical, because "other" has been mistakenly omitted. It should have been "... a closer connection to a foreign country other than the United States". The "whether" has nothing to do with it.



            It might not be ungrammatical in a dialect of English other than mine (contemporary Midwestern American), but without the "other", it just doesn't work for me, at all.






            share|improve this answer


















            • 4





              Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

              – Peter Shor
              Apr 1 at 0:06











            • @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

              – Greg Lee
              Apr 1 at 0:11






            • 1





              I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

              – aschepler
              Apr 1 at 1:34















            -1














            It's ungrammatical, because "other" has been mistakenly omitted. It should have been "... a closer connection to a foreign country other than the United States". The "whether" has nothing to do with it.



            It might not be ungrammatical in a dialect of English other than mine (contemporary Midwestern American), but without the "other", it just doesn't work for me, at all.






            share|improve this answer


















            • 4





              Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

              – Peter Shor
              Apr 1 at 0:06











            • @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

              – Greg Lee
              Apr 1 at 0:11






            • 1





              I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

              – aschepler
              Apr 1 at 1:34













            -1












            -1








            -1







            It's ungrammatical, because "other" has been mistakenly omitted. It should have been "... a closer connection to a foreign country other than the United States". The "whether" has nothing to do with it.



            It might not be ungrammatical in a dialect of English other than mine (contemporary Midwestern American), but without the "other", it just doesn't work for me, at all.






            share|improve this answer













            It's ungrammatical, because "other" has been mistakenly omitted. It should have been "... a closer connection to a foreign country other than the United States". The "whether" has nothing to do with it.



            It might not be ungrammatical in a dialect of English other than mine (contemporary Midwestern American), but without the "other", it just doesn't work for me, at all.







            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Mar 31 at 23:59









            Greg LeeGreg Lee

            15k2933




            15k2933







            • 4





              Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

              – Peter Shor
              Apr 1 at 0:06











            • @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

              – Greg Lee
              Apr 1 at 0:11






            • 1





              I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

              – aschepler
              Apr 1 at 1:34












            • 4





              Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

              – Peter Shor
              Apr 1 at 0:06











            • @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

              – Greg Lee
              Apr 1 at 0:11






            • 1





              I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

              – aschepler
              Apr 1 at 1:34







            4




            4





            Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

            – Peter Shor
            Apr 1 at 0:06





            Another possibility is *whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States."

            – Peter Shor
            Apr 1 at 0:06













            @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

            – Greg Lee
            Apr 1 at 0:11





            @PeterShor, Yes, I agree.

            – Greg Lee
            Apr 1 at 0:11




            1




            1





            I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

            – aschepler
            Apr 1 at 1:34





            I think Peter's reading is more likely. Otherwise, there's no context to make sense of "closer" being comparative.

            – aschepler
            Apr 1 at 1:34











            -1














            The only strange thing is the use of "and" to join the two "whether" clauses, instead of "or".



            There is no grammatical connection between "whether" and "than". The overall structure of the sentence is




            This applies whether [some condition is true] and whether [some other
            condition is true].




            IMO it would be more logical to write




            This applies whether [some condition is true] or whether [some other
            condition is true].




            The word "whether" is repeated because the first condition is long and contains several clauses. If the second "whether" was omitted, it is not clear what the "and" refers back to. Compare the original sentence with "... the United States during 2018 and 2019" or "... The United States during 2018 and Europe during 2017" for example.



            The first condition is "you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018." The word "than" is linked to "closer," not to "whether".






            share|improve this answer




















            • 1





              "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

              – AndyT
              Apr 1 at 14:47















            -1














            The only strange thing is the use of "and" to join the two "whether" clauses, instead of "or".



            There is no grammatical connection between "whether" and "than". The overall structure of the sentence is




            This applies whether [some condition is true] and whether [some other
            condition is true].




            IMO it would be more logical to write




            This applies whether [some condition is true] or whether [some other
            condition is true].




            The word "whether" is repeated because the first condition is long and contains several clauses. If the second "whether" was omitted, it is not clear what the "and" refers back to. Compare the original sentence with "... the United States during 2018 and 2019" or "... The United States during 2018 and Europe during 2017" for example.



            The first condition is "you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018." The word "than" is linked to "closer," not to "whether".






            share|improve this answer




















            • 1





              "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

              – AndyT
              Apr 1 at 14:47













            -1












            -1








            -1







            The only strange thing is the use of "and" to join the two "whether" clauses, instead of "or".



            There is no grammatical connection between "whether" and "than". The overall structure of the sentence is




            This applies whether [some condition is true] and whether [some other
            condition is true].




            IMO it would be more logical to write




            This applies whether [some condition is true] or whether [some other
            condition is true].




            The word "whether" is repeated because the first condition is long and contains several clauses. If the second "whether" was omitted, it is not clear what the "and" refers back to. Compare the original sentence with "... the United States during 2018 and 2019" or "... The United States during 2018 and Europe during 2017" for example.



            The first condition is "you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018." The word "than" is linked to "closer," not to "whether".






            share|improve this answer















            The only strange thing is the use of "and" to join the two "whether" clauses, instead of "or".



            There is no grammatical connection between "whether" and "than". The overall structure of the sentence is




            This applies whether [some condition is true] and whether [some other
            condition is true].




            IMO it would be more logical to write




            This applies whether [some condition is true] or whether [some other
            condition is true].




            The word "whether" is repeated because the first condition is long and contains several clauses. If the second "whether" was omitted, it is not clear what the "and" refers back to. Compare the original sentence with "... the United States during 2018 and 2019" or "... The United States during 2018 and Europe during 2017" for example.



            The first condition is "you have a closer connection to a foreign country than [to] the United States during 2018." The word "than" is linked to "closer," not to "whether".







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Apr 1 at 12:31

























            answered Apr 1 at 12:24









            alephzeroalephzero

            3,65311117




            3,65311117







            • 1





              "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

              – AndyT
              Apr 1 at 14:47












            • 1





              "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

              – AndyT
              Apr 1 at 14:47







            1




            1





            "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

            – AndyT
            Apr 1 at 14:47





            "whether [condition] or [condition]" applies when the two conditions are mutually exclusive, e.g. "Since apartheid was abolished you can travel on any bus whether you are black or white". "whether [condition 1] and [condition 2]" applies when the two conditions are separate and important, e.g. for a white-male only club "your ability to join depends on whether you are male and whether you are white".

            – AndyT
            Apr 1 at 14:47

















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