English Café: If or Whether?

Advanced Details: If or whether? Indirect questions

We can use if or whether to report indirect yes–no questions and questions with or. If is more common than whether:

• Call the repair shops around Songkhla and find out if/whether any of them sell used computers.
• I rang Kampanat from the station and asked if/whether I could drop in to see him before going back offshore.

We often prefer whether in more formal contexts:

• The IT staff will be asked whether they would recommend the app to PTTEP employees.
• We prefer whether (with or) when there is more than one alternative in the indirect question:

After the election, we asked whether the parties should change their leaders, their policies, or both.