Wether, Whether, or Weather?

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What Is the Difference between "Wether," "Weather," and "Whether"?

"Wether," "weather," and "whether" are easy to confuse.

• Wether. "Wether" is a castrated ram (male sheep). For example:
• My wether still has an eye for the lady sheep.

• Weather. "Weather" is the state of the atmosphere (temperature, wind, clouds, rain). For example:
• Bring a jacket. We're expecting bad weather.
• Whether. "Whether" is like "if." For example:
• I wonder whether it will rain.

Did The Wether Survive?

If you can follow this sentence, you have a good grasp of "wether," "weather," and "whether":

• The farmer looked out the window and wondered whether the wether would weather the weather or whether the weather would kill the wether.

Wether

"Wether" is most commonly seen as a misspelling for "whether" or "weather." A wether is a castrated ram (a male sheep) or a castrated billy (a male goat).

Farmers will castrate their male goats or sheep to create wethers to ensure only the best male breeds with the females. Also of note, non-wethers (i.e., uncastrated males) show more aggression (to people and their young) and tend to stink (as non-wethers urinate on themselves during breeding season and have active glands that excrete an unpleasant scent).

From a grammatical perspective, "wether" is a noun. (More specifically, "wether" is a common noun and a gender-specific noun.)

Whether

"Whether" is a conjunction, similar to "if." It is most often used to introduce an indirect question. Example sentences with "whether":

• Sarah wants to know whether the visit is still on schedule.
• I am going to the fair, whether it's raining or not.

Read more about "whether" and "if."

Weather

As a noun, "weather" means the "atmosphere in terms of temperature, wind, clouds, and precipitation." As a verb, "to weather" can mean "to withstand" or "to endure" (e.g., to weather an onslaught) or "to erode (over time)" (e.g., to weather the surface rock).

Example sentences "with weather":

• I am not going fishing today. Have you seen the weather?
("weather" as a noun)
• We'll anchor up, weather the storm and then head back to land.
("weather" as a verb meaning to endure)
• The sea will weather that rope in less than a week.
("weather" as a verb meaning to erode)

A Video Summary

Here is a short video summarizing the differences between "weather," "whether," and "wether."

Common Terms with "Weather," "Whether," and "Wether"

Common terms with the word "Weather":

• weather forecast
• severe weather
• under the weather
• fair weather friend
• to weather a storm

Common terms with the word "Whether":

• whether or not

Common terms with the word "Wether":

• Wetherspoons (British pub chain)
• bellwether

Ready for the Test?