whether와 if는 서로 다른 뜻을 가진다.
@ 기본원리: 'whether or not'으로 대체하였을 때 의미의 변화가 없다면 whether를 써라.
(하지만, 일반적으로 'or not'을 덧붙여서는 안된다.)
UGLY: Moises mumbled, "I don't know if this undertaking is a good idea."
GOOD: Tania sighed, "I don't know whether Moises has any ideas left."
SPLENDID: Max suggested that whether you thought Moises had ideas was immaterial if you knew the man.
UGLY: Ted idd not know if the variable 'n' was an integer or a real number.
GOOD: Darlene did not know whether Bachmann's O notation could be used with S(x), where x is a real number.
SPLENDID: Ted asked Darlene whether she planned to draw up the accounts for the grant, if she had time that evening after dinner.
UGLY: Sally wondered if, now that she had tenure, she could stop working long enough to go birding in Alviso with Max and Lyn.
Good: Gordon wondered whether, given how busy Sally was these days, he should plan a huge party for her.
SPLENDID: Gordon decided that, regardless of whether Sally was busy, when she got her tenure appointment, he would take her to Inverness for a romantic adventure.
@ 기본원리: 'whether or not'이 정확한 대부분의 경우에 단지 whether를 써라.
'regardless (or irrespective) of whether'를 의미할 때, 'whether or not'을 써라.
whether or not은 붙여써라. or not을 뒤로 보내지 말아라.
UGLY: You can use the ID3 approach, whether you know what discrimination trees and features values are or not.
GOOD: Whether or not you understand why, you might accept that ID3 is valid when the data consist of many patterns, each of which comprises an extensive list of feature-attribute values.
GOOD: ID3 will not let you update the decision tree easily; you have to rebuiild the entire tree, irrespective of the number of patterns classified incorrectly.
UGLY: Lyn asked Doug to review her manuscript, whether he approved of it or not.
GOOD: Doug asked Lyn to include an example about him, irrespective of whether he had completed his review.
GOOD: Lyn asked Doug to supply the example, regardless of whether he was so busy that he did not have time for frivolities such as breathing or sleeping.
@ 기본원리: You should use 'if' when you are simply placing a constraint.
GOOD: "If it is a good idea," Moises continued to ruminate, "then I need to consider the ramifications."
GOOD: If you are given the mean, range, and S value for a test distribution, and a single person's score on the test, can you calculate that person's z score?
GOOD: Try to understand the concept of relationships in logical data models, if you want to give your brain a workout.
GOOD: If either of the pen dimensions is set to a negative value,
the pen assumes the dimensions (0,0), and the system performs no drawing.
GOOD: If a = b, then go to step 4.
GOOD: Do you know what you should do if your cat brings home a squeaking woodrat? |
