Page 117 - IELTS Preparation Grammar and Vocab

Noun clauses 16

Other words used in this way include the place (rather than where), the time (rather than when), the way (rather
than how) and somebody/someone (rather than who).

Eig Whether and if
We can use whether as the wh-word in a noun clause when we talk about possible choices. Whether has a similar
meaning to if.
I can't remember whether it runs on Sundays.
Notice the difference between sentences with whether- and that-noun clauses:
I didn't know whether/if the bus service has been cancelled. (= it may or may not have been cancelled)
I didn't know that the bus service had been cancelled. (= it was cancelled; now I know)
In more formal contexts, particularly in writing, we can use as to with a meaning similar to 'about or
'concerning' before a whether-noun clause
There was some debate as to whether he could legally give us the land.
We use whether, not ifi
before or not
I don't know whether or not I'd be able to come on a regular basis.
However
I don't know whether/if rd be able to come on a regular basis or not
before a to-infinitive
I can't make up my mind whether to help on Saturdays or Sundays.
usually after a preposition, and also after the verbs advise, choose, consider, debate, discuss, enquire, question:
You can think about whether you'd like to be involved.
You can choose whether you want to work indoors or outdoors.
in a clause acting as a subject or complement:
Whether you help with the outdoor or indoor work depends on you. (= subject)
What I'm not clear about is whether we can get a lift to the reserve. (= complement)

Grammar exercises

Eil Read these comments by a resident, a fire officer and a climate change expert about a recent flood.
Complete each text with that or the fact that.
Resident Nobody really thought (1) that
flooding this bad would happen again, but as the river
level rose, we had to face up to (2)
we'd have to leave our home. Personally, I blame the fire
service. (3)
it's been raining heavily here for five days should have meant that they were
better prepared to help us.
Fire officer I really feel (4)
some of the criticisms of my fire officers are unfair, although
today is a public
(5) holiday did mean that many of our staff weren't here to help with the
rescue. However, we warned residents yesterday (6)
they might have to evacuate their houses
with little notice, and the difficulty in evacuating people from their houses wasn't helped by
they wanted to take large amounts of personal belongings with them.
(7)
Climate change expert: We can't ignore (8)
climate change is going to increase the risk of
flooding, and a number of studies have suggested (9)
winter river levels throughout the
country will be much higher than in the past. Unfortunately, the situation in this area is complicated by
(10)
so many trees have been cut down on the hills around here and rainwater flows more
quickly into the rivers. So there's a real possibility (11) serious flooding could now happen
here every winter.
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