# British Dopers: would you say "whether it be"? (Comparative grammar)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 2, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704 "2005-09-02T04:47:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/1 "2005-09-02T04:47:37Z")
It’s generally accepted among grammarians and linguists that the present subjunctive is still somewhat vigorously alive in the States, and especially in in “that” clauses within statements of wish, command or obligation. Today in the news, though, I heard a celebrity resident of New Orleans use the phrase “whether it be…”, and I’m wondering if that’s an Americanism, or instead just a stock phrase current in the entire English speaking world.
Comments or thoughts?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/2 "2005-09-02T07:36:12Z")
It’s certainly in use here, but only in certain contexts; usually prepared oratorial. In everyday conversation, it’s not so likely to crop up and would generally be replaced by “regardless if it’s X or Y” or something else.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/3 "2005-09-02T07:42:01Z")
I agree with **Mangetout**. I hear the phrase every now and again here too, almost always in the context of a formal speech.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/4 "2005-09-02T07:44:48Z")
Or a formal written document.
We strongly reccommend that the company continue to invest …
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/5 "2005-09-02T08:19:43Z")
Only if I was being either very formal or intentionally humorous. Personally I think it’s a shame that English isn’t blessed with more subjunctives and a greater distinction between the persons, but context usually makes our somewhat crude grammar quite clear.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/6 "2005-09-02T08:32:01Z")
I’m an American and I would say "whether it be … " But I don’t really talk to all that many people. And fewer still listen …
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/7 "2005-09-02T09:33:39Z")
I remember as a young choirboy observing the phrase _The Sermon (if there be one)_ in the prayerbook and smiling over what I thought was an archaic and rustic phrase. But then, how should I have known about the third person present subjunctive at that age?
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### Author:  [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/8 "2005-09-02T09:43:57Z")
I don’t make any distinction. I use it sometimes, whether it be in speech or in writing.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/9 "2005-09-02T09:52:23Z")
> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> I remember as a young choirboy observing the phrase _The Sermon (if there be one)_ in the prayerbook and smiling over what I thought was an archaic and rustic phrase. But then, how should I have known about the third person present subjunctive at that age?
You coulda axed somebody.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/10 "2005-09-02T09:54:39Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#):
>
> I don’t make any distinction. I use it sometimes, whether it be in speech or in writing.
How is it that it would be used sometimes, and yet no distinction would be made? Surely the intermittent use would suggest distinction, whether it be intended or no.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/11 "2005-09-02T10:15:19Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#):
>
> You coulda axed somebody.
Could’ve asked my gramma, I guess.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-would-you-say-whether-it-be-comparative-grammar/319704/12 "2005-09-02T16:44:55Z")
I wouldn’t be taken aback at all if somebody used it in speech. I probably wouldn’t notice it. Myself, I use “be it…”