I just don't know anymore. I've been trying to figure this one out for about an hour now. Is this sentence right?
Inquiries as to if compensation payments or replacements of the phones will happen were ignored.
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2Possible duplicate of When are "if" and "whether" equivalent? – Edwin Ashworth Jun 18 '18 at 15:50
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Possibly @EdwinAshworth. However, the question wasn't actually if if and whether could be set equal. – none Jun 18 '18 at 15:53
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No, the question is a proofreading question. If you could actually refine what the real underlying problem is, it would be Edwin's suggestion. – Andrew Leach Jun 18 '18 at 15:57
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Given that the accepted answer was to replace if with whether, it's kind of obvious that this is a duplicate of the other mentioned question. – Jason Bassford Jun 18 '18 at 17:17
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The sentence is fine as is, but the real question is, why would you spend an hour scratching your head about it (and risk that every reader would have to do the same) if in just ten seconds you could have reworded it in ten different ways that are clearer. – RegDwigнt Jun 18 '18 at 20:37
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I... don't know. – none Jun 18 '18 at 20:39
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I'd write it as:
Inquiries as to whether compensation payments or replacements of the phones will happen were ignored.
As it is, it sounds awkward.
Peter K.
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Thanks. In sentences as... "complicated" as this one, is it always possible to replace if with whether? – none Jun 18 '18 at 15:04
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@DeBedenHasen I'm not sure it's a global rule, but it seems to work for sentences like "I'm not sure if you're going." -> "I'm not sure whether you're going." – Peter K. Jun 18 '18 at 15:06
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Alright. Thanks for the clarification. And thanks @PeterK. for ngrams. - EDIT: Will accept your answer in 3 minutes. Damn timeout... – none Jun 18 '18 at 15:07