whenever

English

Etymology

From Middle English whan evere, whanne ever, whanne evere, whener, when ever; equivalent to when +‎ ever.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wəˈnɛvə/, /wɛnˈɛvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wəˈnɛvɚ/, /hwəˈnɛvɚ/, /wɛnˈɛvɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Conjunction

whenever

1. At any time that.

   Visit whenever you want to.

   • 1987 December 21, Richard Nixon, Letters to Trump, Winning Team Publishing, published 2023, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 10:

     I did not see the program, but Mrs. Nixon told me that you were great on the Donahue Show.
     As you can imagine, she is an expert on politics and she predicts that whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner!

2. At the (single) time that, no matter when.

   Tomorrow I'll get up whenever the sun rises.

3. Every time that.

   Whenever he has a pair of aces, his eyelids twitch.

   • 2024 January 24, Peter Plisner, “Rising to the University challenge”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 61:

     Working around an ancient monument has meant having an archaeologist on site whenever there were excavations.

4. Regardless of the time that.

   Income must be reported in the period in which it is earned, whenever payment is actually received.

5. (Ireland, regional US, nonstandard) When.

   Whenever I was a child, I lived in Arkansas.

Derived terms

• whenever one turns around

 

Related terms

• however
• howsoever
• whatever
• whatsoever
• wheresoever
• wherever
• whoever
• whomever
• whomsoever
• whosoever
• whyever
• whysoever

 

Translations

at any time that

• Arabic: مَتَى (matā), مَتَى مَا (matā mā)
• Bulgarian: когато и да е (kogato i da e)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無論何時／无论何时 (zh) (wúlùn héshí), 哪會兒／哪会儿 (nǎhuìr)

• Czech: kdykoliv (cs)
• Danish: når som helst
• Esperanto: kiam ajn
• Faroese: nær sum helst
• Finnish: milloin tahansa, koska vaan
• French: n’importe quand (fr)
• German: wenn (de), wann immer, wann auch immer
• Greek: όποτε (el) (ópote), οποτεδήποτε (el) (opotedípote)

  Ancient: ὅταν (hótan), ἐπειδάν (epeidán)

• Hungarian: akármikor (hu), bármikor (hu)
• Italian: in ogni momento
• Japanese: いつでも (itsu demo)
• Kapampangan: kapilanman
• Khmer: ពេលណា (peil naa)
• Latin: quandōque, quandōcumque
• Maori: ka + verb + ana
• Polish: kiedykolwiek (pl)
• Portuguese: quando (pt)
• Russian: когда́ бы ни (kogdá by ni)
• Scottish Gaelic: ge be cuin, ge be uair
• Serbo-Croatian: kadgod (sh), кадгод
• Spanish: cuando quiera (es)
• Swedish: närsom, när som helst (sv), närhelst (sv)
• Ukrainian: коли б не (koly b ne)

every time that

• Arabic: كُلَّمَا (kullamā)
• Bulgarian: всеки път (vseki pǎt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 每當／每当 (zh) (měidāng)

• Danish: hver gang
• Finnish: joka kerta kun, aina kun
• French: chaque fois que, à chaque fois que
• German: sooft (de), immer wenn, jedes Mal, wenn
• Hungarian: valahányszor (hu), ahányszor (hu)
• Italian: ogni volta che
• Japanese: いつでも (itsu demo)
• Kapampangan: balang
• Polish: ilekroć (pl)
• Portuguese: sempre que, toda vez que
• Russian: ка́ждый раз (káždyj raz)
• Scottish Gaelic: ge be cuin, ge be uair
• Spanish: siempre que, siempre y cuando (es)
• Swedish: närhelst (sv), varje gång, jämt när
• Ukrainian: щоразу (ščorazu)

when — see when

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} wanneer ook
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 언제나 (ko) (eonjena)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} ھەرچەند (herçend)

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} quotienscumque

Adverb

whenever

1. (interrogative) When ever: emphatic form of when.

   Whenever will I find time to finish that jigsaw?

2. At any time.

   Feel free to visit whenever.

Translations

at any time

• Finnish: koska vaan
• French: n’importe quand (fr)
• Plautdietsch: wanemma
• Russian: когда́ уго́дно (kogdá ugódno)

Anagrams

• everwhen