Whenever in Different Languages
Discover 'Whenever' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'whenever' is a small but powerful term that indicates a sense of flexibility and uncertainty. It's a word that we use frequently in our daily conversations and writing, allowing us to express a sense of open-endedness and non-specificity. But have you ever stopped to consider the significance of 'whenever' in different languages and cultures?
Understanding the translation of 'whenever' in various languages can provide us with a unique window into different ways of thinking and communicating. For example, in Spanish, 'whenever' is translated as 'cuandoquiera,' which combines the words 'when' and 'ever' into one. Meanwhile, in German, 'whenever' becomes 'wann immer,' which literally means 'when always.'
Exploring the cultural importance of 'whenever' can also reveal some fascinating insights. For instance, in many Eastern cultures, the concept of time is often viewed as fluid and relative, rather than fixed and rigid. As a result, the translation of 'whenever' in these languages may reflect a more flexible and context-dependent understanding of time.
So, why might someone want to know the translation of 'whenever' in different languages? Simply put, it can help us to better understand and appreciate the richness and diversity of human language and culture. Here are some translations of 'whenever' to get you started:
Whenever
Whenever in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | wanneer | ||
| The word "wanneer" is the Afrikaans cognate of the Dutch word "wanneer" "when" and the German word "wann" "when". | |||
| Amharic | መቼም ቢሆን | ||
| The Amharic word “መቼም ቢሆን”, meaning “whenever”, literally translates to “at any time.” | |||
| Hausa | kowane lokaci | ||
| The Hausa word "kowane lokaci" has an alternate meaning of "every time" and a possible root in the words "kowa ne" ("all and") and "lokaci" ("time"). | |||
| Igbo | mgbe obula | ||
| In Igbo, "mgbe obula" also means a 'situation that occurs constantly'. | |||
| Malagasy | isaky ny | ||
| The Malagasy word "isaky ny" also means "all the time" and "every time". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | nthawi iliyonse | ||
| 'Nthawi iliyonse' is also used to mean a certain time or a specific time | |||
| Shona | chero nguva | ||
| Somali | markasta | ||
| Markasta is also a noun that means 'all of the time', 'every time' or 'constantly'. | |||
| Sesotho | neng kapa neng | ||
| Swahili | wakati wowote | ||
| The Swahili word "wakati wowote" can also mean "anytime" or "at any time". | |||
| Xhosa | nanini na | ||
| The word 'nanini na' in Xhosa can also mean 'at any given time', 'in general', or 'as a rule'. It is formed from the word 'nini' meaning 'what', 'which', or 'something' and the reduplicative prefix 'na' meaning 'any' or 'every'. | |||
| Yoruba | nigbakugba | ||
| "Nigbakugba" can also mean "when the time is right" in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | noma kunini | ||
| The Zulu word "noma kunini" can also mean "each time" or "every time". | |||
| Bambara | kuma o kuma | ||
| Ewe | ɣe sia ɣi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | igihe cyose | ||
| Lingala | ntango nyonso | ||
| Luganda | olunaku lwonna | ||
| Sepedi | neng le neng | ||
| Twi (Akan) | berɛ biara a | ||
Whenever in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | كلما كان | ||
| The Arabic word "كلما كان" can also refer to "every time that" or "as much as". | |||
| Hebrew | בְּכָל פַּעַם | ||
| The word "בְּכָל פַּעַם" can also mean "constantly" or "always". | |||
| Pashto | هرکله | ||
| In Pashto, the word "هرکله" may also refer to "anytime" or "whenever". | |||
| Arabic | كلما كان | ||
| The Arabic word "كلما كان" can also refer to "every time that" or "as much as". | |||
Whenever in Western European Languages
| Albanian | kurdoherë | ||
| "Kurdoherë" is a composition of "kur", meaning "when", and "doherë", an archaic form of "doheras", meaning "occasion". So it literally means "when occasion". | |||
| Basque | noiznahi | ||
| The word “noiznahi” (whenever) is a contraction of “noiz-na-hi”. “Noiz” (when) and “na” (that), so “that when”. | |||
| Catalan | sempre que sigui | ||
| The phrase "sempre que sigui" can also be used in Catalan to mean "as long as." | |||
| Croatian | kad god | ||
| Kad god comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "ke", meaning "when" or "if". | |||
| Danish | hver gang | ||
| Hver gang can also mean "every time" or "each time" in English. | |||
| Dutch | altijd | ||
| Besides meaning "whenever," "altijd" can also mean "always" or "constantly." | |||
| English | whenever | ||
| The word "whenever" combines "when" with "ever," originally "at any time." | |||
| French | n'importe quand | ||
| The literal translation of the French adverb phrase “n'importe quand” is either “no matter when” or “it matters not when.” | |||
| Frisian | wannear | ||
| The word "wannear" in Frisian can also mean "at that time" or "a while ago." | |||
| Galician | sempre que | ||
| In Galician, "sempre que" has the same meaning as the Spanish "cada vez que", which emphasizes occurrence with every instance of an action. | |||
| German | wann immer | ||
| Wann immer is formed from two words: "wann" (when) and "immer" (always). | |||
| Icelandic | hvenær sem er | ||
| The word | |||
| Irish | aon uair | ||
| The Irish "aon uair" is not only a word for "whenever", but it also means "unity" or "being at one with something." | |||
| Italian | ogni volta | ||
| In 13th-century Tuscan poetry, "ogni volta" meant "always" in contexts referring to past situations and events. | |||
| Luxembourgish | wann ëmmer | ||
| Maltese | kull meta | ||
| The word "kull meta" in Maltese can also mean "when" or "as soon as." | |||
| Norwegian | når som helst | ||
| The word "når som helst" in Norwegian can also mean "anytime" or "at any moment". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | sempre que | ||
| Portuguese "sempre que" may mean "if" or "when", as well as "whenever". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | uair sam bith | ||
| The Gaelic word "uair sam bith" also means "at any time" in English. | |||
| Spanish | cuando | ||
| Cuendo (whenever) comes from the Vulgar Latin *quandō*, whence also English "when" | |||
| Swedish | närhelst | ||
| Despite its similarity to English "nearly," "närhelst" is not etymologically related, having instead originated from German "närlich," meaning "near" or "almost. | |||
| Welsh | pryd bynnag | ||
Whenever in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | калі заўгодна | ||
| In early Belarusian, the adverb “калі заўгодна” meant not “whenever” but “sometime in the future”. | |||
| Bosnian | kad god | ||
| ''Kad god'' and ''kada god'' mean whenever, while ''kad-kad'' means sometimes. | |||
| Bulgarian | когато и да е | ||
| The Bulgarian word "когато и да е" can also mean "at random" or "from time to time". | |||
| Czech | kdykoli | ||
| "Kdykoli" (whenever) is a contraction of the Czech words "kdy" (when) and "koli" (however many times). | |||
| Estonian | millal iganes | ||
| The word "millal iganes" is a compound of two words, "millal" (when) and "iganes" (ever), and can also be used to mean "anytime" or "at any time". | |||
| Finnish | milloin tahansa | ||
| "Milloin tahansa" is a compound word consisting of "milloin" ("when") and "tahansa" ("any") | |||
| Hungarian | bármikor | ||
| Bármikor can also mean "at any time" or "any time". | |||
| Latvian | kad vien | ||
| Kad vien is a compound word consisting of kad (when) and vien (only). | |||
| Lithuanian | kada | ||
| The Lithuanian word "kada" is derived from the Proto-Balto-Slavic root *kъdъ, meaning "when" or "at what time". | |||
| Macedonian | кога и да е | ||
| It is composed from the words "кога" and "и", which mean "when" and "if" respectively, and is used to refer to an unspecified time in the future or past. | |||
| Polish | kiedy tylko | ||
| The phrase "kiedy tylko" can also be used to mean "as soon as". | |||
| Romanian | oricând | ||
| "Oricând" (whenever) derives from the Old Romanian "oricu", meaning "any time", and is related to "orice" (anything), which shares the same Latin root, "quicumque" (whoever, whatever). | |||
| Russian | всякий раз, когда | ||
| "Всякий раз, когда" буквально означает "всякий раз, когда" | |||
| Serbian | било када | ||
| The Serbian word "било када" can also mean "at any time" or "any time". | |||
| Slovak | kedykoľvek | ||
| The Slovak word "kedykoľvek" is derived from the Slavic root "kedy", meaning "when", and the suffix "-koľvek", which denotes indefiniteness or generality, thus giving the meaning of "at any time" or "whenever". | |||
| Slovenian | kadarkoli | ||
| The word "kadarkoli" can also mean "at any time" or "whenever it may be." | |||
| Ukrainian | коли завгодно | ||
| The Ukrainian word "коли завгодно" can also be translated as "at any time" or "whenever it suits you." | |||
Whenever in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | যখনই | ||
| The word "যখনই" can also be used as a conjunction meaning "while" or "at the same time as". | |||
| Gujarati | જ્યારે પણ | ||
| Hindi | जब कभी | ||
| The phrase "जब कभी" can refer to either a singular "when" or a repeated event, depending on context, with the latter being derived from the reduplicative use of "जब (when)". | |||
| Kannada | ಯಾವಾಗ ಬೇಕಾದರೂ | ||
| “ಯಾವಾಗ ಬೇಕಾದರೂ” can mean several different things in Kannada language, including “any time”, “sometimes”, or “whenever it is necessary”. | |||
| Malayalam | എപ്പോഴെങ്കിലും | ||
| Also means “sometime,” or “whenever convenient for you.” | |||
| Marathi | जेव्हाही | ||
| The Marathi word "जेव्हाही" (jevhāhi) is derived from the Sanskrit word "यदा" (yadā), meaning "when", and the suffix "ही" (-hī), which emphasizes the idea of "at that time" or "in that instance" | |||
| Nepali | जहिले पनि | ||
| जहिले पनि is a combination of two Nepali words: जहिले meaning 'whenever, anytime' and पनि meaning 'as well, also, too' | |||
| Punjabi | ਜਦ ਵੀ | ||
| In Persian, the words "kad" (when) and "ba" (to) combine to create the compound word "kadba" (whenever), akin to Punjabi "jad vi". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සෑම විටම | ||
| Tamil | எப்போது வேண்டுமானாலும் | ||
| Telugu | ఎప్పుడు | ||
| Urdu | جب بھی | ||
| جب بھی originates from the Persian words "जब" (when) and "भी" (also) and connotes the idea of "at any time." | |||
Whenever in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 每当 | ||
| 每当最早出现于商代甲骨文，写作“每”，表示“常常、每每”，甲骨文是象形字，图形为一束稻禾，表示粮食丰收，每每粮食丰收，人民就有节日，故每当引申为“常常、每每”之意。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 每當 | ||
| 在唐代「每當」的意義為「每一個」或「每一組」 | |||
| Japanese | いつでも | ||
| While the word "いつでも" (itsumo de) literally translates to "any time," it can also be used to express the idea of "always" in Japanese. | |||
| Korean | 할때는 언제나 | ||
| Mongolian | хэзээ ч | ||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘယ်အချိန်မှာ | ||
Whenever in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kapanpun | ||
| Kapanpun has a Sanskrit origin, originating from "kapan-kapan" | |||
| Javanese | kapan wae | ||
| The word "kapan wae" (whenever) in Javanese has other meanings such as "at any time" or "at all times". | |||
| Khmer | ពេលណា | ||
| The word "ពេលណា" originally meant "at what time" or "when" and developed the meaning "whenever" in later usage. | |||
| Lao | ເມື່ອໃດກໍ່ຕາມ | ||
| Malay | bila-bila masa | ||
| The term "bila-bila masa" literally means "any-any time" in Malay, highlighting its indefinite nature. | |||
| Thai | เมื่อใดก็ตาม | ||
| The Thai word "เมื่อใดก็ตาม" can also mean "when", "whenever", or "at any time". | |||
| Vietnamese | bất cứ khi nào | ||
| In Sino-Vietnamese, it also means 'in all time'. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kahit kailan | ||
Whenever in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | hər zaman | ||
| The word "hər zaman" in Azerbaijani is thought to have originated from the Persian phrase "har zaman", which means "every moment" or "always". | |||
| Kazakh | қашан болса да | ||
| The word "қашан болса да" can also mean "sometime" or "at some point". | |||
| Kyrgyz | качан болсо | ||
| Качан болсо is an idiom which literally means “at what time it may be”. It may also be translated as "whenever it may be" in English. | |||
| Tajik | ҳар гоҳе | ||
| The word "ҳар гоҳе" is a compound of the words "ҳар" ("every") and "гоҳ" ("time"), and can also mean "every time" or "all the time". | |||
| Turkmen | haçan bolsa | ||
| Uzbek | har doim | ||
| Har doim derives from "har" and "doim", meaning "all" and "time". | |||
| Uyghur | قاچان | ||
Whenever in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | i kēlā me kēia manawa | ||
| This word can also mean “sometimes,” “now and then,” and “repeatedly, frequently.” | |||
| Maori | wā katoa | ||
| Wā katoa can also be used to mean 'anytime' or 'at all times'. | |||
| Samoan | soʻo se taimi | ||
| The word "soʻo se taimi" is composed of the words "soʻo" (when) and "se taimi" (a time), expressing the concept of "at any time". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | kailan man | ||
| "Kailan" is the Tagalog word for "when", and "man" is a Tagalog particle that can mean "whenever" or "anytime" | |||
Whenever in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | kunawsasa | ||
| Guarani | oikóvo | ||
Whenever in International Languages
| Esperanto | kiam ajn | ||
| The word "kiam ajn" has no connection to the word "kiam" meaning "when," but shares its origins with "iom" (day) and "iam" (night). | |||
| Latin | quotienscumque | ||
| In ecclesiastical Latin, the word "quotienscumque" could mean both "as often as" and "every time that." | |||
Whenever in Others Languages
| Greek | οποτεδήποτε | ||
| "Οποτεδήποτε" also means every time or at any time. | |||
| Hmong | thaum twg | ||
| Thaum twg's alternate meaning is "occasionally" or "sometimes". | |||
| Kurdish | kînga jî | ||
| It is cognate to Persian | |||
| Turkish | her ne zaman | ||
| Her ne zaman kelimesi eski Türkçe de 'her zaman' ve 'daima' anlamlarında kullanılırmış. | |||
| Xhosa | nanini na | ||
| The word 'nanini na' in Xhosa can also mean 'at any given time', 'in general', or 'as a rule'. It is formed from the word 'nini' meaning 'what', 'which', or 'something' and the reduplicative prefix 'na' meaning 'any' or 'every'. | |||
| Yiddish | ווען נאָר | ||
| The Yiddish word "ווען נאָר" literally means "when-if," implying a conditional or uncertain occurrence. | |||
| Zulu | noma kunini | ||
| The Zulu word "noma kunini" can also mean "each time" or "every time". | |||
| Assamese | যেতিয়াই | ||
| Aymara | kunawsasa | ||
| Bhojpuri | जब कबो | ||
| Dhivehi | ކޮންމެއިރަކު | ||
| Dogri | जदूं | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kahit kailan | ||
| Guarani | oikóvo | ||
| Ilocano | nu | ||
| Krio | ɛnitɛm | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هەر کاتێک | ||
| Maithili | जखनहुं | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯇꯝ ꯑꯃ ꯍꯦꯛꯇꯗ | ||
| Mizo | engtiklaipawhin | ||
| Oromo | yerooma | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଯେବେ ବି | ||
| Quechua | haykapipas | ||
| Sanskrit | कदापि | ||
| Tatar | кайчан | ||
| Tigrinya | ኣብ ዝኾነ ይኹን እዋን | ||
| Tsonga | nkarhi wihi na wihi | ||