11.16 Whatever, whoever, whichever, whenever, wherever, however

These words are used to express general conditions or concessions, e.g.:

He won't listen to me whatever I say. (No m'escolta, digui el que digui.)

Whatever I say, he won't listen to me. (Digui el que digui, no m'escolta.)

I'm not going to come to the phone, whoever it is. (No m'hi posaré, al telèfon, sigui qui sigui.)

Whoever it is, I'm not going to come to the phone. (Sigui qui sigui, no m'hi posaré, al telèfon.)

It's a trick. You lose whichever card you choose. (És una trampa. Sigui quina sigui la carta que triïs, perds.)

It's a trick. Whichever card you choose, you lose. (Sigui quina sigui la carta que triïs, perds. És una trampa.)

Whenever I see Joan, she complains about her husband. (Sempre que veig la Joan, es queixa del seu marit.)

With mobile phones, you can contact people wherever they are. (Amb els mòbils, pots contactar amb les persones siguin on siguin.)

However we share the money, someone will be disappointed. (Sigui com sigui el repartiment dels diners, algú estarà decepcionat.)

My boss is never satisfied however hard I try. (El meu cap no està mai content sigui com sigui l'esforç que faig.)

When the alternatives are limited to two, we can use whether, e.g.:

It'll take more than an hour whether we go by train or take the car. (Trigarà més d'una hora tant si anem amb tren o agafem el cotxe.)

We can also express this meaning with no matter or it doesn't matter, e.g.:

No matter what I say, he won't listen to me. (No importa el que dic, no m'escolta.)

He won't listen to me no matter what I say. (No m'escolta, no importa el que dic.)

It doesn't matter what I say, he won't listen to me. (No importa el que dic, no m'escolta.)

No matter which card you choose, you lose. (No importa quina carta tries, perds.)

You lose no matter which card you choose. (Perds, no importa quina carta tries.)

It doesn't matter which card you choose, you lose. (No importa quina carta tries, perds.)

No matter how hard I try, my boss is never satisfied. (No importa l'esforç que faig, el meu cap no està mai content.)

It doesn't matter how hard I try, my boss is never satisfied. (No importa l'esforç que faig, el meu cap no està mai content.)