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 me escucha, diga lo que diga.)

Whatever I say, he won't listen to me. (Diga lo que diga, no me escucha.)

I'm not going to come to the phone, whoever it is. (No me pondré al teléfono sea quien sea.)

Whoever it is, I'm not going to come to the phone. (Sea quien sea, no me pondré al teléfono.)

It's a trick. You lose whichever card you choose. (Es una trampa. Sea cual sea la carta que elijas, pierdes.)

It's a trick. Whichever card you choose, you lose. (Sea cual sea la carta que elijas, pierdes. Es una trampa.)

Whenever I see Joan, she complains about her husband. (Siempre que veo a Joan, se queja de su marido.)

With mobile phones, you can contact people wherever they are. (Con los móviles, puedes contactar con las personas estén donde estén.)

However we share the money, someone will be disappointed. (Sea como sea el reparto del dinero, alguien quedará decepcionado.)

My boss is never satisfied however hard I try. (Mi jefe no está nunca contento sea cual sea el esfuerzo que hago.)

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. (Tardaremos más de una hora tanto si vamos en tren como si cogemos el coche.)

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 lo que digo, no me escucha.)

He won't listen to me no matter what I say. (No me escucha, no importa lo que digo.)

It doesn't matter what I say, he won't listen to me. (No importa lo que digo, no me escucha.)

No matter which card you choose, you lose. (No importa qué carta elijas, pierdes.)

You lose no matter which card you choose. (Pierdes, no importa qué carta elijas.)

It doesn't matter which card you choose, you lose. (No importa qué carta elijas, pierdes.)

No matter how hard I try, my boss is never satisfied. (No importa el esfuerzo que hago, mi jefe nunca está contento.)

It doesn't matter how hard I try, my boss is never satisfied. (No importa el esfuerzo que hago, mi jefe nunca está contento.)