when

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwenne, hwænne, hwonne (“when”), from Proto-Germanic *hwannē (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-, *kʷi- (“interrogative base”). Cognate with Dutch wanneer (“when”), German wann (“when”), German wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: hwĕn, IPA: /ʍɛn/, SAMPA: /WEn/
• (US) enPR: wĕn, hwĕn, IPA: /wɛn/, /ʍɛn/, SAMPA: /wEn/, /WEn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn
• Homophone: wen (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adverb

when (not comparable)

1. (interrogative) Used to introduce questions about time.

   When will they arrive?

2. Used to introduce indirect questions about time.

   Do you know when they arrived?

   Do you know when they will arrive?

   Do you know when they arrive?

Usage notes

• Used interrogatively, in either a direct or indirect question

Translations

direct question

American Sign Language: 1@NearTipFinger-PalmDown-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp CirclesHoriz 1@TipFinger-PalmDown-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp Arabic: مَتى (ar) (máta) Egyptian: امتى (imta) Armenian: երբ (hy) (yerb) Aromanian: cãndu Basque: noiz (eu) Belarusian: калі (be) (kalí) Bulgarian: кога (bg) (kogá) Burmese: {{ttbc|Burmese||: (in the future) ဘယ်တော့ (my) (bèdaw.), (in the future) ဘယ်တော့ (my) (bètaw.), (in the past) ဘယ်တုန်းက (my) (bètoun:ga.), (in the past) ဘယ်တုန်းက (my) (bètoun:ga.) Chamicuro: na'kolyaye Chinese: Mandarin: 甚麼時候 (zh), 什么时候 (zh) (shénme shíhòu), (literary) 何時 (zh), 何时 (zh) (héshí) Czech: kdy (cs) Dalmatian: cand Danish: hvornår (da) Dutch: wanneer (nl) Esperanto: kiam (eo) Finnish: milloin (fi), koska (fi) French: quand (fr) Old French: quant Georgian: როდის (ka) (rodis) German: wann (de) Hindi: कब (hi) (kab) Hungarian: mikor (hu) Icelandic: hvenær (is) Indonesian: kapan (id) Irish: cathain (ga), cá huair (ga), cén uair (ga)

Italian: quando (it) Japanese: 何時 (ja) (いつ, itsu), いつ (ja) (itsu) Korean: 언제 (ko) (eonje) Krio: ustem Kurdish: Kurmancî: kengî Soranî: که‌ی Latin: quando (la) Latvian: kad (lv) Lojban: ca ma Macedonian: кога (ru) (kóga) Malagasy: ovìana (past), rahoviana (future) Norwegian: når (no) Old Irish: cuin Persian: کی (fa) (key) Polish: kiedy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá) Scots: whan Sindhi: ڪڏهن Slovak: kedy (sk) Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv) Telugu: ఎప్పుడు (eppuDu) Thai: เมื่อ (th) (mêua) Ukrainian: коли (uk) (kolý) Urdu: کب (ur) (kab) Vietnamese: khi nào (vi) Welsh: pryd (cy) Xhosa: xa

indirect question

Czech: kdy (cs) Dutch: wanneer (nl) French: quand (fr) Old French: quant

Georgian: როდის (ka) (rodis) Latvian: kad (lv) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá)

Conjunction

when

1. At what time.

   They were told when to sleep.

2. At such time as.

   I’m happiest when I’m working.

3. As soon as.

   I’ll do it when I get the time.

4. At a time in the past,

   It was raining when I came yesterday.

Translations

at what time

Albanian: kur (sq) Arabic: متى (ar) (mataa) Armenian: երբ (hy) (yerb) Aromanian: cãndu Belarusian: калі (be) (kalí) Bulgarian: кога (bg) (kóga) Cherokee: ᎯᎳᏳᎢ (chr) (hilayui) Chinese: Mandarin: 什麼時候 (cmn), 什么时候 (cmn) (shénme shíhòu), 幾時 (cmn), 几时 (cmn) (jǐshí), 何時 (cmn), 何时 (cmn) (héshí) Czech: kdy (cs) Danish: hvornår (da) Dutch: wanneer (nl) Estonian: millal (et) Finnish: milloin (fi), mihin aikaan (fi), sitten, kun (fi) French: quand (fr) Friulian: cuant German: wann (de) Greek: πότε (el) (póte) Hebrew: מתי (he) (matay) Hindi: जब (hi) (jab) Italian: quando (it) Japanese: 何時 (ja) (itsu), いつ (ja) (itsu), ...の時 (ja) (...no toki), ...のとき (ja) (...no toki) Korean: 언제 (ko) (eonje)

Lao: ເມື່ອ (lo) (mya) Latin: quandō (la), quandō (la) Latvian: kad (lv) Macedonian: кога (mk) (kóga) Norwegian: når (no) Persian: وقتی (fa) (vaqti), وقتی که (fa) (vaqti ke), زمانی که (fa) (zamâni ke), در زمان (fa) (dar zamân-e), به هنگام (fa) (be hangâm-e), هنگامی که (fa) (hangâmi ke), چون (fa) (čun) Polish: kiedy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá), в то время как (ru) (v to vrémja kak) Scots: whan Scottish Gaelic: cuin (gd) Serbo-Croatian: када (sh), kada (sh) Slovak: kedy (sk) Slovene: ko (sl) Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv) Thai: เมื่อใด (th) (mêua dai) Ukrainian: коли (uk) (kolý) Urdu: جب (ur) (jab) Vietnamese: khi nào (vi), khi (vi), lúc nào (vi) Welsh: pryd (cy) Yiddish: ווען (yi) (ven)

at such time as

Arabic: عندما (ar) (3indama), لما (ar) (lamma), حين (ar) (Hiina), إذ (ar) ('idh) Armenian: երբ (hy) (yerb) Chinese: Mandarin: ...的時候 (cmn), ...的时候 (cmn) (...-de shihou) Czech: když (cs) Danish: når (da) Dutch: als (nl), wanneer (nl) Estonian: kui (et) Finnish: kun (fi) French: lorsque (fr), quand (fr) Georgian: როდესაც (ka) German: wenn (de) Greek: όταν (el) (ótan) Hebrew: כאשר (he) (ka'asher) Hindi: जब (hi) (jab) Irish: nuair (ga) Italian: quando (it)

Japanese: ...の時 (ja) (...no toki), ...のとき (ja) (...no toki) Latvian: kad (lv) Macedonian: кога (mk) (kóga) Neapolitan: quann Norwegian: når (no) Polish: gdy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá) Scots: whan Scottish Gaelic: nuair a (gd) Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv), då (sv) Thai: ขณะที่ (th) (kà-nà têe) Urdu: جب (ur) (jab) Vietnamese: khi (vi) Welsh: tra (cy) Yiddish: אַז (yi) (az)

as soon as

Czech: až (cs) Danish: når (da) Dutch: als (nl), wanneer (nl), zodra (nl) Estonian: kui (et) Finnish: kun (fi) French: dès que (fr) Georgian: როდესაც (ka), როცა (ka) German: wenn (de), sobald (de) Greek: όταν (el) (ótan) Irish: nuair (ga) Italian: quando (it) Japanese: (literary) ...した時 (ja) (...shita toki), ...したとき (ja) (...shita toki); (colloquial) ...したら (ja) (...shitara)

Latvian: kad (lv) Macedonian: кога (mk) (kóga), штом (mk) (štom) Norwegian: når (no) Polish: gdy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá) Scots: whan Scottish Gaelic: nuair a (gd) Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv), då (sv) Welsh: pan (cy)

at a time in the past

Czech: když (cs) Danish: da (da) Dutch: toen (nl) Estonian: kui (et) Finnish: kun (fi) French: quand (fr) Georgian: როდესაც (ka) (rodesac') German: als (de) Greek: όταν (el) (ótan) Interlingua: quando (ia) Irish: nuair (ga) Italian: quando (it) Japanese: ...の時 (ja) (...no toki), ...のとき (ja) (...no toki) Latvian: kad (lv)

Lojban: ca lenu Macedonian: кога (mk) (kóga) Norwegian: da (no) Persian: وقتی (fa) (waqti) Polish: gdy (pl), kiedy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá) Scots: whan Scottish Gaelic: nuair a (gd) Shor: чер Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv) Tajik: чу (tg) (chu) Welsh: pan (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: please add this translation if you can Basque: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: кога (kogá) Serbo-Croatian: kad (hr), kada (hr) Esperanto: kiam (eo) Georgian: როცა (rotsa) Hungarian: mikor (1, 2), amikor (2, 3), amint (3) Ido: kande, kand Indonesian: kapan, saat, jika Kannada: please add this translation if you can Khmer: ពេលណា (bpēil nā) Korean: 언제 (eonje) Kurdish: kengî (ku), که‌ی

Malagasy: rehefa (future) Maltese: please add this translation if you can Maori: please add this translation if you can Nepali: please add this translation if you can Old English: þā (1,2,3) Oriya: please add this translation if you can Persian: please add this translation if you can Romanian: când (1,2,3), atunci când (2,3) Tamil: please add this translation if you can Thai: เมื่อ (mêua) Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can Welsh: pan (cy)

Pronoun

when

1. (interrogative) What time; which time

   Since when do I need your permission?

Translations

what time; which time

American Sign Language: 1@NearTipFinger-PalmDown-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp CirclesHoriz 1@TipFinger-PalmDown-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp Bulgarian: кога (bg) (kogá) Czech: kdy (cs) Danish: hvornår (da) Dutch: wanneer (nl) Esperanto: kiam (eo) Finnish: mistä (fi) French: quand (fr) Old French: quant German: wann (de)

Hebrew: מָתַי (he) (matái) Hungarian: mikor (hu) Indonesian: kapan (id) Japanese: 何時 (ja) (itsu), いつ (ja) (itsu) Macedonian: кога (mk) (kóga) Polish: kiedy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: când (ro) Russian: когда (ru) (kogdá) Spanish: cuando (es) Swedish: när (sv)

Noun

when (plural whens)

1. The time.

   A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.

Translations

the time

Bulgarian: когата (kogáta) Czech: kdy (cs) Danish: hvornår (da) Esperanto: kiam (eo) Finnish: milloin (fi) French: quand (fr) m. German: Wann (de) n. Hungarian: mikor (hu) Indonesian: kapan (id)

Italian: quando (it) m. Japanese: 何時 (ja) (itsu), いつ (ja) (itsu) Latvian: kad (lv) Polish: kiedy (pl) Portuguese: quando (pt) Romanian: atunci când Spanish: el cuando Vietnamese: khi nào (vi)

See also

• since when

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: will · no · them · #50: when · if · there · more

Anagrams

• hewn