Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

whensoever vs. whenever

Are “whensoever” and “whenever” really the same? 

In some of the dictionaries I checked, “whensoever” is defined “whenever”; but I disagree.

For instance, I think “The students may leave whenever they so choose” can be written “[...] whensoever they choose” because “so” is already part of “whensoever”.

Submit Your Comment

or fill in the name and email fields below:

Comments

I think "whensoever" is archaic and was superceded by "whenever".
The sentence, “The students may leave whenever they so choose” seems rather stilted although it is quite correct..
Most people would say, “The students may leave whenever they choose”
The OED gives "whenever" as a synonym for "whensoever", and the usage examples given are all 19th. century or earlier.
Even merriam-webster lists whenever as a synonym.
However Chambers Online has no entry for "whensoever".

user106928 Oct-04-2011

2 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

Do you have a question? Submit your question here