Timeless

'Anywhen' is a wonderful word. Instead of going anywhere in time, why not call it going 'anywhen'? I use anywhen as a handy term for referring to an unspecified moment in the past.

Thinking I had coined a brand-new term meaning at any time, I was slightly disappointed to discover that anywhen dates back centuries, as do its siblings somewhen and nowhen.

Still, anywhen is not a common word, so students will notice it and remember it as a clue. It provides a practical opposite to contrast with time-specific signal words like yesterday, last week, or long ago that all answer the question when?

In English, it seems obvious to use the Past tense whenever you point at the past. Other languages will often disagree and use a Present Perfect form instead. Such differences matter. Similarities between languages hardly ever confuse language learners, but differences do.

So when talking about the past, let's include a helpful contrast between time-specific when and timeless anywhen.

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????Hi, I'm Leon, and I help English language teachers discover how a ONE RULE approach to grammar ?EMPOWERS them & their students, ?SAVES TIME better spent on serious fun with the language, and ?BOOSTS motivation & results. ONE RULE, to rule them all...