"...ever" and "no matter ..."
Jun 02nd 2011 13:40
In Japan, we are sometimes taught that the word "...ever" is replaceable with "no matter ...", for example, "whatever" with "no matter what."
Do the sentences below sound natural?
1A. No matter when it happens, I'll be ok.
1B. Whenever it happens, I'll be ok.
2A. I'll be ok whenever it happens.
2B. I'll be ok no matter when it happens.
3A. You can give the money back to me whenever you like.
3B. You can give the money back to me no matter when you like.
4A. You can come to see me whenever it's convenient for you.
4B. You can come to see me no matter when it's convenient for you.
Do the sentences below sound natural?
1A. No matter when it happens, I'll be ok.
1B. Whenever it happens, I'll be ok.
2A. I'll be ok whenever it happens.
2B. I'll be ok no matter when it happens.
3A. You can give the money back to me whenever you like.
3B. You can give the money back to me no matter when you like.
4A. You can come to see me whenever it's convenient for you.
4B. You can come to see me no matter when it's convenient for you.
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3A is good, but 3B doesn't make sense. (Also, "It doesn't matter when you give the money back to me.")
4A sounds fine, but 4B does not. I can't think of a simple alternative way to rephrase that.
But I don't understand a part of your comment-
"(Also, "It doesn't matter when you give the money back to me.")"
Does this sentence also sound strange?
You can give the money back to me no matter when you like.
You can come to see me no matter when it's convenient for you.
"...ever" means any different thing or anything,anyone,anytime. Whatever, whoever, whenever
"no matter" means something that can't be changed.
Your first two groups of sentences are pretty much the same.
2A. "I'll be ok whenever it happens."
This means that at whatever time the thing happens, he'll be fine
2B. "I'll be ok no matter when it happens."
This means the same as 2A, but also implies that there is nothing they can do to change the time.
That's why "no matter" doesn't work for 3 & 4. Because you are giving the person a choice, they can choose when to come.
Your explanation is clear, but how about the sentences below?
5A. I don't want to see you whenever you come to my house.
5B. I don't want to see you no matter when you come to my house.
I might be splitting hairs here, but this is what I think ...
in 5A, the emphasis might be that the person doesn't want to see the other person at all.
in 5B, the emphasis seems to be more on the time, it doesn't matter the time, the person doesn't want to see the other person.
I understand that which part of the sentence is emphasized is different.