Thursday, December 2, 2010

No Matter What Happens, We'll Stick Together


The English conjunctions of the type 'no matter what/how/who...' are often used the same way as 'whatever/however/whoever...'.

No matter what you do, I'll be with you. / Whatever you do, I'll be with you.

You have to do it no matter how hard it is. / You have to do it however hard it is.

No matter who opposes the plan, the boss will go ahead with it. / Whoever opposes the plan, the boss will go ahead with it. 

'No matter' can be used with 'why' as well. 

What she did was wrong, no matter why she did it.

Sometime the clause containing 'no matter what/how/who...' may even leave out the rest.

They promised to support us, no matter what.

You can call me no matter when.

He'll succeed, no matter how.

However, only the 'whatever/however/whoever...' form can be used when the clause containing it acts as the subject or object of the main verb (i.e. when it's a subject or object clause).

Whoever comes here will be welcome.

You can't do whatever you want.

And if it's about something that doesn't make a difference in any manner, another pattern is used to convey the idea. 

It doesn't matter how you do it.

It doesn't matter when they come; we're ready. 

(Image credit: cambodia4kidsorg)
 

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