Anyway, Anyways, Anyhow, Anywho - Confusing English Words

Hello and welcome to this video. Today you're  going to learn how to use anyway, anyways,  

anyhow and anywho. This is a question I get a lot  from students and I'm happy to answer it for you.  

Now make sure you watch right until the  end because you're going to complete  

a quiz to make sure you know how to use  these words. And you can download a free PDF  

that summarizes all the information from the  lesson. So you can do that right at the end.  

Welcome back to JForrestEnglish training.  Of course, I'm Jennifer and this is  

your channel to become a fluent, confident  English speaker. Now let's dive in.  

Let's talk about how to use anyway, anyways,  anyhow and anywho. First, let's talk about  

anyway and anyways. What's the difference between  these two? Well, it's very simple. One of these  

words is grammatically correct, and the other  is slang. Do you know which one is slang?  

Well, anyways, with an s, is slang. It doesn't  exist in English as a word. This may surprise you  

because native speakers use anyways all the time.  In fact, I would say that anyways with an S is  

just as common as anyway, even though technically  anyways with an S is not a word in English. It's  

slang. Regardless, you will hear anyways in  formal situations like TED talks, or formal  

presentations, even from politicians and doctors.  You will hear anyways being used all the time.  

But remember, anyway without the s,  anyway is the grammatically correct choice  

in any situation. Now let's talk about how to  use anyway and anyhow. They have the exact same  

meaning. They're interchangeable, which means you  can use anyway or you can use anyhow, it doesn't  

matter. They're both adverbs, and they have three  common meanings. So let's review each meaning  

and we'll look at example sentences. The first  meaning. We use anyway and anyhow to mean in any  

case, without regard to other considerations. For  example, let's say you're planning a family dinner  

at a new restaurant you want to try but you're not  sure if this restaurant takes reservations. You  

might say to your family member, I'm not sure  if the restaurant takes reservations. Anyway,  

I'll call tonight. So this means without regard to  other considerations, in any case. So it doesn't  

matter if the restaurant takes reservations or  doesn't take reservations, you're going to call.  

Remember you can use anyhow and they have the  exact same meaning. So I could say, I'm not sure  

if the restaurant takes reservations. I'll call  tonight anyhow. Notice I changed the placement of  

the adverb. The placement can come at the  beginning of the sentence or at the end of the  

sentence. There's no difference between these  two. Anyway and anyhow are also used when you  

provide a more important reason or consideration.  Let's say you find out about a work conference,  

but you decide you're not going to go. You can  say, the conference is out of town. That's one  

reason you're not going to go. It's out of  town, which means it's not in your city or  

your location. It's in a different city or a  different location. So that's one reason. But  

you want to provide a more important reason why  you're not going to the conference. You could say,  

the conference is out of town. And I have another  meeting that day anyway. So the fact that you have  

another meeting is more important than the fact  that the conference is out of town. And we use the  

adverb anyway to show that. With this meaning,  the placement of the adverb is also flexible  

and it can come at the beginning of the sentence  or the end of the sentence. So I could also say,  

the conference is out of town. And  anyhow, I have another meeting that day.  

Notice it came at the beginning of the  sentence, but I put the adverb "and"  

to act as a transition word. And anyhow. So you  will commonly see anyhow or anyway with a small  

adverb like, "and, but, so" in front of it. That  doesn't change the meaning in any way, in any way.  

And you can just get rid of it and the sentence  would be the same. The conference is out of town.  

Anyhow, I have another meeting that day. The final  way we use anyway and anyhow is as a transition  

word to transition from one conversation topic  to another conversation topic. And this might  

be the most common way it's used. And this might  be the way you're most comfortable using it. And  

you can use anyway or anyhow, it doesn't matter.  And of course you can use anyways but remember  

that's slang. So let's say you're having  a conversation with your friend and you're  

talking about one subject, work.  You're talking about work, work,  

work. It's really busy at work right now, and  we need to hire another accountant. But now you  

don't want to talk about work anymore with your  friend. You want to change the topic. You can say,  

anyway, how was Italy? So your friend just  got back from this vacation, and you want to  

now change the topic from work to your friend's  vacation. Work's really busy now, we need to hire  

another accountant. Anyhow, how was Italy. Tell me  about Italy. Again, you can use anyway or anyhow.  

But with this meaning, to change conversation  topics, we most commonly put the adverb at the  

beginning of the second sentence. So we don't  commonly put it at the end of the sentence.  

And you can still use another transition word  like "and, so, but". You're talking about work,  

we need to hire another accountant. So anyway, and  anyway, but anyway, how was Italy? Now finally,  

let's talk about the difference between anyhow  and anywho. Anywho is a slang replacement  

to anyhow, you can use it the exact same way  you use anyhow. Remember though, it's slang.  

Now notice the spelling because most commonly when  we use this in a text message, for example, it's  

spelled anyhoo. That's because we're borrowing  from the word how, and we're just changing  

it slightly to hoo. So you may see it written as  anywho, but it's more commonly written as anyhoo.  

In pronunciation, there's no difference at all.  Anyhoo is a fun, light hearted, casual way to say  

anyhow. But keep in mind that it isn't commonly  used. Remember, I said that anyways, even though  

it's slang, is used 50% of the time. That's not  the same with anyhoo. Anyhoo isn't very common.  

And some native speakers, depending on the region  they're from, they might not even know what it is  

and they may think you just made a mistake and  you meant to say anyhow. So because it isn't  

very commonly used, and because it's slang, I  don't recommend using it. Now you know how to  

use anyway, anyways, anyhow and anywho. Are you  ready for your quiz? Here are your questions.  

Hit pause, take as much time as you need and  when you're ready, hit play for the answers.  

Let's see how well you did on that quiz. Here are  your answers. So hit pause, review these answers,  

compare them to your own and  when you're done, hit play.  

So how did you do with that quiz? Share your  score in the comments below. And remember,  

you can download the PDF that summarizes  everything from this lesson so you can  

practice it and review it. So the link to  download the PDF is right there. You can  

go there and download it anytime. And if you  found this video helpful, please hit the like  

button share it with your friends and of course  subscribe. And until next time happy studying!