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classification 2 min read

what type of word is when

Word class of 'when': category test with relevant roles and examples

A closer look

Does when point to a time or link clauses?

  • Interrogative adverb: answers like at noon: When did she call?

  • Relative adverb: modifies a noun: the day when we met.

  • Conjunction: fronts freely: When I finished, they were glad.

The day when we met is a relative clause, and the fronting test shows why. The clause stays tied to the noun day: you cannot move it to the front of the sentence and still have English, the way you can with When I finished, they were glad. A clause introduced by a conjunction is independent of any noun, so it fronts freely; a relative clause cannot, which is what makes when here a relative adverb.

Subordinating conjunction

Does when point to a time, or does it link clauses? If it asks for a time or points back to a time noun, it is an adverb. If it joins a dependent clause to a main clause, as in They were glad when I finished, it is a conjunction.

  • Interrogative adverb: it asks for a time, and the answer is an adverbial like at noon: When did she call?

  • Relative adverb: it follows a time noun such as day, year, or moment and the clause acts like an adjective describing that noun: I remember the day when we met.

  • Subordinating conjunction: it opens a dependent time clause that can move freely, and the clause says when the main action happens: They were glad when I finished.

Ambiguous pair: in the day when we met, when modifies the noun day, so the clause is stuck to the noun. In they were glad when I finished, the clause is adverbial. The refinement is fronting: When I finished, they were glad works; When we met, I remember the day does not. Frontable clause, conjunction; fixed clause, relative adverb.

Subordinating conjunction detail: Collins groups when with everyday subordinators such as while, whenever and as soon as. A quick confirmation for this role: move the whole clause to the front with only a pause added, as in When I finished, they were glad, and the conjunction use is confirmed.

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when as an adverb

Use *when* to tie an action to the time it happens. The essential condition: *when* needs a complete sentence beside it. Write *We left when the rain stopped*; *We left when the rain stopped* works because both parts are full clauses. If your draft stops at *When the rain stopped*, it's incomplete, so add a main clause such as *We left*. ## What your sentence says When you write *when*, you're telling the reader that one action happened at the moment of another. *We left when the rain stopped* communicates that leaving and the rain stopping happened at the same point in time. If you only want to give the time without linking two events, an adverb like *yesterday* or a phrase like *at noon* usually fits better. ## Referring to the future In references to the future, the *when*-clause takes the present simple or the present perfect, not *shall* or *will*: *I'll call you when I arrive*, or *I'll call you when I've finished*. Writing *I'll call you when I will arrive* is a typical error. This applies when *when* means 'at that time' in a future reference. ## One decision-changing qualifier When *when* introduces a question instead, it stands alone as an adverb and doesn't need a second clause: *When did you arrive?* is complete by itself. If your sentence is asking for a time, you're not writing the clause-linking use above, so the complete-sentence condition doesn't apply. Pick a sentence you're working on and decide whether it's asking for a time or linking an action to a time. Which one is it? - If you're linking two events, check that both sides of *when* are complete clauses and keep future references in the present simple or present perfect. - If you're asking for a time, *when* stands alone and your sentence is already complete. Once you've decided, rewrite your sentence so it follows the matching pattern, then read it aloud to confirm it sounds natural. For more practice with time expressions, a grammar reference's section on *when* as a conjunction is the next stop.

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