wherever

1. 1
   conjunction

   Regardless of the place in, at, or to which something happens; no matter where.

   Wherever the storm makes landfall, coastal towns will feel its effects.

   Wherever you stand on the issue, the facts deserve a fair hearing.

   Note

   The concessive use sets place aside as irrelevant, so the main statement holds no matter where. It differs from the "everywhere that" sense, which ranges over every place instead of dismissing the question. Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850) shows an older pattern, "wherever thou may'st roam," with a modal inside the clause. Today a plain verb serves: Wherever you go, I'll find you.

2. 2
   conjunction

   In, at, or to any place where something happens or is the case; anywhere.

   Volunteers delivered supplies wherever flooding had cut off road access.

   Plant the seeds wherever the soil drains well.

   Similarwhere

3. 3
   conjunction

   In, at, or to all places or situations that; everywhere something occurs.

   Wherever the river bends, sediment collects along the inner bank.

   He made friends wherever he was stationed during his years of service.

   Note

   Here the clause sweeps over every case at once. In 'I see mistakes wherever I look,' it means each time and place I look, not one chosen spot. That universal reading separates it from the 'anywhere' meaning, where any single place would do. It also reaches past geography into circumstances, as in 'we help wherever we can.' A quick test is whether everywhere could stand in its place.

4. 4
   adverb

   The place, whatever it may be, in, at, or to which something happens or is located.

   Investigators traced the signal to wherever the device had last been powered on.

   Wherever she calls home these days is a mystery to her old neighbors.

   Similarwhere

   Note

   Grammarians call this a fused relative: the antecedent and the relative word are merged into one, so the word means "the place where" and its clause behaves like a noun phrase. That is why it can sit after a preposition, as in back from wherever he's been hiding or home to wherever you belong. Normally only a noun fills that slot.

5. 5
   adverbcolloquial

   In or to any place at all, just as one pleases.

   We don't have assigned seats, so sit wherever.

   He tosses his keys wherever when he gets home, then can't find them in the morning.

   Similaranywhere

   Note

   A clipped, casual use in which the clause that would normally follow has been dropped: put it wherever, sit wherever. It can even stand alone as a whole reply, as in "Where do you want to have lunch?" "Wherever; I don't mind." That one word works as a verbal shrug. In careful writing, restore the missing clause (wherever you like).

   "Where should we meet?" "Wherever. I'm flexible."

   Just leave the boxes wherever.

6. 6
   conjunction

   Used, typically after a place name, to indicate that the speaker does not know where the place is.

   The package shipped from Kuala Terengganu, wherever that is.

   My nephew is studying abroad in Tartu, wherever that may be.

7. 7
   adverbinterrogative

   An emphatic form of 'where,' used in questions to express surprise or puzzlement.

   Wherever did she learn to bake like that?

   Wherever could I have left my glasses?

   Similarwhere

   Note

   Here ever works as an intensifier, not as a word about time. The form is simply where + ever, and in a question like "Wherever have you been all my life?" the ever adds surprise or exasperation. It does not mean "at any time." Because of that origin, the question form can also be written open, where ever, with the two parts kept visible.

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