Whentime

conjunction WHEN-time ˈwɛntaɪm

Also spelled wentaim, when time

When; at the time that — a single-word conjunction formed from 'when' plus 'time', used to introduce a clause about the moment something happens. 'Whentime him reach' means when he arrives, and 'whentime rain fall' is when it rains. The fused form is characteristic of the way Patois builds compact, expressive words out of everyday parts, and it does the plain grammatical work of anchoring one event to the time of another in the flow of ordinary speech.

  • Whentime yuh ready, call mi.

    When you're ready, call me.

  • Whentime rain fall, di river swell.

    When rain falls, the river swells.

  • Mi did deh deh whentime it happen.

    I was there when it happened.

A fusion of 'when' and 'time' into a single conjunction — a common Patois pattern of compressing 'when the time that'.

Functions exactly like 'when' introducing a time clause; one word in Patois.