ANYWAY

Good morning and welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you are doing well.  

Today we are going to explain another word that is common in spoken English.

Today's word is: anyway

It is used: to change the subject or to end a conversation.

Example 1:
Donald: [finishing a description] ... it was a great place to visit and I really recommend it. Anyway, have you made plans for your next holiday?
Liz: Well, I think I'll just stay here and relax.

The correct word is anyway, but in recent decades it has become very common for native speakers to say anyways.

Example 2:
Manager: Your comments on the new facilities are very interesting and I will take them into consideration. Anyways, I was talking about our trimester results. We need to improve in the following two areas...

A synonym for anyway is anyhow. We can use anyhow in the sentences above with the same meaning: "Anyhow, I was talking about our trimester results."

NOTE: Spelling is important! It is not the same to say anyway (one word) as any way (two words). Any way means any method or manner.

Example 3:
You can study English any way you would like; but if you want to learn, you have to do a little each day and be consistent.

Anyway has other meanings and uses (for example, despite or to say that something is not important), but we'll explain those meanings in another Daily Vitamin.

⇒ To get some English practice, I encourage you to write your own sentence with today's word. You can post your sentence or dialogue to one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky) and we will give you feedback about your writing ASAP.

I hope you have a pleasant day!