When example sentences
Related (11): whenever, while, during, once, before, after, until, since, whereas, if, then
"When" Example Sentences
Common Phrases
- when the time comes
- when you think about it
- when it comes to
- when all is said and done
- when push comes to shove
- when least expected
- when the dust settles
- when in doubt
- when you get a chance
- when life gives you lemons
- when the going gets tough
- when I was younger
- when you're ready
- when the moment is right
Examples by Level
A1
- When I eat ice cream, I am happy.
- My friend came to my house when it was raining.
- When do you go to school?
A2
- I didn't know what to say when she told me she was leaving.
- The best part of my day is when I finish work and go home.
- When we were kids, we used to play in the park every afternoon.
B1
- I realized how much I missed them only when they moved away.
- There's something strange about how quiet everything gets when it snows.
- When you're stressed, you don't always make the best decisions — I learned that the hard way.
B2
- The irony wasn't lost on me: when I finally stopped trying so hard, everything fell into place.
- She had this habit of changing the subject whenever things got uncomfortable — I noticed it most when we talked about her family.
- When people ask if I regret it, I honestly don't know how to answer anymore.
C1
- There's a particular vulnerability that emerges when you admit to someone that you were wrong.
- The most interesting conversations happen when nobody's trying to impress anyone else.
- What strikes me most about that period is how, when you're living through it, you have no idea it's going to define you.
C2
- When grief finally loosens its grip, you don't notice it happening — you just realize one day that you've been breathing normally again.
- There's a kind of clarity that comes only when you've exhausted every other option and have nothing left but the truth.
- The peculiar thing about regret is that when you examine it closely enough, it often reveals something you needed to learn.
Examples by Scenario
🏠 Everyday Life
- I always check my phone when I wake up, even though nothing important ever happens before 9 AM.
- The dog goes absolutely mental when the mail carrier shows up — I can hear him from three houses away.
- When my neighbor asked to borrow sugar, I realized I hadn't actually talked to her in two years.
💼 Workplace
- The meeting ran forty minutes over, which is exactly when I remembered I had another call scheduled.
- My coworker sends emails at midnight and expects responses when she gets in the next morning.
- When the boss said we were 'restructuring,' everyone knew what that actually meant.
📊 Business
- Sales spike dramatically when we run the holiday campaign, but we still haven't figured out the exact ROI.
- The client's brand loyalty tanked when a competitor undercut them by 15 percent.
- When we shifted to a subscription model, retention improved but customer acquisition costs doubled.
🛒 Buying / Shopping
- I always end up spending more than I planned when I go to the grocery store hungry.
- The reviews say the product is great, but when you actually read them, half are from people who returned it.
- When I saw the price tag, I put it back immediately — no way I'm paying that much for a coffee maker.
✈️ Travel
- The flight attendant told me to put my phone away when we were still on the ground, which seemed a bit early.
- I booked the hotel without checking the location, and when I arrived, it was nowhere near the city center.
- When you travel alone, you learn pretty quickly whether you actually like your own company.
📚 Education
- The teacher explained the concept three times, and I still didn't get it until when she used a real-world example.
- My son asked me for help with his homework, and when I tried to explain it, I realized I'd forgotten everything.
- When students actually care about the subject, the whole classroom energy changes.
❤️ Relationships
- I knew something was wrong when he stopped making jokes about the little things.
- When she finally told me what was bothering her, I felt terrible for not asking sooner.
- We laughed harder than we had in months when we ran into our old friends completely by accident.
📰 News / Politics
- The story broke when the journalist released the documents, and suddenly everyone was talking about it.
- Polling numbers shift dramatically when a major scandal surfaces, but the effect usually fades within weeks.
- When the government announced the new policy, environmental groups immediately filed a lawsuit.
💻 Technology
- The app crashed right when I was about to submit my payment, which was incredibly frustrating.
- I realized how dependent I'd become on my phone when I left it at home for a day.
- When AI tools first became available, everyone was either terrified or obsessed — there was no middle ground.
📝 Formal Writing
- The study demonstrates that productivity increases significantly when employees have flexible work arrangements.
- When examining the data longitudinally, researchers observed a consistent pattern of decline across all measured variables.
- The legislation was enacted when public pressure reached a critical threshold, though implementation has faced considerable delays.