Grammar Grumble #2

As promised, here it is:

Friends--I say this lovingly--there is a difference between the word when and the word whenever!!

Whenever refers to repeated events or an uncertain date.

Whenever we go to to the store, we buy gumballs. (Repeated event--We buy gumballs every time we go to the store.)


When refers to a specific, one time event.

When I went to the store last week, I bought gumballs. (I don't buy gumballs every time I go to the store; I bought them on this one occasion.)


I find sentences like these, irksome:

Whenever I went to the store yesterday, I bought gumballs.

Whenever I was a kid, I rode the bus to school.

Can you tell what's wrong with those sentences???

And, yes, my fellow grammar snobs,  I know there are some instances in which when and whenever can be interchangeable, but that's not the point of this post. :-P