Have you been wondering what the difference is between ‘anyway’ and ‘anyways’? Wondering which is most appropriate to use in your writing? You’ve got questions, and we’ve got answers. We’ll cover that plus teach you how to use the correct version in a sentence properly.
Don’t feel like skimming for the answer. The quick answer is that ‘anyways’ is the informal way to say ‘anyway.’ You might hear teenagers saying ‘anyways,’ but it shouldn’t be used in formal writing of any kind.
Should you use ‘anyway’ or ‘anyways’? As we’ve just discussed, both are okay to use.
However, some people might think because we added an ‘s’ that, ‘anyways’ is the plural of ‘anyway.’
But that’s not the case. In fact, this word doesn’t have a plural version.
You’ve just learned the difference between ‘anyway’ and ‘anyways,’ but what about ‘any way’?
You can use ‘anyway’ in your writing and ‘anyways’ in your daily life. But ‘any way’ is two separate words that could mean a number of different things.
Let’s quickly define the words, and then we’ll look at the definition and meaning of ‘anyway’ and ‘anyways.’
The definition of the phrase ‘any’ is: “one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind,” “one or another taken at random,” “every > used to indicate one selected without restriction,” and “one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity.”
It also means: “any person or persons: anyone,” “any thing or things,” “any part, quantity, or number,” and “to any extent or degree.”
Way means: “a thoroughfare for travel or transportation from place to place,” “an opening for passage,” “the course traveled from one place to another: route,” and “a course (such as a series of actions or sequence of events) leading in a direction or toward an objective,” “a course of action,” “opportunity, capability, or fact of doing as one pleases,” and “possible decision, action, or outcome: possibility.”
It also means: “manner or method of doing or happening,” “method of accomplishing: means,” “feature, respect,” “a usually specified degree of participation in an activity or enterprise,” “characteristic, regular, or habitual manner or mode of being, behaving, or happening,” “ability to get along well or perform well,” “the length of a course: distance,” “movement or progress along a course,” “direction,” “participant > usually used in combination,” “state of affairs: condition, state,” and “category, kind > usually used in the phrase in the way of.”
The adjective is defined as: “of, connected with, or constituting an intermediate point on a route.”
The adverb form of the word is defined as: “by a long distance: to a considerable degree or extent: far,” “by far: much,” “very,” and “all the way.”
The phrase ‘anyway’ can be defined as: “in any way whatever: anywise,” “in any case: without regard to other considerations: anyhow,” and “as an additional consideration or thought.”
Take a look at a few synonyms of the word:
Noun
Adverb
Now that you know more about both words let’s take a look at how to use them in a sentence correctly.
Here are a few examples of how to use them:
Remember, you can substitute one for the other and replace ‘anyway’ with ‘anyways’ in less formal writing.
Hopefully, we’ve cleared up the difference between ‘anyway’ and ‘anyways,’ which is not much. You can use the terms interchangeably. However, the version with an ‘s’ is usually informal.
If you’re ever unsure about which to use, you can always come back here.
You can also browse our library of content. We’ve got a ton of articles that helps clear up common confusing words and phrases in the English language.
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