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The bank that never closed: no matter what, whenever and the other -ever words

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches no matter what, whenever and the other -ever words through the first ATM in the United States, which opened on Long Island in 1969.

Grammar
Five -ever words and their no matter partners (whenever = no matter when), with statement order after them (no matter what time it is) and the present for the future.
Topic
Why bankers' hours made lines long and how Don Wetzel's team built a cash dispenser, with words such as withdraw, teller, keypad and around the clock.
Activities
An explainer to read, an office bet and a reader's memo to hear, self-checking drills, a bank's help chat and boxes about cash.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: cash, card or phone?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: banks and machinesVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2The bank that never closed (except for two days)

    • Look at the photo: a line at the bankPictureUnlock
    • Read Harper's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock

  3. Chapter 3The great cash debate

    • Listen to Harper and IsaiahListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Mavis's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: no matter what time it is

    • Study the scheme: no matter what time it isGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionTry it
    • Fill in the gaps: change no matter to an -ever wordFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: what does it mean?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: whatever you think

    • Choose the right replies: ask your bank's help chatChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: will cash disappear?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: change the -ever word to no matterFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: two ways to say itFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: what does it mean?QuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a notice from the bankDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Isaiah answers MavisChoose the optionUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Money vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • vault
  • mixed reaction
  • magnetic stripe
  • keypad
  • slot
  • cardboard
  • tangle
  • around the clock
  • cashless

Grammar: -ever words and no matter

Whenever, wherever, whatever, whoever and however say “it doesn't matter when, where, what, who or how”: the rest of the sentence stays true. A cash machine that worked at any hour is a natural home for whenever you need cash. Each word has a partner with no matter, and after both comes an ordinary clause with no do.

Whenever you need cash… No matter what time it is…

-ever words and no matter + what / where / when / who / how say “it doesn't matter which time, place, thing, person or way”: the rest of the sentence stays true.

Five -ever words and their no matter partners

Whenever = no matter when, wherever = no matter where, and the same for what, who and how. Whatever and no matter what can take a noun: whatever time. However + adjective means “no matter how”: However late it is, you can get cash.

Five words, two forms

-ever word= no matter …MeaningExample
wheneverno matter whenat any time, every timeWhenever you need cash, the machine is there.
whereverno matter wherein any placeWherever I go, I pay with my phone.
whateverno matter whatany thing; + noun: any (whatever time)I carry cash whatever happens. No matter what time it is, it's open.
whoeverno matter whoany personNo matter who you are, the machine works the same.
howeverno matter howin any way; + adjective: it doesn't matter how (late, busy…)However you pay, keep the receipt. However late it is, you can get cash.

After the word: a normal sentence

-ever word / no matter + what, where, when, who, how(noun or adjective)subject + verbthe main part

No matter what time it is, the machine is open.

However late it is, you can withdraw cash.

Harper carries cash whatever happens.

Statement order, with no do

What follows the word is a normal clause, subject first: no matter what time it is, not what time is it; whatever you need, not whatever do you need; no matter how busy you are, not how busy are you.

Statement order, no do

After an -ever word or no matter + what / where / how…, use normal statement order, with no do / does / did: no matter what time it is (not: what time is it), whatever you need (not: whatever do you need), no matter how busy you are (not: how busy are you).

The present for the future

As after when and if, the verb stays in the present for the future: Wherever you go next summer, take a card, not wherever you will go; Whatever happens, we'll finish. And no matter takes a question word, never of.

The present for the future

As after when and if, use the present, not will, for the future: Wherever you go next summer, take a card. (Not: Wherever you will go.) Whatever happens, we'll finish. (Not: Whatever will happen.) And it's always no matter what / where / how, never no matter of.

When only the -ever word works

At the start of an extra part of the sentence, both forms are right: Whenever you come = No matter when you come. But as a subject or object, only the -ever word fits: Whoever gets a card is a trusted customer. Take whatever you need.

-ever word or no matter?

At the start of an extra part of the sentence, both are right: Whenever you come = No matter when you come. But when the word is the subject or the object of the main verb, only the -ever word works: Whoever gets a card is a trusted customer. Take whatever you need. (Not: No matter who gets a card is…)

At The Why Desk

  • Whenever customers needed cash, the machine was there.
  • No matter what time it was, the machine in the wall was open.
  • Isaiah pays with his phone wherever he goes.
  • Whoever got one of the first cards was a customer the bank trusted.
  • However you look at it, phones are faster.
  • Cash works no matter where you are.

Common mistakes

Four slips to catch: No matter what time is it (question order), Take whatever do you need (an extra do), No matter of the weather (say no matter what the weather is like) and Wherever you will travel (say wherever you travel).

  • No matter what time is it, the machine is open.

    No matter what time it is, the machine is open.

    statement order: it is

  • Take whatever do you need.

    Take whatever you need.

    no do / does / did

  • No matter of the weather, I carry cash.

    No matter what the weather is like, I carry cash.

    no matter + what / where / how…, never of

  • Wherever you will travel, take some cash.

    Wherever you travel, take some cash.

    the present for the future

Try the whenever and no matter exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 19 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say that something is true at any time or place: Whenever you need cash, the machine is there. Wherever I go, I pay with my phone.
  • use no matter + what, where, when, who or how in statement order: No matter what time it is, it's open, not what time is it
  • keep the verb in the present for the future: Wherever you travel next summer, take some cash, not wherever you will travel
  • use only the -ever word as a subject or object: Whoever gets a card is a trusted customer. Take whatever you need.
  • argue about a cashless future: However you look at it, phones are faster. Cash works no matter where you are.

Lesson 21 opens Money and smart choices, unit 6 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. Its statement order after what, where and how comes from the indirect questions of B1.1 lesson 3 and the reported questions of B1.2 lesson 15, and its present for the future from B1.1 lessons 11 and 32. Lesson 22 turns to should have and could have. A bank that promised never to close is a natural setting for no matter what time it is.

Students spin a wheel of questions about cash, cards and phones, then learn twelve words, from withdraw and teller to magnetic stripe and cashless, with pictures and audio. They read Harper's explainer on the machine Don Wetzel's team built, then hear Harper and Isaiah bet on whether cash will disappear and Mavis, a reader from Long Island, speak up for her mother's weekly chat with a teller; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a column sort of what each word means. Then students ask a bank's help chat about cash for a trip and open boxes about cash.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game on the money words; new sentences with forms to choose, -ever words to change into no matter, a table with both forms and a quiz on meaning; then a notice from a bank branch with words to drag in and Isaiah's newsletter answer to Mavis.

Grammar:
-ever words · whenever, wherever, whatever, whoever, however · no matter what, where, when, who, how · statement word order after question words
Topic:
the first ATM in the United States · Don Wetzel · Rockville Centre, New York · cash machines · money and banks · cash or cashless · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Ask what “bankers' hours” meant before the reading: most banks opened from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. Students guess how people got cash on a Saturday night, then read to check.
  • Rebuild questions as no matter clauses on the board: What time is it? becomes no matter what time it is. Students underline the subject and the verb and watch them swap places.
  • Play the office bet twice: first to find out who pays by phone and who always carries a twenty, then to collect every -ever word: wherever I go, whatever happens, whoever loses.
  • End with Isaiah's twenty-year bet: will cash disappear? Each student gives one reason that starts with Whatever…, No matter how… or Wherever…, and the class votes.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21 · you're hereThe bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23Benjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

What does “no matter what” mean?
No matter what means “it doesn't matter what”: whatever the thing is, the result stays the same. No matter what time it is, the machine is open says the hour changes nothing. At the end of a sentence it can stand alone and mean “in every case”: I'll be there, no matter what. The B2 lesson The bank that never closed on edio.ai teaches it with the first ATM in the United States.
How do you use no matter with what, where, when, who and how?
Put no matter + the question word before an ordinary clause, with the subject before the verb, as in a statement: No matter where you are, cash works. No matter how busy you are, call us. Leave out do, does and did, and use the present even about the future. The scheme in The bank that never closed on edio.ai sets each no matter form beside its -ever word.
What are some examples of whenever, wherever and no matter?
Five from The bank that never closed on edio.ai: Whenever customers needed cash, the machine was there. No matter what time it was, the machine in the wall was open. Isaiah pays with his phone wherever he goes. However you look at it, phones are faster. Cash works no matter where you are. Each one keeps statement order after the word, and each could be said the other way.
What's the difference between whatever and no matter what?
At the start of an extra part of a sentence, they mean the same: Whatever happens = No matter what happens. The difference shows when the word is the subject or object of the main verb: Take whatever you need is right, but Take no matter what you need isn't. Whoever works the same way: Whoever gets a card is a trusted customer. The bank that never closed on edio.ai drills both cases.
Is it “no matter what time is it” or “no matter what time it is”?
It's no matter what time it is: after no matter + a question word, the subject comes before the verb. The same rule fixes whatever do you need (say whatever you need) and no matter how busy are you (say how busy you are). The wrong replies in the help chat of The bank that never closed on edio.ai include slips like these, plus wherever I will go and no matter of.
When and where did the first ATM in the US open?
Most sources say Tuesday, September 2, 1969, at a Chemical Bank branch in Rockville Centre, a village on Long Island, New York. The machine was set into the bank's outside wall and worked around the clock, but it only gave out cash: you couldn't deposit money or check a balance. It wasn't the world's first, since a London bank says it opened a cash machine in June 1967. The bank that never closed on edio.ai tells the story.
Who invented the ATM?
No single person. Don Wetzel led the team at Docutel, a Texas company, and in his own account the idea came while he stood in a slow teller line to cash a check. But the US patent, granted in 1973, names three inventors: Thomas R. Barnes, George R. Chastain and Wetzel. Others built cash machines at about the same time, too. Harper's explainer in The bank that never closed on edio.ai weighs the credit.
How do I teach no matter and -ever words to B2 students?
Start from a situation where nothing changes the result, such as a machine open at any hour, and pair each -ever word with its no matter form. Then fix the word order: What time is it? turns into no matter what time it is. The bank that never closed on edio.ai moves from Harper's explainer and an office bet to the scheme, a choice of correct forms and four more drills.
What's a good game for practicing whenever and no matter?
Try “Still true”: one student names a habit (I drink coffee every morning), and the next adds an -ever or no matter clause that keeps it true: …no matter how late I wake up, …wherever I am. Whoever gets stuck starts a new habit. For speaking, the boxes in The bank that never closed on edio.ai ask questions such as Whenever you travel, what do you always take with you?
What's good homework for -ever words and no matter?
Good homework asks for both forms of the same idea: change wherever into no matter where, fill a table with both, and choose between whatever you need and whatever do you need. All ten homework tasks in The bank that never closed on edio.ai check themselves, ending with a notice from a neighborhood bank branch and Isaiah's reply to a reader who defends cash.
How do you practice no matter one-to-one?
Trade habits that never change: the teacher asks What do you always do, whatever the weather is like? or Where do you take your phone?, and the student answers with an -ever word or no matter, then asks back. The chat in The bank that never closed on edio.ai needs no partner: the student asks a bank's help chat about getting cash on a trip to Chicago and Denver.
Are there interactive exercises for no matter and -ever words?
Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of The bank that never closed, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Harper and Isaiah's bet about cash, a drill that picks the correct -ever form and a chat with a bank's help desk. Signing up opens the other chapters.
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