{"id":9091,"date":"2019-01-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?post_type=expressions&p=9091"},"modified":"2024-11-20T23:18:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T05:18:48","slug":"at-any-given-time","status":"publish","type":"expressions","link":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/expressions\/at-any-given-time\/","title":{"rendered":"At any given time"},"content":{"rendered":"

At any given time<\/h3>\n

What phrase should we do today? There were some hard words, not a whole lot of phrases. We already did \u201cshed light on,\u201d back in Episode 41. So if you want to learn more about \u201cshed light on,\u201d check out PlainEnglish.com\/41. How about this one? \u201cAt any given time.\u201d<\/p>\n

I used to think that the dark side of the moon was whichever side that was not facing us at any given time, but that\u2019s not exactly correct\u2014there is one side that is always facing away from the earth. Any given time, any given moment. The key word here is \u201cgiven\u201d and that key word\u2026well, it doesn\u2019t mean anything. It\u2019s just a way to emphasize <\/span> that you mean, at any moment, at any time, any random time, special or not special, any time, something could be true.<\/p>\n

At any given time, part of the moon is facing away from the earth. That means, at any time. Pick a time <\/span>, doesn\u2019t matter, part of the moon is facing away.<\/p>\n

Here are a few more examples\u2014and as you listen, remember that the word \u201cgiven\u201d isn\u2019t even necessary. It\u2019s just there for emphasis. Professional athletes <\/span> can be tested for drugs <\/span> on any given day. The league <\/span> sends a doctor by surprise <\/span> to take a blood or urine sample <\/span>\u2014it could be any day of the week, on any given day, they can be tested for drugs.<\/p>\n

On any given morning, there could be an accident on the highway <\/span> that causes me to be late <\/span> for work. It\u2019s not just Mondays; not just Wednesdays; certainly not just on weekdays or weekends. On any given morning, there could be an accident that makes me late. So I have to leave early if I have an important meeting. Just in case.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a movie called \u201cAny Given Sunday.\u201d And it\u2019s about professional football, which is played on Sundays here in the United States. You can watch the movie, but the main idea <\/span> is that, on any given Sunday, your team can win or lose. It doesn\u2019t matter if the other team is better\u2014you can win on any given Sunday. There\u2019s always the chance to win.<\/p>\n

Your dog might want to play with you at any given moment\u2014could be day or night, right? I\u2019m likely to be hungry at any given time of the day. Chicago is likely to be cold on any given day during the winter, and hot on any given day during the summer. At any given time now, there are thousands of satellites orbiting the earth <\/span> looking down at us, helping us with our GPS, taking pictures, giving us television, providing internet access, all kinds of stuff. At any given time, there are thousands of those things up there, circling the earth <\/span>.<\/p>\n

\n

The great thing about listening to podcasts is that there\u2019s always an episode available. At any given time, if you want to practice your English, just head to PlainEnglish.com and you can explore all the old episodes. You can go one-by-one using the URL, or just explore the topics by category <\/span> on the web site. That\u2019s all JR, by the way, he puts all the episodes into categories. And if an episode doesn\u2019t fit, he\u2019ll create a category for it. So if you like today\u2019s episode, check out the Science & Technology category on the web site. In any given category, there are plenty of episodes to explore.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019m excited for the next episode. Number 120, it\u2019s coming out on Monday. It\u2019s about the movie Roma on Netflix. So if you\u2019ve been wanting to see that one, watch it this weekend\u2014you won\u2019t regret it, and we\u2019ll talk about it together on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Use “at any given time” when something can happen at any moment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"terminology_category":[139],"lesson_number":[300],"keywords":[690,506,622],"content_tag":[],"level":[],"class_list":["post-9091","expressions","type-expressions","status-publish","hentry","terminology_category-expression","lesson_number-300","keywords-at","keywords-given","keywords-time"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen can you use 'at any given time'?<\/title>\n <!-- Mirrored from plainenglish.com/wp-json/wp/v2/expressions/9091 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:28:36 GMT --> <!-- Added by HTTrack --><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /><!-- /Added by HTTrack --> <meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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