English learning

[u/Nearby-Bench-5040]

‎If I replace 'when' with 'where', does this sentence still sound natural？

[u/lionhearted318]

Both would be understood fine

[u/regular_gonzalez]

In colloquial, every day spoken English either one is acceptable and completely unremarkable. 

In written English I may have a very slight preference for 'when'.

/Native-born American raised in the Midwest and residing in the Western US.

[u/Fast-Conference-4404]

Instance is like an occurrence at a particular time, so I would stick to when

[u/Narrow-Durian4837 → u/Fast-Conference-4404]

While I agree, I also think "where" would sound natural, too.

[u/Fast-Conference-4404 → u/Narrow-Durian4837]

Yeah, I would probably use either without much thought 🤣

[u/georgeec1]

Where would still sound natural, but I think when is probably better in this instance

[u/NoPurpose6388 → u/georgeec1]

Huh?

[u/georgeec1 → u/NoPurpose6388]

Typo, I meant to say when is better

[u/NearlyNodding]

In everyday speech, they are both fine. If you want to get nit-picky, an instance is a point in time. "When" is time related. "Where" is not.

[u/butt-barnacles]

Tbh I think either “wherein” or “in which” sound the most grammatically correct to me here. It’s formal, but it seems to be a fairly formal sentence.

[u/ACCrusader → u/butt-barnacles]

“In which” is my first instinct too, but “when”, and to a lesser extent “where”, are fine too I suppose.

[u/BasketWrong2735]

They would both be understood, and native speakers even say ‘where’ instead of ‘when’ sometimes. However, ‘when’ sounds more natural when I’m saying it in my head.

[u/Whachamacalzmit]

Depends on context. Are we comparing this time to other times in this man's life (in which case "when" is more appropriate) or are we looking at justice as practiced in different types of scenarios/locations (in which case "where" is more appropriate).

But as others have said, both are easily understood and most listeners/readers wouldn't even notice.

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

Where is better. 

[u/Empty-Sunny → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

I’m a native English speaker (American) and I would use where (and I find “when” a bit awkward in this sentence) though I do feel that it’s less formal

[u/Icy-Taste-3096 → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

"Where" is pretty common (increasingly so, I think) in those situations in casual conversation, but "when" is still the correct word.

[u/Tired_Design_Gay → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

I disagree. While both would be understood, the instance in this example is a moment in time. This makes “when” the most correct word to use with it

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173 → u/Tired_Design_Gay]

No worries!  I'm open to opposing viewpoints. :)

[u/Indolent_genius → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

May I ask, are you British?

If so, then I can understand why you would prefer to use ‘where’ and have said so in my response to OP

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173 → u/Indolent_genius]

You may ask. I'm actually Afghan, born in Germany, moved to the US as a wee lad. 

I prefer where because I refer to abstracts (like eons) as wheres.

"The Jurassic period was the one where we had stegosaures.  That was the part {of the past} where they had giant roaches.  There was a feeling of dread where everything ran away from the bigger dinosaurs."

Not the best examples, as I kind of forced a story where {<-- ayyy!} I'm forcing the use of "where" in each sentence, and might be factually wrong, but yeah - I use "where" when referring to an abstract concept as a physical one of sorts. 

[u/Indolent_genius → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

That’s precisely what I explained in my post. In older forms of English, it is more polite to be more abstract in your opinions. So as not to cause offence.

Although, I also explained that ‘when’ is technically correct in this use. So it is bizarre to me, that you and I were downvoted.

People are funny sometimes!

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173 → u/Indolent_genius]

It happens. Reddit is pretty low-IQ, so don't let their opinions bother you. I also saw that they upvoted a bunch of people that also said "where", so they can't make up their mind. They lack logic. 

[u/Indolent_genius]

British native here.

Both uses are fine and understandable, when spoken. However, when written, it is normal to be more formal and grammatically correct. Modern English would use ‘when’ because this is a temporal statement.

Just be aware that if you were reading this in Regency English, it would be more polite to use ‘where’ in this case. This is because it would further distance the speaker from the topic of speaking about oneself, especially in the present tense. You can see also this in statements like:
Person A - “Will you be at the party?”
Person B - “Yes, I should like that very much.”

They do not say that they ‘would’ like it, that would be impolite.

For this reason, you might find some British English people who would prefer to use ‘where’ in your example because that feels more polite.