About 50 results
Open links in new tab
  1. Where does the use of "why" as an interjection come from?

    Mar 18, 2011 · "why" can be compared to an old Latin form qui, an ablative form, meaning how. Today "why" is used as a question word to ask the reason or purpose of something. This use might be …

  2. Can "why" be a conjunction? - English Language & Usage Stack …

    Nov 27, 2018 · Why is a just a rather odd wh -word. Its distribution is very limited -- it can only have the word reason as its antecedent, and since it's never the subject it's always deletable. Consequently it …

  3. Difference between how and why - English Language & Usage Stack …

    Mar 22, 2023 · The questions How? and Why? only have similar answers where the reason for something is the cause. This is the case for a question like "Why is the boy so big?" — he has eaten …

  4. "Why ...?" vs. "Why is it that ... ?" - English Language & Usage Stack ...

    I don't know why, but it seems to me that Bob would sound a bit strange if he said, "Why is it that you have to get going?" in that situation.

  5. "Why it is" vs "Why is it" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Nov 7, 2013 · 8 1) Please tell me why is it like that. [grammatically incorrect unless the punctuation is changed. Please tell me: Why is it like that? The question: "Why is [etc.]" is a question form in …

  6. etymology - Why is muscle cramp called a “charley horse”? - English ...

    Aug 22, 2025 · The history told me nothing why an involuntary, extremely painful spasm, is named after a horse called Charley. Charley in the UK is often spelled Charlie, a diminutive of Charles, and it's …

  7. What part of speech is "why" in the following example?

    Feb 12, 2018 · In the sentence "Why is this here?", is "why" an adverb? What part of speech is "why?" I think it modifies the verb "is", so I think it is an adverb.

  8. Why do some people write text all in lower case?

    Nov 23, 2024 · So, why does she ever tweet with standard capitalization (and do so quite randomly and quite frequently)? In contrast to the other answers, my answer (typing in only lower case is simply …

  9. Why does English spelling use silent letters?

    Jan 16, 2011 · Why have a letter in a word when it’s silent in pronunciation, like the b in debt? Can anyone please clarify my uncertainty here?

  10. Why is it called hypochondria instead of hyperchondria?

    Aug 18, 2020 · Why is it called hypochondria instead of hyperchondria? [closed] Ask Question Asked 5 years, 6 months ago Modified 5 years, 6 months ago