Why Something Instead of Nothing?
Why Something New?
Why Dog in the Wind?
- why thing in the back of my throat?
- Why everything on zero?
I looked up "Why" in my dictionary, but I could not figure out how it was used. Please let me know usage of"why"
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1Your questions are not clear. None of the phases you give are sentences: they do not contain verbs. You need to explain exactly what you are asking and to give the context.– Ronald SoleMay 5, 2017 at 11:26
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The sentences are not grammatically correct, but why here seems to mean exactly what it normally means: "What is the reason for ____ ?"– stangdonMay 5, 2017 at 11:55
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@ stangdon Oh thank you. If so, is the following sentence also grammatically wrong? "why the word up in call up a friend?"– LamiMay 5, 2017 at 12:06
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@Lami - That sentence is also not correct because it does not contain a verb. I think it should be "Why is the word..." or "Why do we say the word..."– stangdonMay 5, 2017 at 12:12
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@stangdon- Thank you very much. I was confused with this sentence in the introduction text of "Richard Spears-Essential Phrasal Verbs Dictionary", but now the question has been solved.– LamiMay 5, 2017 at 12:22
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1 Answer
The "sentences" you quote are so much part of everyday English, that they could be considered idiomatic.
However parts of them, including the main verb (often "is/are*) have been elided. Hence the argument that they cannot be sentences, "because they do not contain a verb".
Why (have you bought) something new?
Why (is) everything on zero?
In Why the fuss?, the elision is not as straightforward. What is being said is Why (is there) a fuss (being made)? But the article has changed from indefinite to definite.
