English Experts

[pondedaniel]

Know how to use both but just wondering if there's a specific rule for using them.

wanna take it a shot?

thanks for any inputs

Take care,

Teacher Pondé

[Genildo schuina]

"How come" differs from "why" in that the word order of the question is the same as that of a statement. Compare:

You didn't leave. (statement)
How come you didn't leave?
Why didn't you leave?

[donay mendonça]

Hi folks,


Have a look at the examples:

A)Why did you buy that?=How Come you bought that?

B)Why did you miss the movie?=How come you missed the movie?


Good luck!

[pondedaniel]

all righ guys but what I can't still find is about grammar..

anyway,

thanks for your time,

Teacher Pondé

[donay mendonça]

Hi Teacher Pondé,

Sorry,what did say again?

[maoliveira75]

According to Macmillan Dictionary, 'HOW COME' should be used in spoken language. So, I guess this can be one difference in the use between HOW COME and WHY. But I want to make a deeper research about this and I hope I can add something else here.

[donay mendonça]

It seems to me that you don´t need did when you use how come.

[timphillips]

Hi guys,

I think Donay got the grammar point right in the first reply. (The need for 'did' is a consequnce of that)
And Maoliveira75 is right about the spoken language `rule`

Tim

[donay mendonça]

Hi Tim,


Thank you!


God Bless you!