why: [OE] Why goes back to Indo-European *qwei, the locative case of the interrogative base *qwo- (source of English what and who). This passed into prehistoric Germanic as *khwī, which has since died out in all the Germanic languages apart from Danish (hvi) and English (why).
why (adv.)
Old English hwi, instrumental case (indicating for what purpose or by what means) of hw?t (see what), from Proto-Germanic adverb *hwi (cognates: Old Saxon hwi, Old Norse hvi), from PIE *kwi- (source of Greek pei "where"), locative of *kwo- "who" (see who). As an interjection of surprise or emphasis, recorded from 1510s. As a noun, "cause, reason" from c. 1300.
雙語例句
1. You flatter yourself. Why would we go to such ludicrous lengths?
你真自以為是。我們?yōu)槭裁匆M那么大的力氣？
來自柯林斯例句
2. Why are Geography, Drama, Art and English in the ascendant?
為什么地理、戲劇、藝術(shù)和英語逐漸受寵？
來自柯林斯例句
3. He wonders why the digits on his calculator slope to the right.
他不明白為什么他的計算器上面的數(shù)字向右傾斜。
來自柯林斯例句
4. Why not retrain for a job which will make you happier?
為什么不接受新的培訓(xùn)，找一份讓你更快樂的工作？
來自柯林斯例句
5. Why should a great community like a university be afraid of nihilism?