How do you use the word "why" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "why": Why do you ask? Thanks for having explained to me at last why people take me for an idiot.

Why Meaning

/ˈwaɪ̯/

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

advFor what cause, reason, or purpose.

advFor what cause, reason, or purpose., Introducing a complete question.

Sentence Examples

Why do you ask?

Thanks for having explained to me at last why people take me for an idiot.

Knowing why and how corporations award contracts is vitally important.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The teacher asked the student ____ he had not completed his math homework by the due date.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

Please tell me the reason ____ you were late for the important meeting earlier this very bright and sunny morning today.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷís (“who”), *kʷid (“what”). Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field." — 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

"Within months of leaving, she became the new owner of Dream Body Recovery in Miami, which has three rooms that can accommodate up to six clients. “Being a part of this journey with other ladies, knowing how it changed my life, that’s my why,” she told me." — 2022 May 11, Sandra E. Garcia, “Butt Lifts Are Booming. Healing Is No Joke.”, in The New York Times Magazine:

"VVhy Child, I tell thee if I vvas thy Mmother I ſhould not diſovvn thee; Don't you ſee I am as kind to you as if I vvas your Mother?" — 1724, [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunate Mistress; […] [Roxana], London: […] E. Applebee, […], published 1740, →OCLC, page 242:

"Suddenly she put her hand out to feel Helen, and felt the pin curlers. “Why, you’ve got curlers on!”" — 1956, Daphne Athas, chapter XV, in The Fourth World: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 158:

"Why indeed? But once you start whying, there's no end to it." — 1930, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Assorted Articles, London: Martin Secker, page 11:

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