French dictionary
pourquoi/puʁ.kwa/
adverb · A1 · Frequency 127
adverb
Meanings
why
Used as an interrogative adverb to ask for reasons or causes.
Examples
Pourquoi as-tu changé de décision au dernier moment ?
Why did you change your decision at the last moment?
Je me demande pourquoi Paul n'est pas venu au rendez-vous.
I wonder why Paul did not come to the appointment.
Pourquoi faut-il remplir ce formulaire avant de commencer ?
Why do we have to fill out this form before starting?
Collocations
- pourquoi paswhy not
Common mistakes
Je ne sais pas pourquoi est-il parti.
Je ne sais pas pourquoi il est parti.
In an indirect question, the current lemma pourquoi is followed by normal statement word order, not the inversion used in a direct question.
Related words
synonympour quelle raisonfor what reason
synonymen quoiin what way (to elicit causal explanation)
antonymparce quebecause