How come or why come

Posted by R. Berg on February 20, 2005

In Reply to: How come or why come posted by Ez Rider on February 20, 2005

: Hi,
: My friends an I had an argument the other day on whether it is appropriate to use "why come" in sentences where it might sound more appropriate than "how come" .

: Does anyone know for sure if it is grammatically correct to do that?

I haven't heard "why come." The traditional phrase is "how come." It makes sense as a shortened form of questions like "How did it come to be that Antarctica is covered with ice?"

• How come " why come" Smokey Stover 20/February/05
  • How come " why come" Brian from Shawnee 21/February/05
    • How come " why come" David FG 22/February/05