Why vs However - What's the difference?
why | however |
For what cause, reason, or purpose.
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* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= reason
An exclamation used to express indignation, mild surprise, or impatience. "Well, I'll tell you...".
* Daniel Defoe
(UK, dialect) A young heifer.
(lb) Nevertheless, nonetheless, even so, that said, in spite of this.
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*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however , understood him very well.
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, chapter=2, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (lb) To whatever degree.
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(lb) In whatever way.
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*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= In what way?; how?
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In whatever manner (that).
To whatever extent.
(proscribed) Although, though, but, yet.
As adverbs the difference between why and however
is that why is for what cause, reason, or purpose while however is (lb) nevertheless, nonetheless, even so, that said, in spite of this.As a noun why
is reason or why can be (uk|dialect) a young heifer.As an interjection why
is an exclamation used to express indignation, mild surprise, or impatience "well, i'll tell you".As a conjunction however is
in whatever manner (that).why
English
(wikipedia why)Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) . See (l).Adverb
(-)- Why is the sky blue?
- Why did you do that?
- I don’t know why he did that
- Tell me why the moon changes phase.
- Why spend money on something you already get for free?
- Why not tell him how you feel?
- Why''' him? '''Why not someone taller?
Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=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.}}
Synonyms
* how come, whereforeNoun
(en noun)- A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how .
Synonyms
* whereforeInterjection
(en interjection)- “Why , child, I tell thee if I was thy mother I would not disown thee; don't you see I am as kind to you as if I was your mother?”
Derived terms
* whyever * why in God's name * why not * why on Earth * whys and wherefores * why the Devil * why the dickens * why the fuckEtymology 2
Noun
(whies)- (Grose)
Statistics
*External links
* *however
English
(POS mixed up)Adverb
(-)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however , by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.}}
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however , has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
The tao of tech, passage=But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.}}
Usage notes
* (nevertheless) Strunk and White’s (The Elements of Style)'' argues that the adverb ''however , in its sense of nevertheless, should be avoided at the beginning of a sentence.Synonyms
* after all * but * nevertheless * nonetheless * notwithstanding * though * that said * still and allConjunction
(English Conjunctions)- Do it however you want.
- However far he may get, there'll be many that get further.
- However much you prepare for the exam, there will still be a few questions on which you won't be sure of the answer.
Usage notes
*(although) The use of however'' as a conjunction meaning "but" is identical to its use as a clause-initial adverb meaning "nevertheless", except in punctuation (when written) and in prosody (when spoken). Hence, the following proscribed sentence:
(proscribed) ''He told me not to do it, however''' I did it.''
is equivalent to the following accepted one:
(accepted) ''He told me not to do it; '''however , I did it.''
In particular, when used as a conjunction in this sense, ''however always appears between the clauses it connects; it does not introduce a true subordinate clause that can be moved to the start of an independent clause, because a conjunctive adverb cannot do that.
Statistics
*References
* * * * "however (degree)" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * "
however (despite)" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * "
however (way)" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) * Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)