Skip to content

pourquoi

why

adverb poor-KWAH Common

Usage Note

Pourquoi literally fuses pour (for) and quoi (what) into 'for what', and answers pair it with parce que (because). Turned into a noun, le pourquoi means the reason, and le pourquoi du comment is a playful way to say the whys and wherefores.

Examples

"Pourquoi tu ris ?"

Natural Translation

Why are you laughing?

Literal Translation

Why you laugh?

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic