Why did the man turn on the TV ?
Why the man turned on the TV ?
Sometimes, I guess, I hear or see these two constructions, so what is the difference ? Does the second is more often in sopken language ? And do both of them are formal ?
Thank you
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Gamal Thomas
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1The second is ungrammatical and both are badly punctuated. – Mick Oct 29 '16 at 11:26
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As for the second sentence, do you think it maybe used in spoken language ? – Gamal Thomas Oct 29 '16 at 11:39
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1In some kind of patois, perhaps, but definitely not in normal conversation. – Mick Oct 29 '16 at 11:44
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"Why the man turned on the TV ?" would only be spoken by someone who does not have English as a first language. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 30 '16 at 03:18
2 Answers
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When asking questions with interrogatory words (Who, What, When, Where, Why, How), we use a helper verb with the bare infinitive. The plain tensed verb is not used.
Why did he turn on the TV?
Why he turned on the TV? ungrammatical
Why do you go into the city?
Why you go into the city? ungrammatical
We can also use the participle:
Why was the man turning on the TV?
Why are you going into the city?
P.S. Hundreds of years ago, the situation was different, and an English speaker could ask a question without a helper verb and using a different word order:
Why go you into the city? archaic
What said he about their misfortune? archaic
TimR
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BUT: I ask why you go into the city. He is asking why he turned on the TV. These are OK in indirect speech. – Lambie Oct 29 '16 at 14:25
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@Lambie: Yes, but the original question is about asking a question, not about making a statement about a question. – TimR Oct 29 '16 at 15:08
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Why did the man turn on the TV?
Why the man turned on the TV.
The first sentence is a direct question. It's complete and correct grammatically.
The second sentence is part of an indirect question. As a complete indirect question, you can, for example, say:
I wonder why the man turned on the TV.
Could you tell me why the man turned the TV on?
I want to know why the man turned on the TV.
Khan
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