Definify.com

Definition 2024

how_come

how come

English

Adverb

(idiomatic, informal) Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose?
How come you didn't leave when you had the chance?

Usage notes

"How come" differs from "why" in that the word order of the question is the same as that of a statement. Compare:

You didn't leave. (statement)

How come you didn't leave?

Why didn't you leave?

Translations

why

Afrikaans: hoekom
Chinese:
Mandarin: 為什麼 (zh), 为什么 (zh) ‎(wèishénme)
Czech: proč (cs), jak to, že (cs)
Dutch: hoe komt het dat, waarom (nl), {t|nl|hoe kom}}
Esperanto: kial (eo)
Finnish: miksi (fi)
French: comment se fait-il que, comment se fait-ce que, pourquoi (fr), comment il se fait
Georgian: როგორ მოხდა ‎(rogor moxda)
German: wie kommt es dass, warum (de)

Hungarian: hogyhogy
Italian: come mai
Japanese: 何で ‎(nande)
Korean: 왜 (ko) ‎(wae)
Polish: dlaczego (pl), jakże (pl)
Portuguese: por quê (pt), como (pt)
Russian: почему́ же (ru) ‎(počemú že), почему́ (ru) ‎(počemú), почему́ э́то ‎(počemú éto)
Spanish: cómo es que
Swedish: hur kommer det sig (sv), varför (sv)
Tagalog: bakit (tl)
Vietnamese: tại sao (vi), tai sao