why not

See also: why-not

English

Pronunciation

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Adverb

why not (not comparable)

1. Why is that not true?

   I don't want to go out today. — Why not?

2. (rhetorical) Used to state that one has no objection to and approves of a proposal.

   Let's have pizza for lunch. — Yes, why not?

3. (rhetorical) Used to introduce a proposal.

   Why not try turning the handle in the other direction to see if that opens the window?

Usage notes

• Definitions 2 and 3 are more in the nature of assertions than questions, so they are often spoken as assertions and sometimes written without question marks.

Synonyms

• (why is that not true): why?, how come?
• (to show one has no objection): all right, OK
• (to introduce a proposal): how about, what if

Translations

why is that not true

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 何不 (zh) (hébù), 為什麼不呢／为什么不呢 (wèishéme bù ne), 為什麼／为什么 (zh) (wèishénme) (lit. "why" - more common response)

• Danish: hvorfor ikke
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Esperanto: kial ne
• Faroese: hví ikki
• Finnish: miksi ei, miksei
• French: pourquoi pas (fr)
• German: warum nicht
• Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is), hví ekki (formal)
• Italian: perché no
• Latin: cūr nōn, quidnī
• Persian: چرا (fa) (čerâ)
• Portuguese: por que não
• Russian: а почему́ (a počemú), а что́ так (a štó tak)
• Slovene: zakaj ne
• Spanish: por qué no
• Swedish: varför inte
• Thai: ทำไมไม่

state one has no objection

• Arabic: لِمَ لَا (lima lā)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 好的 (zh) (hǎo de)

• Danish: hvorfor ikke
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Esperanto: kial ne
• Faroese: hví ikki
• Finnish: miksipä ei, mikä ettei, mikä jottei, mikäpäs siinä, (colloquial) vois
• French: pourquoi pas (fr)
• German: warum nicht, wieso nicht
• Hebrew: לָמָּה לֹא (láma ló)
• Hungarian: miért ne
• Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is), hví ekki (formal)
• Italian: perché no
• Japanese: もちろん (ja) (mochiron)
• Latin: quid ni
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hvorfor ikke

• Persian: چرا که نه؟ (čerâ ke na?)
• Portuguese: por que não
• Russian: почему́ бы и нет (ru) (počemú by i net)
• Scottish Gaelic: carson nach + verb
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: зашто да не

  Roman: zašto da ne

• Slovene: zakaj pa ne
• Spanish: por qué no
• Swedish: varför inte
• Turkish: neden olmasın
• Ukrainian: чому́ б і ні́ (čomú b i ní)

introduce a proposal

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 要不 (zh) (yàobù)

• Danish: hvorfor ikke
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: miksi ei
• French: pourquoi ne pas
• Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is)
• Latin: quid ni
• Navajo: dooísh léiʼ
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hvorfor ikke

• Polish: czemu nie, dlaczego nie, może by
• Portuguese: por que não
• Russian: почему́ бы не (počemú by ne)
• Spanish: por qué no
• Swedish: varför inte