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Newland Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
For Whatever Reason
Is 'whatever the reason' sometimes semi-misused as 'for whatever reason':
"For whatever reason, there was no signal from the machine."
"Whatever the reason, there was no signal from the machine."
Or are they really equivalent, according to standard English?
"For whatever reason, there was no signal from the machine."
"Whatever the reason, there was no signal from the machine."
Or are they really equivalent, according to standard English?
Top answer
newland Is 'whatever the reason' sometimes semi-misused as 'for whatever reason': It is not misused; they are alternatives. newland Or are they really equivalent, according to standard English? Yes.
- newland Is 'whatever the reason' sometimes semi-misused as 'for whatever reason': It is not misused; they are alternatives.
- newland Or are they really equivalent, according to standard English?
- Yes.
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3 Answers
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newlandIs 'whatever the reason' sometimes semi-misused as 'for whatever reason':It is not misused; they are alternatives.
newlandOr are they really equivalent, according to standard English?Yes.
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According to strict dictionary definitions, 'for whatever reason' means 'for some unknown reason', and 'whatever the reason' means 'no matter what the reason is'. Yet, I've see the latter being used in places where the former should be. So I thought it was an error.
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