Is "what for" correct?

Question

Hi!Is "what for" correct?Considering the circumstances, it was only logical to ask the supplier the following question: what for are issued the remaining invoices requested to be paid?Thank you!

Wilpeter · Accepted Answer

Is “what for” correct? No.
“for what were the remaining outstanding invoices issued?”
(“are issued” would be a tense-error, as they “were issued” already.)

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymouswhat for are issued the remaining invoices requested to be paid?

That's a rather strange sentence. Do you mean "Why"? And you started in the past tense. Why did you use the present tense in the second part? I think you may mean:

Considering the circumstances, it was only logical to ask the supplier the following question: Why were the remaining invoices issued?

The part about requesting payment is odd because that's what it means to issue an invoice. When you issue an invoice, you are, in effect, requesting payment.

But maybe what you wrote wasn't clear enough for me to understand what you had in mind.

CJ

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