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Maple Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
"come" in "How come you vote not guilty?"
Does "come" function like "do" in "How come you vote not guilty", or "vote" is an infinitive whose "to" is omitted?
Top answer
It's an idiomatic form that defies analysis. ", but, I'm not sure. I think it originated in America, so maybe an AmE speaker can help more.
- It's an idiomatic form that defies analysis.
- ", but, I'm not sure.
- I think it originated in America, so maybe an AmE speaker can help more.
- An interesting note: the Italian for "how" is come , so it could originate from Italian immigrants with a nice bit of linguistic confusion.
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5 Answers
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It's an idiomatic form that defies analysis. To my way of thinking it means "How does it come [=come about, or happen] that you vote not guilty?", but, I'm not sure. I think it originated in America, so maybe an AmE speaker can help more.
An interesting note: the Italian for "how" is come, so it could originate from Italian immigrants with a nice bit of linguistic confusion.
An interesting note: the Italian for "how" is come, so it could originate from Italian immigrants with a nice bit of linguistic confusion.
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MapleDoes "come" function like "do" in "How come you vote not guilty", or "vote" is an infinitive whose "to" is omitted?"How come" is an idiom expression which means "what is the reason" or "why". It's frequently used in everyday life.
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>"How come you vote not guilty"
How (what are the reasons) does it happen that you vote not guilty?
How (what are the reasons) does the chance (say the coin toss) come up / happen that you vote not guilty?
How (what are the reasons) does it happen that you vote not guilty?
How (what are the reasons) does the chance (say the coin toss) come up / happen that you vote not guilty?
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Hi,
Does "come" function like "do" in "How come you vote not guilty", or "vote" is an infinitive whose "to" is omitted? I think of it as 'arriving at this point'. 'How come' is a more compressed, slang-y version of 'How did you/he/etc. come to the point that ... Consider these more standard versions.
How did she come t
Does "come" function like "do" in "How come you vote not guilty", or "vote" is an infinitive whose "to" is omitted? I think of it as 'arriving at this point'. 'How come' is a more compressed, slang-y version of 'How did you/he/etc. come to the point that ... Consider these more standard versions.
How did she come t
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