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Moon7296 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
wh-question without a auxiliary verb
1. Why stay in this forbidding land, with its diseases and its lack of creature comforts, when they were so heavily outnumbered?
Q) I was wondering why there is no auxiliary verb between "why" and "stay" in #1. Simply put, what is the difference between #2 and #3?
2. Why do you stay in this land?
3. Why stay in this land?
Q) I was wondering why there is no auxiliary verb between "why" and "stay" in #1. Simply put, what is the difference between #2 and #3?
2. Why do you stay in this land?
3. Why stay in this land?
Top answer
#2 is asking specifically about "you", and in the present; #3 can be asking about anyone, and can be used about the past. In your example, it seems that "Why stay" means "Why did/should they stay". #3 also does not imply that the person/people in question actually did stay; this can only be determined from context.
- #2 is asking specifically about "you", and in the present; #3 can be asking about anyone, and can be used about the past.
- In your example, it seems that "Why stay" means "Why did/should they stay".
- #3 also does not imply that the person/people in question actually did stay; this can only be determined from context.
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1 Answers
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#2 is asking specifically about "you", and in the present; #3 can be asking about anyone, and can be used about the past. In your example, it seems that "Why stay" means "Why did/should they stay". #3 also does not imply that the person/people in question actually did stay; this can only be determined from context.
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