Grammar question - how come? or why?

[Kathleen in VA]

I'm reading a sample from a curriculum provider I've just heard about. One of the questions for the students to answer is something like this (I've changed the actual question, but kept the form):

 

If most southerners did not own slaves, how come they were willing to fight and risk their lives for the Confederacy?

 

I do not want to address the question from a content perspective. I just want to know if the use of "how come" seems odd to any of you. If I had written this question, I would have said "why were they willing" not "how come they were willing." Is it just me, or is "how come" a poor choice? If it is acceptable, why?

Edited November 12, 2010 by Kathleen in VA

[MotherGoose]

I agree, "how come" is incorrect.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

That would bother me too, as would the content. the wording seems very juvenile. I don't know what grade for which it's intended but I wouldn't use that wording regardless because I don't think it would be a good model.

 

ETA that I hope it's not something I own, LOL.

[LinRTX]

I spend a lot of time trying to change "how come" to "why" in my children's speech. This would really bother me in a written curriculum. It just sounds wrong.

[newlifemom]

Yeah, not liking the wording for any age really. [not that my grammar is so great, but it is a textbook. :tongue_smilie:]

 

Of course, I cannot tell you exactly why I don't like it. Sigh, I really want to go back to college and learn English grammar properly. :D

[abbeyej]

It would be a big problem for me. I might in my most casual, playful speech use "how come", but it's most certainly not correct or appropriate for formal, instructional language.

[Farrar]

It certainly sounds more southern that way to me. Oh, sorry, not addressing the content :D

[Kathleen in VA]

Yes, sorry about the content of the question. I was having a hard time trying to think of something that could be asked using that form, and the original question came from a history curriculum covering the same time period (different topic altogether, however), so my mind was having trouble getting outside that particular box.

 

Anyway, would finding this kind of question in a curriculum cause you to cross it off your list? Btw, this particular question came from a curriculum that calls itself "classical" (the word classical is in the title). Maybe I am too demanding, but I think if a curriculum is going to tout itself as "classical" it really ought to hold itself to a higher standard than most. That's not to say all other curricula is off the high standards hook - just that I expect more from a product claiming to be following the rigorous classical tradition than I do of others. Is that weird?

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Yes, sorry about the content of the question. I was having a hard time trying to think of something that could be asked using that form, and the original question came from a history curriculum covering the same time period (different topic altogether, however), so my mind was having trouble getting outside that particular box.

 

Anyway, would finding this kind of question in a curriculum cause you to cross it off your list? Btw, this particular question came from a curriculum that calls itself "classical" (the word classical is in the title). Maybe I am too demanding, but I think if a curriculum is going to tout itself as "classical" it really ought to hold itself to a higher standard than most. That's not to say all other curricula is off the high standards hook - just that I expect more from a product claiming to be following the rigorous classical tradition than I do of others. Is that weird?

I'm confused, is this a unit study curriculum that includes history and grammar? I guess I would need to see more before I made a judgment. If it continued more of that style of grammar it would be out. In regards to the history, it would depend on how they answered the question.

[Kathleen in VA]

I'm confused, is this a unit study curriculum that includes history and grammar? I guess I would need to see more before I made a judgment. If it continued more of that style of grammar it would be out. In regards to the history, it would depend on how they answered the question.

 

It's an "all-in-one" type curriculum. It gives you a schedule using various resources - much like Sonlight - so they haven't actually written the grammar component themselves. They have written the history questions, however, and one of them was written in this style. Why does it matter how they answered the question? Remember, I'm not addressing the content of the question - I made that question up using the same form they did about another topic altogether. The content of the question is not theirs, it's mine. I just wondered about the use of the phrase "how come."

 

Here's another attempt at a question using a similar form:

 

If pigs have wings, how come they don't fly?

 

Does that help? I'm just trying to find out if "how come" is proper or not.

[Coffeetime]

I don't think I would ever even use the phrase "How come" in daily speach, and it certainly would bother me to see it written in a curriculum.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

It's an "all-in-one" type curriculum. It gives you a schedule using various resources - much like Sonlight - so they haven't actually written the grammar component themselves. They have written the history questions, however, and one of them was written in this style. Why does it matter how they answered the question? Remember, I'm not addressing the content of the question - I made that question up using the same form they did about another topic altogether. The content of the question is not theirs, it's mine. I just wondered about the use of the phrase "how come."

 

Here's another attempt at a question using a similar form:

 

If pigs have wings, how come they don't fly?

 

Does that help? I'm just trying to find out if "how come" is proper or not.

I thought you had quoted the sentence, which is why the content would matter to me. You were asking whether or not it would cause me to cross it off my list and if it was also a history curriculum how the question was answered would be as import to me as the manner in which it was asked.

 

I do not like the way the sentence is phrased grammatically but if that is their only error and it's for history (not grammar) I'd probably overlook it if I liked everything else about it. However, if the questions were all poorly worded that would bother me. I'm willing to forgive random errors but if they were all like that it would really bother me.

[Lolly]

I don't think it is incorrect. I do not believe it should be used in formal writing though. Therefore, I would not expect to see it in a textbook.

 

Going further, it would have the meaning of "how did it come to be that...". The first example you gave would have that meaning (how did it come to be that they were willing to fight?). The second example, the pigs, it would not. I wouldn't find it accurate for use in that sentence.

[Ellie]

"Why" is better. "How come" is colloquial, or slang, or something. I would expect "why" in more formal writing and conversation.

 

It is like "done" and "finished." When you complete a project you are finished; when the turkey is ready to eat, it is done. Alas, "done" seems to be taking over the world, lol.

 

Or what about "mom" and "dad" instead of "mother" and "father"? For that matter, why do people so often say/write "mom and dad" instead of "parents"???

 

Anyway, it should have been "why.":D