why not

See also: why-not

English

Adverb

why not (not comparable)

Why is that not true?
I don't want to go out today. — Why not?
Used to state that one has no objection to and approves of a proposal.
Let's have pizza for lunch. — Yes, why not?
Used to introduce a proposal.
Why not try turning the handle in the other direction to see if that opens the window?

Synonyms

(why is that not true): why?, how come?
(to show one has no objection): all right, I don't see why not, OK
(to introduce a proposal): how about, what if

Translations

why is that not true

Chinese:
Mandarin: 何不 (zh) (hébù), 為什麼不呢, 为什么不呢 (wèishéme bù ne), 為什麼 (zh), 为什么 (zh) (wèishénme) (lit. "why" - more common response)
Dutch: please add this translation if you can
Esperanto: kial ne
Faroese: hví ikki
Finnish: miksi ei, miksei
French: pourquoi pas (fr)
German: warum nicht
Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is), hví ekki (formal)

Italian: perché no
Latin: cūr nōn
Persian: چرا؟‎ (fa) (čerâ)
Portuguese: por que não
Russian: а почему́ (a počemú), а что́ так (a štó tak)
Slovene: zakaj ne
Spanish: por qué no
Swedish: varför inte
Thai: ทำไมไม่

state one has no objection

Arabic: لِمَ لَا؟‎ (lima lā?)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 好的 (zh) (hǎo de)
Dutch: please add this translation if you can
Esperanto: kial ne
Faroese: hví ikki
Finnish: miksipä ei, mikä ettei
French: pourquoi pas (fr)
German: warum nicht, wieso nicht
Hebrew: לָמָּה לֹא‎ (láma ló)
Hungarian: miért ne
Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is), hví ekki (formal)
Italian: perché no

Japanese: もちろん (ja) (mochiron)
Latin: quid ni
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hvorfor ikke
Persian: چرا که نه؟‎ (čerâ ke ná)
Portuguese: por que não
Russian: почему́ бы и нет (počemú by i net)
Scottish Gaelic: carson nach + verb
Serbo-Croatian: зашто да не, zašto da ne
Slovene: zakaj pa ne
Spanish: por qué no
Swedish: varför inte
Turkish: neden olmasın

introduce a proposal

Chinese:
Mandarin: 要不 (zh) (yàobù)
Dutch: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: miksi ei
French: pourquoi ne pas
Icelandic: af hverju ekki (is)
Latin: quid ni

Navajo: dooísh léiʼ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hvorfor ikke
Portuguese: por que não
Russian: почему́ бы не (počemú by ne)
Spanish: por qué no
Swedish: varför inte

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