What is the reason for this?
What is the reason of this?
What is the reason why you tell me that?
Which one is correct?
What is the reason of this?
What is the reason why you tell me that?
Which one is correct?
reason for
- Thread starter LeoBritish
- Start date
The first is correct, the second seems slightly "off" and I'd say the third is incorrect.
are you sure? because velisarius told me that the second and third one was wrong.
That's velisarius' opinion, to which he is entitled. We, the various commentators, often disagree. We have our own experience and personal history of our language, so it is not surprising that we have different ideas. English is very flexible and doesn't like very strict rules.
To be clear, I don't mind "the reason why", where you might claim that "why" is superfluous.
"What is the reason why you tell me that?" That's a terrible sentence. A native speaker would ask "Why do you tell me that?", or more likely "Why are you telling me this?"
"What is the reason why you tell me that?" That's a terrible sentence. A native speaker would ask "Why do you tell me that?", or more likely "Why are you telling me this?"
According to you, it can be "terrible"!, but for English grammar, if it is correct, I will not mind what one is thinking about it.
I appreciate your point, velisarius, but if you want to use the word "reason" in your sentence, and don't like "why" following it, you are forced to say "What is the reason for your telling me that?" which seems too cumbersome and elaborate. Otherwise you might be tempted to shorten the thing to "What is the reason you are telling me that?", which seems to me as intolerable as "the reason why you tell me that" does to you.
If you insist on the sentence, you could use "the reason that..." or omit it entirely: What is the reason you're telling me this?
This is one of the cases where "the reason why" is not grammatically acceptable.