I.why [waɪ, am. angl. hwaɪ]PRISL.Why translates as pourquoi in French, but see II. and III. below for exceptions. As with other words such as où, quand, comment etc., questions are formed by inserting est-ce que after the question word: why did you go? = pourquoi est-ce que tu y es allé? or by inverting the subject and verb after the question word, which is slightly more formal: pourquoi y es-tu allé? In spoken French the question word can be put at the end: tu y es allé pourquoi? why occurs with certain reporting verbs such as ask, explain, know, think and wonder. For translations, see these entries.