навіщо

Ukrainian

Etymology

Univerbation of на (na) +‎ ві́що (víščo), variant of що (ščo). Corresponds to Belarusian навошта (navóšta).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nɐˈʋʲiʃt͡ʃɔ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

наві́що • (navíščo)

1. why, what for, to what end

   Near-synonym: чому́ (čomú)

   Наві́що тобі́ це потрі́бно? ― Navíščo tobí ce potríbno? ― Why do you need this? What do you need this for?

Usage notes

• наві́що (navíščo) and чому́ (čomú) can both be translated as "Why?", but they differ in that чому́ means "For what reason?/On what grounds?" whereas наві́що means "For what purpose?/To what end?". Sometimes the words are interchangeable, but sometimes one is more appropriate than the other.

References

• Bilodid, I. K., editor (1970–1980), “навіщо”, in Словник української мови: в 11 т. [Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: in 11 vols] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka