Зачем или почему

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I see these words frequently and they seem to mean the same thing. I'm trying to understand how Russians use them. I think I might understand it now. I'm wondering if I got it correct.

A friend tells you that he has robbed a bank. You are shocked and can't understand why he did that.

You are more likely to ask, "Почему?"

A friend tells you that he is thinking about robbing a bank. You are shocked and can't understand why he would do such a thing.

You are more likely to ask, "Зачем?"

Is this correct? In the second example, would "Почему?" be acceptable?

If I got it all wrong, please correct me.

Thanks!

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

- Почему ты ограбил банк?
- Потому что у меня было трудное детство. (the reason)

- Зачем ты ограбил банк?
- Чтобы раздобыть денег на водку и пиво. (purpose)

These two words are generally not interchangeable.

[scolar.livejournal.com]

As explained above "почему" is about the reason and "зачем" is about purpose.

Also, in poetry and other exalted texts (especially of 19th Century) "зачем" sometimes is used instead of "почему" and "отчего" (e.g. "Зачем мне прямо не сказали, что все прошедшее вы обратили в смех?" - А.Грибоедов "Горе от ума" ).

And little bit off the topic, but anyway: in Russian families many small kids, which learn to speak, often interchange "зачем" and "почему", and it's definitely a problem to explain them the difference.

[ennuiescapist.livejournal.com]

почему = why?
зачем = for what reason?

[ad3pt.livejournal.com]

зачем = for which purpose?

[oryx_and_crake]

почему = why?

This is not a very good explanation, because English "why" can mean both "зачем" and "почему" in Russian depending on the context. Also, as has been mentioned before, "зачем" is about purpose, and "почему" is about reasons.

[ennuiescapist.livejournal.com]

Do you think another way of explaining it would be like this:

Почему = Why, in a generalized sense and Зачем = Why for a specific reason/purpose? Maybe that's a better explanation.

Because it's always Зачем in the case of делать, correct?

Зачем ты это сделал? (Specific)

[oryx_and_crake]

I cannot agree, sorry. It is equally possible to ask Почему ты это сделал?

[ennuiescapist.livejournal.com]

OK, nevermind, then! :)

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

IMO, почему refers to something from the past or reason/cause, while зачем refers to something in the future or a goal (e.g. being rich is the purpose). It's OK to ask either question in either situation, but the answer is likely to (although doesn't have to as it's up to whoever answers the question) depend on the question (reason/cause vs purpose).

[oryx_and_crake]

I disagree. You can ask about both reason and purpose both in the past and in the future, so the зачем/почему question has nothing to do with tenses:

Зачем он хотел ограбить банк?
Почему он хотел ограбить банк?

Зачем он захочет ограбить банк?
Почему он захочет ограбить банк?

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

It doesn't have to do with tenses directly, at least not in that way. The cause doesn't come from the future. It comes from the present or past, from one's needs. Likewise the purpose or the goal until accomplished pertains to the future because that's when it the need gets fulfilled.

[oryx_and_crake]

I'd rather omit the mention of "past" and "future" altogether as it is misleading. You'd better use the cause-effect model: e.g. in case of "зачем" the action is the cause and the desired result is the effect, whereas in case of "почему" the conditions are the cause and the action is the effect.

Зачем или почему

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

English may use the word "why" to represent either "зачем" or "почему". This is why/This is the reason why (no pun intended) native English speakers may have difficulties differentiating between these Russian words that are essentially more exact versions of the generic English "why", in the sense that each explicitly addresses a particular aspect of "why".

"Зачем" - addresses "why" from the aspect of "the intended effect" or "purpose", i.e. "in order to" or "so that". For example, Russian "Зачем тебе это нужно?" may be rendered in English as either "Why do you need this?" or "What do you need this for?". However, Russians will apply "зачем" to explicitly address the latter example.

"Почему" - addresses "why" from the aspect of "reason" in the sense of the "cause" of an action. For example, Russian "Почему ты так думаешь?" may be rendered in English as either "Why do you think so?" or "What is the reason that you think so?" However, Russians will apply "почему" to explicitly address the latter example.

In this instance at least, Russian appears to be more literal then English. This is (the reason) why "зачем" or "почему" are not interchangeable. So, if you keep this in mind when deciding whether to use "зачем" or "почему", you should be all right.

Re: Зачем или почему

[ennuiescapist.livejournal.com]

Thank you, this is helpful.