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[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

Hey, can anyone tell me what the difference between "Zachem" and "Pachimu" are? I know that they both mean Why, but I was wondering if they were interchangeable or if one is used best in a certain situation.

Comments

Re:

[irkin.livejournal.com]

Well, actually, as someone above said there is the difference - why (pochemu/почему) is used for reason and what for (zachem/зачем) - for purpose. If you ask "why did you do that?" you are interested in motives/reason that made the person to do something. If you ask "what did you do that for?" you mean to ask what purpose did they want to fulfil by doing something.