Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sleeper]

Hi, there.

Look at the following sentences.

#1. What did he come here to do?
#2. What did he come here for?
#3. Why did he come here?

Do all these sentences have the same meaning?

Which is most frequently used in everyday conversation?

In my opinion, the sentence #1 looks awkward.

What do you think?

I'm waiting for your answers.

Thanks.

[2006]

The don't all have the same meaning although in a suitable context some of them can be interchangeable.

#3 is probably the most commonly used because it is the most general and thus can be used in more situations.
#1 assumes that he came here to do something.
#2 can mean that he came here to get something. It can also express unhappiness that he is here and it can have the general meaning of #3.