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What do you suppose is the grammar of "How come (that) you know these things"?

Elision? Subjunctive?

Not that I'm going to lose any sleep over it.

"How is it that you come to know that?"

Yes but if you're right it's not just elision but word order change as well: that "you" is in the wrong place.

It might be "How does it come about that you know that?"

Whatever, it's a question without an auxiliary which is odd and some kind of bare infinitive which is odd too.

"How come" advice:

How come it has taken you so long to respond?

Use 'How come' a full clause in the positive statement form (S V O). Notice that this is an indirect question and requires a question mark (?).

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/bl ... nation.htm

Questions with How Come

In conversational language, questions with "How come" are common. "How come" means Why, but it uses the word order for statements:

How come + subject + verb + other words?

Also, "How come" questions do not use do, does, or did unless the original statement has a negative verb using don't, doesn't, or didn't.

http://www.vnn.vn/vnn4/practice/grammar/07_t1.htm

Well I'm sure people find that very interesting but it doesn't shed any light on the grammar of the structure. But thanks.

JuanTwoThree wrote:Well I'm sure people find that very interesting but it doesn't shed any light on the grammar of the structure. But thanks.

??

it uses the word order for statements

"Fact: you know these things. How come?"

Would you ask the same question/s about these structures?

How is it the case (that)...?

Why do you think (that) he's angry all the time?

What I'm after is an explanation for a bare infinitive after a question word that introduces a subordinate clause.
In other words the grammar of the two words "how come" not the grammar of what comes after, which doesn't seem to present any problems.

JuanTwoThree wrote:In other words the grammar of the two words "how come" not the grammar of what comes after, which doesn't seem to present any problems.

Is the grammar with "how come"? I thought it was just an idiom.

Idioms are ungrammatical or can't be analysed grammatically?

Could be poetic licence?

http://www.lingref.com/cpp/wccfl/24/paper1216.pdf

and

http://www.unige.ch/lettres/linge/synta ... 414948.pdf

which is interesting about the rise of do but not especially relevant except in a footnote where it mentions "Why risk it?" as another question without do-support.

JuanTwoThree wrote:Idioms are ungrammatical or can't be analysed grammatically?

What's the point in doing so? It cannot be "how came" or "how will come", so it's best to consider it a lexical item. "How come" is the "question word" and the whole is an indirect question.

Yes I take your point, about many idioms.

But interestingly, or not, the similar past structure, which I'll admit is a tad archaic, is "How came you to.....".

Questions without do-support are interesting. Not to everybody, though.

JuanTwoThree wrote:Yes I take your point, about many idioms.

But interestingly, or not, the similar past structure, which I'll admit is a tad archaic, is "How came you to.....".

Questions without do-support are interesting. Not to everybody, though.

Do you think the present form is really "how come you to"? "How come" is not "what was the journey from a past point to this" (as in "how came you to..."), but is "how is it that this state of affairs exists."

Sorry if I gave that impression. I don't think I did.

No, the present is "How come (that) you......" . But as I said, there is a similar though not identical structure "How came you to....."

There also seems to be another archaic (if Wilkie Collins is archaic) "How come you to" (google it).

So that's three different uses of "come" without do-support, one current and two that were in use after do-support became pretty much generalised. As I said, interesting.