Hello

Could you please tell me the whether there is any difference between the sentences and they are interchangable?

How come you came late?
How did you come to be late?

-How come you broke your leg?
-How did you come to break your leg?

Thanks a lot.

How come- In what way, in what manner etc.
How did you come- Suggestive of eventuality.

How come you broke your leg?
Well, a car ran over it.

How did you come to break your leg?
I thrust my foot in a daring act of reckless courage. A car came by. He honked his horn. I didn’t care and held my position solidly. The driver had no option but to run over my leg and that’s how it broke.

Hope you got the difference.

In “how did you come to”.... you explain the whole series of things that took place to arrive at the answer of “how come”.

dict - 07 May 2009 11:23 PM

How come- In what way, in what manner etc.
How did you come- Suggestive of eventuality.

How come you broke your leg?
Well, a car ran over it.

How did you come to break your leg?
I thrust my foot in a daring act of reckless courage. A car came by. He honked his horn. I didn’t care and held my position solidly. The driver had no option but to run over my leg and that’s how it broke.

Hope you got the difference.

Thank you dict for your help.
considering your explanation,I wonder whether how come you broke your leg? is different with how did you break your leg?

Regards

My pleasure, Majid.
Yes. The two are quite different from each other.

,I wonder whether how come you broke your leg? is different with how did you break your leg?

A better way to reframe it:

I suppose that “how come…” is different from “how did you..”

Thank you for your help and correction.

Would you please me the difference between the two( How come… and How did… )

Thanks.

What I was trying to say was, “how did you come to ” means “How did you bring the action about”- “what led to it….”
“How come” means “How is it that” or “How is it possible that” or “In what way/manner did you ever….”

Dear dict . I got your first reply ,but in my last post I meant the difference between “how come you broke your leg?” and “how did you break your leg?”

and not ” how did you come to break your leg?”

I would like to thank you again for your help.

Sorry for the misunderstanding Majid.
To the best of my knowledge “How come…” carries an element of suprise and at times suspicion.

That is to say, “How come” could mean “However did ...” i.e more intensive than “How did”

Love,
dict

“How come” versus “How did you come”

“How come” does not mean “How is it that” or “How is it possible that” or “In what way/manner did you ever….” It’s a colloquial expression for “why.”

How come you shot the sheriff? Because he was trying to shoot me.
How come you’re so weal? Because I’m just now getting over the flu.

“How did you come…” means “how.”

How did you come to break your leg? = How did you break your leg.

What he said, good man saparris.
How come? is ‘why’
How did you come? is “what is the reason”, ‘what is the cause’

(was that the swine flu???)

Regarding the recent swine ful epidimic on the forum, I would say, “How come?”

Never could understand it in more ways than one.