Belarusian edit

Etymology edit

Univerbation of на (na) +‎ вошта (vóšta), variant of што (što). Corresponds to Ukrainian наві́що (navíščo).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): [naˈvoʂta]
  • (file)

Adverb edit

наво́шта (navóšta)

  1. why, what for, to what end
    Near-synonym: чаму́ (čamú)

Usage notes edit

  • наво́шта (navóšta) and чаму́ (čamú) can both be translated as "Why?", but they differ in that чаму́ means "For what reason?/On what grounds?" whereas наво́шта means "For what purpose?/To what end?". Sometimes the words are interchangeable, but sometimes one is more appropriate than the other.

References edit

  • навошта” in Belarusian–Russian dictionaries and Belarusian dictionaries at slounik.org