Reference > Usage > American Heritage® Book of English Usage > 2. Style > § 25. reason why
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The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English.  1996.

2. Style: Parallelism, Passives, Redundancy, and Wordiness

§ 25. reason why


A similar rule states that why is redundant in the expression the reason why, as in The reason why he accepted the nomination is not clear. It is true that why could be eliminated from such examples with no loss to the sense, but the construction has been used by reputable English writers since the Renaissance.    1


The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
 
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