[Grammar] in the way how, the way how

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jutfrank said:
Those screenshots confirm to me what I suspected all along—the author is not saying that in the way how is correct. In fact, the whole point that he appears to be making is that it's wrong to say that. You can't use in the way and how together.
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The author says on page 43 that in the way how is grammatically correct. "But people often omit (1) "in" and (2) "how." So the following sentence is ungrammatical but idiomatic: I tried to cook rice the way the ancient Chinese did."
I translate the Chinese sentence in bold at the bottom of page 43 as follows: People who don't know grammar or who are native speakers often, incorrectly, think that the sentence without omissions (i.e. I tried to cook rice in the way how the ancient Chinese did.) is a mistake!

 
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sitifan said:
I translate the Chinese sentence in bold at the bottom of page 43 as follows: People who don't know grammar or who are native speakers often, incorrectly, think that the sentence without omissions (i.e. I tried to cook rice in the way how the ancient Chinese did.) is a mistake!
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Non-native speakers should never presume to tell native speakers they're using their own language wrong.
 
Okay, I think I understand what he means now. He's talking about the use of antecedents with relative adverbs/pronouns.

the person who
the thing which
the place where
the way how

His point seems to be that since the former three examples above are grammatical, then the latter ought to be too. He has the wrong idea of what counts as a mistake.
 
"and this is the way how one partner may honestly ruin another"
https://books.google.com.tw/books?i...ne partner may honestly ruin another"&f=false
Is the quoted clause still acceptable to native speakers in the 21st century?

https://www.english.com.tw/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=673&forum=11&post_id=12670#forumpost12670
I believe "the way how" is an older variant, and most native speakers have not heard of this usage nowadays. Some people say the Project Gutenberg site is a good one to search for usages. For that, I used ("the way how" site:gutenberg) to look for Google hits. Please do not include the parenthesis above to do your search. Take some time to sift out invalid hits and you should be able to find many instances.

Here are some examples from there:
And this is the way how one partner may honestly ruin another ...
and particularly to point out the way how believers should make use of Christ in all their ...
Ah, Confucius only a good man, he can only tell you the way how to be good man, but he has no power to change your heart, and Jesus can if we trust in him.
There lies the substance: and I thank thee, king, For thy great bounty, that not only givest Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way How to lament the cause.
After that this wall was finished, the Romans exhorted the Britains to plaie the men, and shewed them the way how to make armor & weapons.
 
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sitifan said:
The author says on page 43 that in the way how is grammatically correct. "But people often omit (1) "in" and (2) "how." So the following sentence is ungrammatical but idiomatic: I tried to cook rice the way the ancient Chinese did."
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I disagree with that.
 
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I suspect "the reason(s) why ..." will be ungrammatical in several hundred years.
 
tzfujimino said:
I suspect "the reason(s) why ..." will be ungrammatical in several hundred years.
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If the reason why can be accepted, I see no reason why the way how cannot be accepted.
 
tzfujimino said:
I suspect "the reason(s) why ..." will be ungrammatical in several hundred years.
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Maybe I'm missing some sort of in-joke or sarcasm here but ... that's ungrammatical now.
 
the place where ...; the day when ...; the reason why ...

We can use these expressions to emphasise a place, time or reason.

- Mary kept a pig IN THE GARDEN SHED .
The garden shed was the place where Mary kept a pig.
The place where Mary kept a pig was the garden shed.
- Jake went to London ON TUESDAY to see Colin.
Tuesday was the day when/that Jake went to London to see Colin.
The day when Jake went to London to see Colin was Tuesday.
- Jake went to London on Tuesday TO SEE COLIN .
To see Colin was the reason why Jake went to London on Tuesday.
The reason why Jake went to London on Tuesday was to see Colin.
The place, the day or the reason can be dropped in an informal style, especially in the middle of a sentence.

Spain's where we're going this year.
Why I'm here is to talk about my plans. ( More formal: The reason why I'm here is ... )

(quoted from Practical English Usage, by Michael Swan)
 
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I don't have a huge problem with the reason why and although I will always avoid it in writing, I do use it in careless speech. I don't think of it as ungrammatical.

I do, however, share the Pisceans' loathing of The reason why ... is because ..., which is awful and makes me shudder. For me, that's undoubtedly wrong.
 
I mark "The reason why" as wrong. I would mark "The reason why is because" as triple wrong!!!

The reason is that ... (no "because" anywhere).
 
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Number one is perhaps grammatical but nobody would dream of saying it. Number two raises the hackles of people who care about usage and should be avoided. Three and four are okay, but unnecessarily wordy. The extra words add nothing but excess weight to this:

Can you tell me why you're late? ​
 
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