Is it grammatical to have “why” and “to” together?

Question

Is the following sentence grammatical?

Why to use page-level permissions

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From Google Support:

Why to use page-level permissions

Page-level permissions allow you to..

It sounds weird to me, however the words were from a Google support page so I'm suspecting that it may actually have been grammatical after all.

Answer 1

It’s a headline, first of all, where some grammatical rules are different anyway. So this is not a sentence, but a noun phrase:

(This section tells you) why to use page-level permissions.

That is, it tells you why you should use them. “Why to…” and “why not to…” are very common in headings to encourage or discourage the reader, respectively. The heading could just as well be:

Reasons to use page-level permissions

Answer 2

The normal rules of syntax do not apply to headings and titles such as the one cited above. They leave the reader to supply the missing words. In this case the title should be understood as:

• Why you need to use page-level permissions

or

• Why you might want to use page-level permissions.

Answer 3

It is not a grammatical sentence, as it's not a complete sentence at all. It's a sentence fragment.

However, in English, sentence fragments are often used in headlines and titles. In those cases, such utterances are acceptable.

Answer 4

It is not grammatical. In fact, I have no idea what you are trying to ask. Are you asking "Why use page level permissions (at all or generally)"?

"Why" must be followed by a verb, which is NOT in the infinitive form.

Answer 5

As others have noted, headlines are not always full sentences. Assuming that's not the issue, it is perfectly fine to have why followed by to (as part of an infinitive verb).

Perhaps you are more familiar with "how-to" titles, or similar phrases:

• How to tie your shoelaces
• What to do when your mother-in-law comes over
• Who to go to for assistance

Well, why to is just as valid as how to, etc.