what
part of speech
pronoun, determiner; exclamation
meaning for a pupil
1) What is used to ask about a thing: «What is that?». tree →
2) What asks which one or which kind: «What colour is it?». tree →
3) What can mean «the thing that»: «Tell me what you saw». tree →
4) What is used to show surprise: «What a big dog!» tree →
5) (rude) «What?» alone is a blunt way to say «Pardon?», and «What!?» can show anger. tree →
6) (casual) «What's up?», «wassup», «whatcha doing?», «what's the deal?» and «or what?» are slang. tree →
7) (casual) «What» is used for «that» or «which» in some UK speech: «the one what I had» (nonstandard). tree →
8) (formal) Exams say «Determine the value of», «State the nature of», «Which of the following» and «that which» instead of «what». tree →
sense in the lessons
questions about the table or the answer; «What do you see» asks for a list, «What number» asks for one number; phrases: «what is», «what about», «what if», «what time», «so what», «what for»; in casual talk «wassup», «whatcha», «what's the damage?» (how much does it cost?), «are you thick or what?»; in rough talk «What? What d'you want?», «what the heck»; in the exam voice «determine the value of», «state that which», «identify the quantity»
examples
- And the man asked him, saying: 'What seekest thou?' (Torah GEN.37.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Balak said unto him: 'What hath the LORD spoken?' (Torah NUM.23.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the people murmured against Moses, saying: 'What shall we drink?' (Torah EXO.15.24, JPS 1917) tree →
- But what is it even then? (Prophets 1KI.14.14, JPS 1917) tree →
- But what doth your arguing argue? (Writings JOB.6.25, JPS 1917) tree →
- And the king said: 'What wouldest thou?' (Prophets 1KI.1.16, JPS 1917) tree →
- What do you see on the table? tree →
- What is 7 plus 5? tree →
- What number do we add to 6 to make 10? tree →
- What time is it? tree →
- Tell me what you found at the beach. tree →
- What a beautiful rainbow! tree →
- What if it rains on sports day? tree →
- Right, what's the damage? Two pies and a drink. tree →
- Are you thick or what? It's 12, not 21. tree →
- What? I only had 3! tree →
- Determine the value of the unknown quantity such that its sum with 6 is 10. tree →
- Wassup, how many of us for footy? tree →
- "And what great eyes you have!" tree →
note
«What do you see» asks for a list of things, not a number. «What number» asks for one number. «what's the damage» asks for a price. «Determine the value of» in an exam is the same as «what is». Trap: «what» asks about things, «who» about people. «what the heck» is a mild swear, not a question.
In the corpora
- And He said: 'What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground.
- And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.
- And Abimelech said unto Abraham: 'What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?'
- And Abimelech said unto Abraham: 'What mean these seven ewe-lambs which thou hast set by themselves?'
- Whereas thou hast felt about all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff?
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «what» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.