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
- 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
- An employment tribunal is a kind of court for work disputes, such as being sacked unfairly or not being paid what is owed.
- Lending money to friends can cause arguments, so many grown-ups only lend what they could afford to lose.
- Much housework is invisible, like booking appointments and planning meals, so each grown-up may not see what the other does.
- Many children call a step-parent by their first name, and it is fine to ask what to call them.
- Different families believe different things about what happens after death, and nobody knows for certain.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «what» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.