| 词组 | what |
| 释义 | what ◊ asking for information You use what when you are asking for information about something. You can use what as a pronoun or a determiner. When you use what as a pronoun, it can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb. It can also be the object of a preposition. What happened to the crew? What did she say then? What is your name? What did he die of? Note that when what is the object of a verb, it is followed by an auxiliary verb, the subject, and then the main verb. Note also that when what is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually goes at the end of the question. ◊ used as a determiner When you use what as a determiner, it usually forms part of the object of a verb. What books can I read on the subject? What qualifications do you have? What church did you say you attend? ◊ WARNING You do not use what when your question involves a choice from a limited number of people or things. For example, if someone has hurt their finger, you do not say to them 'What finger have you hurt?' You say 'Which finger have you hurt?' When you get your daily paper, which page do you read first? Which department do you want? You use what when you are asking about the time. What time is it? What time does the coach get in? ◊ used in reported clauses What is often used in reported clauses. I asked her what had happened, I don't know what to do. I find it difficult to understand what people are saying. For more information about this use, see entry at ↑ ◊ 'what...for' You use what with 'for' when you are asking about the purpose of something. You put what at the beginning of the question and 'for' at the end of it. For example, 'What is this handle for?' means 'What is the purpose of this handle?' What are those lights for? Some people use what with 'for' when they are asking about the reason for something. They say, for example, 'What are you staring for?' This means 'Why are you staring?' What are you going for? ◊ 'what if' You use what if to ask what should be done if a particular difficulty occurs. For example, 'What if the bus doesn't come?' means 'What shall we do if the bus doesn't come?' What if it's really bad weather? What if they don't want to part with it, what would you do then? ◊ 'what about' You use what about to remind someone of something, or to draw their attention to something. What about is followed by a noun group. What about the others on the list? What about your breakfast? Note that when you ask someone a question beginning with what about you are often expecting them to do something, rather than answer your question. ◊ used in relative clauses What is sometimes used at the beginning of a special kind of relative clause called a nominal relative clause. This kind of clause functions like a noun group; it can be used as the subject, object, or complement of a verb, or the object of a preposition. In a nominal relative clause, what means 'the thing which' or 'the things which'. What he said was perfectly true. They did not like what he wrote. I'm what's generally called a traitor. That is a very good account of what happened. People often use a nominal relative clause in front of 'is' or 'was' to focus attention on the thing they are about to mention. What I need is a lawyer. What we as a nation want is not words but deeds. What impressed me most was their sincerity. A similar type of clause consists of what followed by the subject and 'do'. After a clause like this, you use 'be' and an infinitive structure with or without 'to'. For example, instead of saying 'I wrote to George immediately', you can say 'What I did was to write to George immediately'. What Stephen did was to interview a lot of old people. What he did was get Christopher followed by a private detective. What you need to do is to choose five companies to invest in. ◊ WARNING You do not use what in defining or non-defining relative clauses. You do not say, for example, 'The man what you met is my brother' or 'The book what you lent me is very good'. In sentences like these, you use who, which, or that, or you do not use a relative pronoun at all. For more information, see entry at ↑ ◊ used to mean 'whatever' What can be used with the same meaning as 'whatever', both as a pronoun and a determiner. Do what you like. People survived by sharing out what money they could get from cattle work. See entry at ↑ ◊ used in exclamations What is often used in exclamations. What a marvellous idea! What fun! For more information about this use, see entry at ↑ |
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