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What vs An - What's the difference?

what | an |

As nouns the difference between what and an

is that what is (obsolete) something; thing; stuff while an is favor, grace.

As a pronoun what

is (interrogative) which thing, event, circumstance, etc: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.

As an adverb what

is in some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with .

As an interjection what

is .

As a determiner what

is which; which kind of.

what

English

(wikipedia what)

Pronoun

(English Pronouns)
  • (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.
  • (relative, nonstandard) That; which.
  • * 1902 , , (The Admirable Crichton) :
  • That’s her; that’s the thing what has stole his heart from me.
  • (relative) That which; those that; the thing that.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast […, or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with .
  • Such.
  • (label) Why?
  • * (rfdate) (Chaucer)
  • What should I tell the answer of the knight?
  • * (rfdate) (John Milton)
  • But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates?
  • Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both…and.
  • * :
  • And as for on C good knyghtes I haue my self / but I fawte / l / for so many haue ben slayne in my dayes / and so Ladegreans delyuerd his doughter Gweneuer vnto Merlyn / and the table round with the C knyghtes / and so they rode fresshly with grete royalte / what' by water and ' what by land / tyl that they came nyghe vnto london

    Synonyms

    * such

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • * 1605 Wm. Shakespeare, King Lear
  • What , have his daughters brought him to this pass?
    What ! That’s amazing.
  • (British, colloquial, dated) Is that not true?
  • It’s a nice day, what'''?'' (sometimes repeated, e.g.: '''''What'''-'''what ? )

    Determiner

    (en determiner)
  • Which; which kind of.
  • What shirt are you going to wear?
    What time is it?
    What kind of car is that?
  • How much; how great (used in an exclamation).
  • What talent he has!
    What a talent!

    Derived terms

    * wat * what ho * whatness * what's what

    Noun

    (-)
  • (obsolete) something; thing; stuff
  • * Spenser
  • They prayd him sit, and gave him for to feed / Such homely what as serves the simple clowne, / That doth despise the dainties of the towne

    Statistics

    *

    an

    English

    (wikipedia an)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Article

    (head)
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.}}
  • (UK, non-standard) used in many British regional accents before some words beginning with a pronounced h
  • Usage notes
    * The article (an) is used before vowel sounds and (optionally) before silent aitches, and (a) before consonant sounds. * The various article senses of (a), all are senses of (term).

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) an

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • (archaic) If, so long as.
  • An it please you, my lord.
  • (archaic) as if; as though.
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge , The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere (Original Version of 1797) 61-64:
    At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the Fog it came; And an it were a Christian Soul, We hail'd it in God's Name.

    Etymology 3

    .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, (Nuskhuri).
  • Etymology 4

    From the (etyl) preposition an/on.

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • In each; to or for each; per.
  • I was only going twenty miles an hour.
    Usage notes
    * This is the same as the word a'' in such contexts, modified because of preceding an unpronounced ''h''. ''The train was speeding along at a mile a minute.
    Synonyms
    * per

    References

    *

    Statistics

    *