What is the difference between which and what?
which | what |
What, of those mentioned or implied (used interrogatively ).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-17, volume=408, issue=8849, magazine=(The Economist), author=Schumpeter
, title= (interrogative) What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied).
(relative) The one or ones that.
(relative) The one or ones mentioned.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= Used of people (now generally (who), (whom) or (that)).
* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts IX:
(lb) Who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied).
:
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
*
*:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= An occurrence of the word which .
* 1959 , William Van O'Connor, Modern prose, form and style (page 251)
* 1989 , Donald Ervin Knuth, Tracy Larrabee, Paul M. Roberts, Mathematical writing (page 90)
(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) :
(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= In some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with .
Such.
(label) Why?
* (rfdate) (Chaucer)
* (rfdate) (John Milton)
Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both…and.
* :
* 1605 Wm. Shakespeare, King Lear
(British, colloquial, dated) Is that not true?
Which; which kind of.
How much; how great (used in an exclamation).
(obsolete) something; thing; stuff
* Spenser
What is a conjunction of which.
In interrogative terms the difference between which and what
is that which is what one or ones (of those mentioned or implied) while what is which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.In relative terms the difference between which and what
is that which is who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied) while what is that which; those that; the thing that.As an adverb what is
in some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with.As an interjection what is
An expression of surprise or disbelief.which
English
(wikipedia which)Alternative forms
* whiche (obsolete) * wich (Jamaican English)Determiner
(en determiner)In praise of laziness, passage=Which of these banes of modern business life is worse remains open to debate. But what is clear is that office workers are on a treadmill of pointless activity. Managers allow meetings to drag on for hours. Workers generate e-mails because it requires little effort and no thought. An entire management industry exists to spin the treadmill ever faster.}}
Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.}}
- The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.
Pronoun
(English Pronouns)Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
Usage notes
* (US usage'') Some authorities insist, prescriptively, that relative ''which'' should be used only in non-restrictive contexts. For restrictive contexts (e.g., ''The song that made the charts in 2004 is better than the later ones''), they prefer ''that''. Actual usage does not support this "rule". Fowler, who proposed the rule, himself acknowledged that it was "not the practice of most or of the best writers". Even E.B. White, a notorious "which-hunter", wrote this: "the premature expiration of a pig is, I soon discovered, a departure which the community marks solemnly on its calendar." In modern UK usage, ''The song which made the charts in 2004 is better than the later ones is generally accepted without question. * When "which" (or the other relative pronouns "who" and "that") is used as the subject of a relative clause, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the pronoun. Thus "The thing which is...", "The things which are...", etc.Quotations
* 1611 — 1:1 *: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...Derived terms
* every which way * every which where * whichever * whichness * whichsoeverNoun
(es)- The ofs and the whiches have thrown our prose into a hundred-years' sleep.
- Is it not true, TLL asked of Mary-Claire, that people invariably get their whiches and thats right when they speak?
what
English
(wikipedia what)Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- That’s her; that’s the thing what has stole his heart from me.
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
(-)- What should I tell the answer of the knight?
- But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates?
- 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
* suchInterjection
(en interjection)- What , have his daughters brought him to this pass?
- What ! That’s amazing.
- It’s a nice day, what'''?'' (sometimes repeated, e.g.: '''''What'''-'''what ? )
Determiner
(en determiner)- What shirt are you going to wear?
- What time is it?
- What kind of car is that?
- What talent he has!
- What a talent!
Derived terms
* wat * what ho * whatness * what's whatNoun
(-)- 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