What 和 which 都是疑问代词,这意味着它们指代说话者还不知道的东西,这些东西是除了人之外的其他东西,例如物体、品质或地方等等。若指代人,则用关系代词 who;尽管有时可以 what 和 which 可以互换,但在某些情况下,只能使用其中的一个。
当有很多可能的选择或者不知道有多少选择时,用 what,例如:What color shirt will you wear tomorrow?What is your favorite kind of ice cream?I didn’t hear what you said.What makes someone a good friend?What did you do at school today?
当已经知道是两个中的一个或是几个中的一个时,用 which;在疑问句中用 which 的前提是已经知道有多少,例如:Which pair of shoes did you decide to wear with your prom dress?Which of your children is starting school this year?I don’t know which fork is for my salad.Which wrist did you sprain?Do you know which way we should turn?Which day did you decide to host the dinner party?
1. 相比于 which,what 暗指的可能选项更多。因此在决定特殊疑问句中用 which 还是 what 之前,要先弄清楚你的提问如何影响接收者对你的意思的影响,例如:a. What is his nationality?b. Which is his nationality?解析:句 b 中使用 which 的前提是说话者已经缩小了他的国籍范围(可能对他的出生或婚姻等已经很了解),而句 a 使用 what 是因为说话者对他的国籍一无所知,因此接收者就可以根据实际情况进行回答。2. 正是因为 what 和 which 所暗指的选项数量不同,那么对应的可作答的选项也不同,换句话说就是,对于 what 引导的特殊疑问句的回答选择性比 which 的多,例如:What happened during the Second World War?Which happened during the Second World War?
四、what 和 which 的选用不影响句子意思在有些情况下,what 或 which 两者都可用而不影响接收者做出不同的回答。如果离开机场去特定目的地的航班只有那么多,那么用 what 和 which 都可以,例如:What flight are you taking to Atlanta?Which flight are you taking to Atlanta?一天中只有那么多小时,一个月中可能只有那么多天,那么通常用 what 或 which 都可以,例如:What day is your surgery?Which day is your surgery?
长篇大论之后,如果你还是不确定要用哪个,那么这里介绍一个方法,可能不是100%适用,但是适用于大部分。
当你想使用 which 时,试着在 which 后面加 ”of + 代词“,如果行得通,那么就用 which,例如:
Which (of your) shirts are you considering for the photo?I don’t know which (of your) sisters you are bringing to dinner.Which (of their) books are they using in class today?
解析:当你试着用 what 去代替 which 之后,你会发现行不通,因为没有类似 what of 结构作主语的。
注意有个习语 what of it,意思是“那又怎么样呢,那有什么关系呢”,跟这个没关系。
词或词组辨析: