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Lao Wai
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Location: East Coast Canada
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 Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:08 pm Post subject: Which clothes is Andrew wearing? |
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Hey,
To me, the above sentence sounds awkward. Depending on the context, I would say 'What is Andrew wearing?' or 'Which articles of clothing is Andrew wearing?', or What type of clothes is Andrew wearing?'.
One of my local colleagues asked me about this sentence and I wasn't sure what to tell her other than it sounded 'funny' to my ear. They would probably know better than me if it's grammatically correct. What do you think? |
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ilovebdt
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject: Re: Which clothes is Andrew wearing? |
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| Lao Wai wrote: |
Hey,
To me, the above sentence sounds awkward. Depending on the context, I would say 'What is Andrew wearing?' or 'Which articles of clothing is Andrew wearing?', or What type of clothes is Andrew wearing?'.
One of my local colleagues asked me about this sentence and I wasn't sure what to tell her other than it sounded 'funny' to my ear. They would probably know better than me if it's grammatically correct. What do you think? |
If there was a pic of Andrew surrounded by various articles of clothing with that question it would be ok, but still sound a bit strange.
If Andrew is not in the above situation then it is a very odd question and I would say : What is Andrew wearing? What clothes is Andrew wearing? or the questions you suggested.
ilovebdt |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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Use of 'which' as a question word often implies choice from a restricted set in English, while 'what' carries no such implication.
Out of the blue, I might ask you, "What kind of cookies do you like?" (the choice is from an open set of all cookies). Use of 'which' is bizarre in this context.
At the cookie store, with racks of cookies in front of you (a limited set), I might ask, "Which kind do you want?" Use of 'what' is possible here; use of which emphasizes the idea of choice from a set. |
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Zoidberg
Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Location: Somewhere too hot for my delicate marine constitution
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Woland wrote: |
Use of 'which' as a question word often implies choice from a restricted set in English, while 'what' carries no such implication.
Out of the blue, I might ask you, "What kind of cookies do you like?" (the choice is from an open set of all cookies). Use of 'which' is bizarre in this context.
At the cookie store, with racks of cookies in front of you (a limited set), I might ask, "Which kind do you want?" Use of 'what' is possible here; use of which emphasizes the idea of choice from a set. |
Yeah, the distinction is important if the speaker doesn't want to sound weird. The OP could explain this to the Korean teachers (assuming an explanation in English didn't work) as being analogous to 무슨 and 어느.
To use Woland's example of the cookies: 무슨 cookie = What kind of cookies, whilst 어느 cookie would be if you had some cookies and you were asking which they wanted.
(Obviously, I don't know the Korean word for cookie) |
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