# what

Pronunciation: say "WOT" US /wɑt/, UK /wɒt/

## Pronoun

1. Used to ask which thing, event, circumstance or quality, seeking an identity, quantity or description.
   - Simple: Used in questions to ask for information about a thing.
   - _What do you want for dinner?_
   - _I can't imagine what she sees in him._
2. The thing or things that, or anything that; also used to introduce a comment.
   - Simple: The thing or things that, or anything that.
   - _She handed me what looked like an old train ticket._
   - _Just take what you need from the fridge and leave the rest._
13. Used after a noun to mean that, which, or who. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: In some dialects, used instead of 'that' or 'who' after a noun.
   - _It was the dog what ate the pie._
   - _She's the one what told me._

## Determiner

3. Used before a noun in direct or indirect questions to ask which one or which kind, especially from an open range of possibilities.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to ask which one or which kind, as in 'What size do you need?'
   - _Nobody told me what bus to take._
   - _It depends on what mood she's in._
4. Used, often followed by a or an, to stress that something is remarkable, good, or bad, either in an exclamation or within a clause.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to show strong feeling about how good, bad or surprising something is.
   - _What a mess you've made!_
   - _What fools we were to trust him._
7. Any or all the ... that; whatever, often with little.
   - Simple: Used before a noun to mean 'all the ... that', often when there is not much.
   - _She gave what help she could._
   - _We used what few tools we had._

## Interjection

5. Used to express surprise or disbelief, standing alone or opening a sentence.
   - Simple: Said when you are surprised or cannot believe something.
   - _What? They canceled the whole festival?_
   - _What? You're telling me the bus left without us?_
6. Used to ask for something to be repeated, often considered impolite.
   - Simple: Used to ask someone to repeat what they said, often thought rude.
   - _What? You'll have to speak louder, the music's too loud._
   - _He cupped a hand to his ear and said, what?_
8. Used abruptly, and usually unfriendly, in reply to someone who has knocked, called, or interrupted.
   - Simple: Used as a short, unfriendly way of asking what someone wants.
   - _He looked up from the paper and snapped, what?_
   - _What? If it's about the rent, come back Friday._
9. Used between commas to mark a guess or approximation, or a pause to recall something.
   - Simple: Used between commas while you guess a number or try to remember.
   - _We drove, what, three hundred miles that day?_
   - _She's been here since, what, March?_

## Adverb

10. Used in questions to mean in what way, to what extent, or how far.
   - Simple: Used to ask how, or how much, something matters or counts.
   - _What does it matter now whose idea it was?_
   - _What do I care if they laugh?_
11. Used before a phrase introduced by with, rarely another preposition, to mark it as a cause or reason.
   - Simple: Used before 'with' to list the reasons for something, as in 'what with the rain'.
   - _What with one thing and another, the letter never got written._
   - _The garden's a mess, what with the drought._

## Noun

12. The identity of a thing, as distinct from the how or why, usually paired with hows and whys.
   - Simple: The answer to a 'what' question, the thing itself rather than the how or why.
   - _Researchers were told to describe the what before the how._
   - _A good project plan explains the what, the how, and the why._
14. A thing or non-person, as opposed to a person.
   - Simple: A thing rather than a person, something you would ask 'what' about, not 'who'.
   - _Is the alien a who or a what?_
   - _To us, our dog is a who, not a what._

## Particle

16. In Singapore and Malaysian English, used at the end of a sentence to stress that something is obvious or true, often correcting or disagreeing with the listener. *(Manglish, Singlish)*
   - Simple: Said at the end of a sentence to mean 'this should be obvious', often when correcting someone.
   - _He's not overseas, he's in the office, what._
   - _The ticket is free, what, why you pay?_

## Interjection

15. Short for what do you say?: added to the end of a statement to stress it and invite agreement, often rhetorically, in old-fashioned British speech. *(dated, British)*
   - Simple: Short for what do you say?: added to the end of a sentence to ask others to agree, in old-fashioned British speech.
   - _Can't have the servants thinking we're soft, what?_
   - _Rather a good vintage, what?_

## Noun

17. Something; a thing or stuff. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In old poetry, 'stuff' or 'something', as in 'such homely what'.

## Origin

"What" comes from Middle English "what," from Old English "hwæt," and traces back through Proto-Germanic to the Proto-Indo-European form *kʷód, the neuter form of *kʷós ("who"). It is related to Dutch "wat," German "was," Swedish "vad," and Latin "quod."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/what (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).