[Grammar] - What are the differences between these two sentence?

Status
Not open for further replies.

adeelalrooh

New member
Joined
Sep 15, 2012
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
United Arab Emirates
Current Location
United Arab Emirates
HI


  • What are the differences between these two sentence?
The question is about WHICH

v Which pen do you want?
v Which do you want?
 

Gillnetter

Key Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
HI


  • What are the differences between these two sentence?
The question is about WHICH

v Which pen do you want?
v Which do you want?
The difference is that the first sentence has the word "pen" and the second does not have the word "pen". The first sentence asks for a decision regarding the preference of a pen. The second sentence asks for a decision on your preference of something unknown. Your question is not about "Which", your question is about the object or act being discussed or offered,
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
v Which pen do you want?
v Which do you want?

If the second question refers to pens, then the pens would have to be visible or known from the context.
 
Last edited:

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Dear Fellow Member Adeelalrooh:

If a teacher wants the grammatical difference, then maybe one could say:

In "Which pen do you want?," the word "which" is an adjective. (It modifies "pen.")

In "Which do you want?," the word "which" is a pronoun. (In this case, "which" is a short way to say "which pen.")


Your Fellow Member,


James
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top