As or What ?

[flowerseed]

Hi, I need a native-speaker teacher to help me with the following question.

Water will contiue to be _________ it is today next in importance to oxygen.

A. as B. what




Which answer is correct ?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi, I need a native-speaker teacher to help me with the following question.

Water will continue to be, _________ it is today, next in importance to oxygen.

A. as B. what


Which answer is correct ?

Which one do you think is correct, and why? Always try to answer a question first, then ask here if you're right. If you're not, we'll help. If you're right, then you know that your first instinct was correct!

 

[flowerseed]

I am sorry. Well, I think "as" is the right choice. However, I was told I made a mistake here, which I am not ready to accept until confirmed by a native speaker. Thanks to whoever gives me a reply.

 

[Barb_D]

I agree that "as" is the right answer. If you use "what" then you need a noun to follow.

What it is today, a resource....

The punctuation corrections made by emsr are critical, though.

 

[bertietheblue]

Water contains oxygen; oxygen is, well, oxygen. Personally, I think it would be better to compare like for like: water and air, both containing oxygen:

'Water will continue to be next in importance to the air we breathe.'

I wouldn't say ', as it is today,'. This is both unnecessary and a statement of the obvious (if I am correctly assuming you're talking about water's importance to human life). Mind you, isn't the whole sentence a statement of the obvious unless you're teaching a group of infants?

Come to think of it, I wouldn't say 'next in importance', which suggests it's not of paramount importance to life. Well, 6 or 7 days without water and you may well be dead so I think water's about as important as it gets! Why not:

'Water will continue to be as vital to life as oxygen.'

or, since it is a statement of fact:

'Water is as vital to life as oxygen.'