Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:00
Hello again, everyone.
0
200
1220
00:01
Tom here for BBC Learning English.
1
1420
2180
00:03
Today, I'm going to explain the difference between
2
3600
3300
00:06
what and which in questions.
3
6900
3240
00:10
'What' is used to ask a question which has a lot
4
10580
3340
00:13
of possible answers.
5
13920
1940
00:15
Consider the question:
6
15860
1940
00:17
What do you want to eat for lunch?
7
17800
3240
00:21
Here, there are no choices to limit your reply.
8
21040
4740
00:25
You could choose anything you want.
9
25780
3039
00:28
We use 'which' when we have options to choose from.
10
28820
4420
00:33
So, here we have two choices
11
33240
3260
00:36
– a sandwich and a melon.
12
36500
3200
00:39
So I can say: Which do you want to eat?
13
39700
3720
00:43
The sandwich or the melon?
14
43420
3639
00:47
Now, next time you need to ask a question,
15
47059
2761
00:49
you'll know which word to use.
16
49820
2480
00:52
'What' for anything and 'which' when you have a choice.
17
52300
4980
New videos
About this website
This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.