"WHAT" or "WHICH"? Learn how to choose!

1,079,275 views ・ 2017-10-12

Learn English with Rebecca


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid.
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In the next few minutes you will learn how to ask better questions in English.
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Specifically, you'll learn when to use the question word "what" and when to use the question
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word "which".
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Now, is there a difference?
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Yes, usually there is, and it's a very easy difference to understand once I explain it
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to you.
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But maybe you already know the difference, maybe you already know when to use "what"
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or "which".
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Let's find out.
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So, do we say: "What colour do you like?" or should we say: "Which colour do you like?"
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Think about that for a minute, decide something.
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I'll tell you in a second.
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And here, do we say: "What colour do you prefer - red or blue?" or do we say: "Which colour
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do you prefer - red or blue?"
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Think about that.
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Got your answer?
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Okay, so let me tell you what we would usually say.
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Here we would usually say: "What colour do you like?"
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Why?
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Because we're asking: "Out of all the colours in the world, what colour do you like?"
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And here, we would usually say: "Which", okay?
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"Which colour do you prefer - red or blue?"
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Why?
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Because here we have a specific choice.
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All right?
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So let me summarize what the difference is.
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Okay?
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So, when we use "What", we use "What" to talk about things that are very broad or very general.
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So here, we used it to talk about general questions or very wide, broad questions.
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Okay?
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Where the number of options, the number of possibilities are unknown or very large.
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Okay?
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"Which" is much different, it's much more specific.
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Okay?
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So, we use "Which" when we have limited options, not wide.
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We use it when we have much more limited options.
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For example, here we said: "Red or blue?"
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It doesn't have to be only two.
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It could be three, four, it could be 10, but it's limited and not unlimited.
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That's the difference.
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"What" is used when we're asking about something general, and "Which" is used when we're asking
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about something specific.
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Now, just to explain, in this one, for example, I said that the probable answer is: "What
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colour do you like?"
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But if I showed you a card which had four colours, and now it's limited, right?
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So then I could ask you: "Which colour do you like?" because it's out of these four,
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so it becomes limited and not: What colour out of all the colours in the world?
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Okay?
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So, let's look at a few more examples so you can understand exactly how this works.
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All right, so let's look at some examples in a social context, in an academic context,
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and in a business context.
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Okay?
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So, for example, we could ask someone: "What do you want to do today?"
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Very general question.
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Out of all the things we could possibly do in this city, what do you want to do?
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Very broad.
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Right?
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Or: "Which movie do you want to see - Star Wars or Batman?"
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Now the choice is much more limited.
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Right?
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It's more specific, and that's why we used "Which".
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Do you see the difference between the broad and the narrow, between the general and the
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specific?
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All right, academically we could ask someone: "What would you like to learn?"
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Okay?
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Out of all the subjects in the world, what would you like to learn?
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So very general, very broad.
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Or: "Which class do you prefer - music or art?"
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Now, of course, again our choice is very limited between two.
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Again, the choice might be between more.
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All right?
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But here it's two.
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In a business context we might ask: "What are our options?"
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Okay?
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Out of all the different things we could do, what are our options?
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This is a very common question people ask in business situations, in business meetings,
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negotiations, and things like that.
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Right?
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Or: "Which conference are you attending, the one in New York or in London?"
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Again, a much more limited choice, and therefore we used "Which".
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All right?
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So, are you ready to try some on your own?
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Let's do that.
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Okay, number one, let's pretend that you're on a date and you want to get to know the
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other person so you ask them: "_______ kind of music do you like?"
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What should we say: "What" or "Which"?
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It's a very general question, right?
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So we say:
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"What", "What kind of music do you like?"
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Okay?
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Because there are all kinds of music; we didn't limit the options.
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All right, the next one, let's say you're thinking about learning how to play an instrument,
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so you go to a music store and you ask the salesperson: "_______ instrument is easier
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to learn - the guitar or the piano?"
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What do we say there?
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What should we say?
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I think we should say:
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"Which". Right? "Which instrument is easier to learn - the guitar or the piano?"
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Again, limited choice so we're going to say: "Which".
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The next one, you bump into your classmate in university and she asks you: "_______ course
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was more interesting - sociology or psychology?"
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What's the right question word to use here?
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Should be, again: "Which" because we have limited possibilities.
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Next, your rich uncle wants to give you a birthday present so he calls you and he asks
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you: "_______ kind of computer do you want?"
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What is the right word to use here?
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Think about it.
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"What". Okay? This is a general question, there are no specific possibilities mentioned.
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It's out of all the different kinds of computers, and he's rich, your uncle's rich, he wants
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to buy you something, so he says: "What kind of computer do you want, sweetheart?
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I'll get you anything you want."
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Okay.
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All right.
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Next, you want to make a hotel reservation and the reservation clerk asks you: "_______
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room would you prefer - with an ocean view or a city view?"
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Okay?
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So what's the right question word to use here?
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Yeah?
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You got it.
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"Which room", right?
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Once again, we have specific, limited possibilities.
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And the last one, you're in an ESL school and your friend asks you: "So, _______ exam
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do you have to take - the IELTS or the TOEFL?"
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What's the right question word to use here?
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Also "Which" because, again, we had a specific choice.
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All right?
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So, I hope you've got the hang of that.
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But to be really sure once and for all-okay?-go to our website at www.engvid.com to do a quiz
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on this so that you really master this subject, and then after that you don't have to keep
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thinking about it; you've got it in your head, it's very clear: "What" is for general questions,
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"Which" is for specific questions, "What" is very general and very broad, and "Which"
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is very specific. Okay?
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And after that you've mastered that part. Okay?
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And that's the way to move forward, one step at a time.
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Master each little part of English until you master the whole language, which you can do.
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Okay?
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If you want to keep improving, please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can get lots
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more lessons with shortcuts and tips to help you move forward faster.
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Okay? All right.
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Thanks very much for watching, and all the best with your English. Bye for now.
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