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Will Leung 8544 Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

A what

He was beaten in a what authorities called an altercation.

Why is there an "a" before "what"? I myself seldom notice that combination, and I found there is already another article "an" afterward. Could anyone please explain more and give me some other examples? Thanks.

  

Top answer

Will Leung 8544 Why is there an "a" before "what"? It's because somebody made a mistake. Sometimes when people are writing fast, they forget to proofread their work after making several changes to get the sentence just right.

  • Will Leung 8544 Why is there an "a" before "what"?
  • It's because somebody made a mistake.
  • Sometimes when people are writing fast, they forget to proofread their work after making several changes to get the sentence just right.
  • In those cases some mistakes may be left uncorrected.
  • Here's the correct sentence: He was beaten in what authorities called an altercation.
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1 Answers
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Will Leung 8544Why is there an "a" before "what"?

It's because somebody made a mistake.

Sometimes when people are writing fast, they forget to proofread their work after making several changes to get the sentence just right. In those cases some mistakes may be left uncorrected.

Here's the correct sentence:

He was beaten in what author

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