How and when do I use "in what"?
My student was reading a sentence and he wanted to know how to use "in what".
Here is the exact sentence: "A recent satellite image of North Korea's nuclear test site shows people playing volleyball, in what analysts say could be an attempt to confuse the United States."
I didn't know how to explain it to him.
Thank you for your help.
Top answer
" "In" is a preposition that has the underlined noun phrase as its complement. This a 'fused' relative construction in which "what" is a 'fused' relative word. It's called 'fused' because the head of the noun phrase and the relativized element are fused together into the single word "what" instead of being expressed separately as in simpler constructions.
- " "In" is a preposition that has the underlined noun phrase as its complement.
- This a 'fused' relative construction in which "what" is a 'fused' relative word.
- It's called 'fused' because the head of the noun phrase and the relativized element are fused together into the single word "what" instead of being expressed separately as in simpler constructions.
- "What" takes on the meaning of the non-fused "that which" (or "the thing which").
- "
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"A recent satellite image of North Korea's nuclear test site shows people playing volleyball, in what analysts say could be an attempt to confuse the United States."
"In" is a preposition that has the underlined noun phrase as its complement. This a 'fused' relative construction in which "what" is a 'fused' relative word. It's called 'fused' because the
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