How vs what
"Someone asked me what a horse would look like if it had two legs. or Someone asked me how a horse would look if it had two legs."
That's from the post titled "Grammar" put by an anonymous poster.
My questions are:
Is "what" used in the indirect question (and subordinate clause) because it is a pronoun and object of the preposition "like"?
Is "how" used there as an adverb which doesn't collocate with the preposition "like" (as its object)?
Top answer
[1] Someone asked me [ what a horse would look like if it had two legs ] . [2] Someone asked me [ how a horse would look if it had two legs ] . Both bracketed elements are interrogative complement clauses (indirect questions) functioning as complement of "asked".
- [1] Someone asked me [ what a horse would look like if it had two legs ] .
- [2] Someone asked me [ how a horse would look if it had two legs ] .
- Both bracketed elements are interrogative complement clauses (indirect questions) functioning as complement of "asked".
- In [1] "what" is an interrogative pronoun as complement of "like", and in [2] "how" is an interrogative predicative adjective as complement of "look".
- '" The use of "how" in the second example is informal.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
[1] Someone asked me [what a horse would look like if it had two legs].
[2] Someone asked me [how a horse would look if it had two legs].
Both bracketed elements are interrogative complement clauses (indirect questions) functioning as complement of "asked". In [1] "what" is an interrogative pronoun as complement of "lik
0
Related Questions