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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

"I know what is love" VS "I know what love is"

Is there any difference between " I know what is love" and "I know what love is" ?

If yes, in what situations should I use these 2 sentences ?

Thanks ~~
  

Top answer

Only the second one seems grammatically correct to me. It is the normal/grammatical word order for reported speech. Yet, with "punctuation" changes, you can hear the first one.

— Pieanne

  • Only the second one seems grammatically correct to me.
  • It is the normal/grammatical word order for reported speech.
  • Yet, with "punctuation" changes, you can hear the first one.
  • Let's say you're talking about a singer.
  • ", and you want to know what he's done before that.
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5 Answers
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Only the second one seems grammatically correct to me. It is the normal/grammatical word order for reported speech.

Yet, with "punctuation" changes, you can hear the first one. Let's say you're talking about a singer. You've discovered him through his latest hit "What is love?", and you want to know what he's done before that. So you can imagine a conversation:

A: "I quite like X
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I think "I know what love is" is noun clause, not reported speech.
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That's quite possible, Drg. I'm not good at grammatical terms...
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Af far as I know, if a) (that) b) if / whether c) who/what/where etc. follows a main verb, it is called "noun clause". But this is only a partial definition.
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It seems to me that "I know what is love" (though not the normal form, as Pieanne says) might be used for emphasis:

1. "You may be right. Maybe X isn't love. Maybe it's something altogether different. But I know what is love. And that's ABC..."

(For ABC, substitute your platitude of choice.)

MrP
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