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Bellaseden Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

What does "what" mean in this sentence?

Hi guys. I once saw this sentence in some test:

'A pen is to a writer, what a gun is to a fighter.'

Is it correct to use 'what' here? If yes, what function does "what" play?

Look forward to any reply. Many thanks!
  

Top answer

"what" means "the thing that" (though direct substitution produces a stylistically poor sentence). The comma is incorrect in my opinion.

— GPY

  • "what" means "the thing that" (though direct substitution produces a stylistically poor sentence).
  • The comma is incorrect in my opinion.
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6 Answers
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"what" means "the thing that" (though direct substitution produces a stylistically poor sentence).

The comma is incorrect in my opinion.
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Exercises of this type are commonly called analogies – usually phrased like this:

Dog is to bark as horse is to____(moo, neigh, quack).

Dollar is to cent as pound is to ____(coin, money, penny).
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Many thanks GPY. So it is correct to use "what" here?
Would "as" be a better choice?
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Many thanks Rover_KE.

So is it correct to use "what"?
Or "as" is a better choice?
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bellasedenSo it is correct to use "what" here?
Yes.
bellasedenWould "as" be a better choice?
"as" would work too. I wouldn't necessarily say it is better. Both work (in grammatically slightly different ways).
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