"what is this a figure of" x "what is this figure of"

Question

What is the difference between "what is this a figure of" and "what is this figure of" ?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

What is this a figure of? This is a figure of liberty.

What is this figure made of? It is made of soap.

Anonymous · Answer

thanks, but actually I meant

"what is this a figure of?" x "what is this figure of?" ( not "What is this figure made of?")

i.e., the difference in the meaning with and without "a".

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous "what is this figure of?"

That is not a natural question. The interpretation is: "what is it made of?"

Anonymous · Answer

Perhaps, I should have written

"what is this a picture of?" x "what is this picture of?"

with a little preamble saying that googling gives us a huge amount of hits for both expressions (questions). So, I was just wondering if these expressions mean the same thing;, i.e. have the same meaning; and if not, "what is (are) the difference (s)/nuance (s)?"

"what is this a figure of" x "what is this figure of"

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