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Cat desk Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

'What' vs 'whatever'

Are both the following sentence using what and whatever correct? If yes, what different do they mean?
  1. John, whatever you did in the party last night was very wrong.
  2. John, what you did in the party last night was very wrong.
  

Top answer

Yes, both are correct. #1 sounds like the speaker doesn't know what John did. #2 sounds like the speaker knows what John did.

— Clive

  • Yes, both are correct.
  • #1 sounds like the speaker doesn't know what John did.
  • #2 sounds like the speaker knows what John did.
  • Clive
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2 Answers
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Yes, both are correct.

#1 sounds like the speaker doesn't know what John did.

#2 sounds like the speaker knows what John did.

Clive

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I agree with Clive.

They are both are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different interpretations: "whatever" is non-referential, with a meaning like "anything that you did", whereas "what" is referential, with a meaning like "the thing that you did".

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