Which

Question

I know which airline it is already.  OrI know what airlines it is already.Thanks!

Andriy Lapin · Accepted Answer

Pleasehelp,

an airline is a company which provides regular services carrying people or goods in aeroplanes, so it is perfectly acceptable in singular.

I already know which airline it is. - correct

However, since the word can also mean a system furnishing air transport, usually scheduled, between specified points, the above use may occasionally sound somewhat out of order in a casual talk between tourists, for instance. One possible solution is to use airlines. It is singular when it means 'a company that owns or operates such a system (see above)'. As a good many companies have Airlines (or Airways) as part of their brand names, you can say I already know which airlines it is. As a matter of fact, the sentences are largely interchangeable. By the by, I would recommend using which (unless you have specific reasons for not doing so) and place the adverbial already before the verb.

Respectfully, Gleb Chebrikoff

Yankee · Answer

Hi Pleasehelp

pleasehelpI know which airline it is already.

This is OK. You could also use "what" instead of "which".

pleasehelpI know what airlines it is already.

To me, the use of the plural ("airlines") would be a completely unnatural way to refer to a single airline and/or a single flight.

Avangi · Answer

Yankee
pleasehelpI know what airlines it is already.
To me, the use of the plural ("airlines") would be a completely unnatural way to refer to a single airline and/or a single flight.

Mightn't it also be ungrammatical?

(Perhaps even in response to the question, "What airlines fly nonstop to Paris?")

But then, it's so difficult to correctly frame the question, "Do you know which airlines it is that fly nonstop to Paris?" I suppose we'd have to allow it.

(Can this be the dummy "it"?) It doessound natural.

- A.

Yankee · Answer

AvangiMightn't it also be ungrammatical?

Yes, in fact, it did strike me as ungrammatical.

I think there would have to be a VERY special set of VERY special circumstances before anybody in my neck of the woods might possibly produce that sentence (i.e. the second sentence that Pleasehelp posted). That's why it also struck me as unnatural.

EDIT:

Avangi(Perhaps even in response to the question, "What airlines fly nonstop to Paris?")

No, I think you're trying to force something that simply would not happen:

Q: What airlines fly nonstop to Paris?
~~A: I know what airlines it is already~~.

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