"Which number shoe" vs "What number shoe"

Hi Mr. Tom,
What size shoe do you wear?

Grammar GeekWhat size shoe do you wear?

Hi GG,
what a strange structure. The adjective before the noun... I was wondering if these would also be possible:

What shoe size do you wear?
What size of shoe(s) do you wear?

Thanks.

Hmm.

What size shirt do you need?
What color paint did you choose?

I wonder what others fit that pattern.

As far the 'which' or 'what', 'which' indicates a choice between options while 'what' indicates an open question. You do not expect someone to chose from all the possible shoe sizes; therefore, what size shoe do you wear? However, you might use 'which' when the "askee"

Grammar GeekWhat size shirt do you need?
What color paint did you choose?

I wonder what others fit that pattern.

Whoa, I didn't know that. I would have said "What size of shirt" or "What shirt size"...
I wonder if such structure is actually a simplification of "What size (of) shoe(s)".

Are the versions with "of" unidiomatic?

KooyeenAre the versions with "of" unidiomatic?

Yup!

CJ

CalifJim

KooyeenAre the versions with "of" unidiomatic?

Yup!

CJ

Ok, thanks!
But I was too curious, and so I checked on the net... And I'm sorry but I feel I need to take advantage of this thread to demonstrate that learning "correct" English is impossible for a non-native speaker, unless you accept th

Hi Kooyeen,

Remember this thread? It carries almost the same discussion--I mean, "of".



Tom

Mr. TomHi Kooyeen,

Remember this thread?

Hmm, apprently I didn't! LOL
It must be because I haven't had to use these kinds of structures, so I forgot.

KooyeenResident: Scottish Highlands

Ah, well! You can't expect me to answer from the viewpoint of this man! I thought your interests lay mostly with American English anyway.

Kooyeenhow do they know if something sounds odd? Sounds odd to who?

Kooyeen! The answer should be obvious. To me.

Kooyeen