cuándo utilizar "that" y "what"
Una duda que tengo es que 'that? y 'what? significan lo mismo en algunas frases.
- What you need is love. (Lo que necesitas es amor)
- It was the money that John took (Fue el dinero lo que John tomó).
En la segunda frase, en vez de "that" yo había puesto "what" y este error me ha sido corregido. ¿Tiene algo que ver con las frases de relativo'. ¿Podría alguien explicármelo'
15 Answers
With reference to sentences in this thread, that is a relative pronoun.
It was money that John took.
This is a union of two sentences:
It was money. John took it.
We use that to replace it (in this case an object pronoun).
Other examples:
This is the dog. It bit me.
This is the dog that bit me.
Those are the apples. They are from the shop.
Those are the apples that are from the shop.
Those are the cars. I cleaned them this morning.
Those are the cars that I cleaned this morning.
In the above examples that is a relative pronoun and ...that bit me, ...that are from the shop and that I cleaned this morning are all relative clauses.
A relative clause describes something and therefore is also known as an adjective clause.
In the first example if I had simply said those are the apples it would represent an incomplete sentence. We need more information about the apples and so have to introduce a relative clause to give us that information. ...that I bought from the store now finishes the sentence by giving me that extra information about the apples.
One of the things that a student needs to know is that a relative clause must always follow the noun it describes. In the above examples the relative clauses follow their respective nouns (dog,apples,cars) immediately. Logically, therefore, that, when used as a relative pronoun, cannot begin a sentence for it would not be describing anything.
In the case of love is what you need, what is not a relative pronoun.
Love is (what you need). Here what you need is the object of the sentence since we can simply say love is it (replacing what you need with it)
We can change the sentence slightly to include a relative pronoun if you want.
It is love. You need it
It is love that you need.
O sea, no es pronombre relativo. Así sí que parece que tiene más lógica. Gracias.
qué (relative)I don't know **what has happened **-> no sé qué ha pasado
What es pronombre interrogativo, ya veo de dónde salió la duda .
¿
Te has fijado que en la frase que aparece en rojo aparece como Objeto Directo?
en español tiene la misma función: pronombre interrogativo.
Entonces, según tus explicaciones no puede ser una frase de relativo.
NO es relativo, no.
I don't know what has happened es una pregunta indirecta (indirect question). La explicación es muy larga entonces empecé otro hilo.
Lo que has puesto está muy bien explicado. De todas maneras, tengo que decirte que al mirar en el diccionario de esta página Web, he mirado los ejemplos en los que "what" aparece como relativo.
qué (relative)I don't know **what has happened **-> no sé qué ha pasado
what is most remarkable is that? -> lo más sorprendente es que?
what I like is a good detective story -> lo que más me gusta son las novelas policíacas
he knows what's what (familiar) -> tiene la cabeza sobre los hombros or (español de España) bien puesta (Am)
to give somebody what for (familiar) -> darle a alguien para el pelo
¿Te has fijado que en la frase que aparece en rojo aparece como Objeto Directo? Entonces, según tus explicaciones no puede ser una frase de relativo.
Me gustaría terminar con esta parte de la gramática que se refiere a los relativos comprendiéndolo todo perfectamente. De todas formas, está bastante bien explicada la gramática. Lo que pasa es que esa frase con "what" es la única que se resiste a ser comprendida. ¿No crees'
The text on which I was basing my comment had completely changed.
"What you need is love" ¿es igual que? "Love is that you need"
"What John took was money" ¿es igual que? "it was money that John took"
This is a very good question. I don't know how to explain when to use "what" and when to use "that".
"Love is that you need" is not correct.
"What John took was money" and
"It was money that John took" and
"What you need is love" are all correct.
Normally WHAT is used in a question and THAT is not. "Is that what you need'" however is perfectly correct.
Have a look in the dictionary section for WHAT and THAT - it may help you.
Lo del diccionario ha sido una gran idea. Gracias también.
No sé, a lo mejor es que "that" sirve para unir dos frases (cada frase debe tener un sujeto y un verbo).
Si analizo la frase: It was money that John took. Tiene dos frases: it was money - John took. "That" sirve sólo de enlace.
Sin embargo, este "that" no es un enlace en la frase "love is that you need". Por éso, a lo mejor está incorrecta.
A lo mejor, la frase correcta es: "love is what you need". ¿No crees?
You're saying that the <
> serves as a conjunction joining two clauses. In love is what you need. the what (relative pronoun) introduces a noun clause.
In the money that John took... the that again is a relative pronoun referring back to money. (adjective clause).
It might help to see how that serves as a conjuction. Notice the first sentence
saying that it connects the verb, not a noun.
Omitting That
The word that is used as a conjunction to connect a subordinate clause to a preceding verb. In this construction that is sometimes called the "expletive that." Indeed, the word is often omitted to good effect, but the very fact of easy omission causes some editors to take out the red pen and strike out the conjunction that wherever it appears. In the following sentences, we can happily omit the that (or keep it, depending on how the sentence sounds to us):
Isabel knew [that] she was about to be fired.
She definitely** felt **[that] her fellow employees hadn't supported her.
I hope [that] she doesn't blame me.
Sometimes omitting the that creates a break in the flow of a sentence, a break that can be adequately bridged with the use of a comma:
The problem is, that production in her department has dropped.
Remember, that we didn't have these problems before she started working here.
As a general rule, if the sentence feels just as good without the that, if no ambiguity results from its omission, if the sentence is more efficient or elegant without it, then we can safely omit the that. Theodore Bernstein lists three conditions in which we should maintain the conjunction that:
When a time element intervenes between the verb and the clause: "The boss **said **yesterday that production in this department was down fifty percent." (Notice the position of "yesterday.")
When the verb of the clause is long delayed: "Our annual report revealed that some losses sustained by this department in the third quarter of last year were worse than previously thought." (Notice the distance between the subject "losses" and its verb, "were.")
When a second that can clear up who said or did what: "The CEO **said **that Isabel's department was slacking off and that production dropped precipitously in the fourth quarter." (Did the CEO say that production dropped or was the drop a result of what he said about Isabel's department? The second that makes the sentence clear.)
Sí, ya se entiende mejor todo. Muchas gracias por tu ayuda.
Me parece que has escrito tu mensaje antes de que yo pudiera contestar al primero. Voy a tratar de leerlo despacio.
No sé, a lo mejor es que "that" sirve para unir dos frases (cada frase debe tener un sujeto y un verbo).
Si analizo la frase: It was money that John took. Tiene dos frases: it was money - John took. "That" sirve sólo de enlace.
Sin embargo, este "that" no es un enlace en la frase "love is that you need". Por éso, a lo mejor está incorrecta.
A lo mejor, la frase correcta es: "love is what you need". ¿No crees?
You're saying that the <
In love is what you need. the what (relative pronoun) introduces a noun clause.
In the money that John took... the that again is a relative pronoun referring back to money. (adjective clause).
It might help to see how that serves as a conjuction. Notice the first sentence
saying that it connects the verb, not a noun.
Omitting That
The word that is used as a conjunction to connect a subordinate clause to a preceding verb. In this construction that is sometimes called the "expletive that." Indeed, the word is often omitted to good effect, but the very fact of easy omission causes some editors to take out the red pen and strike out the conjunction that wherever it appears. In the following sentences, we can happily omit the that (or keep it, depending on how the sentence sounds to us):
Isabel knew [that] she was about to be fired.
She definitely** felt [that] her fellow employees hadn't supported her.
I **hope [that] she doesn't blame me.
Sometimes omitting the that creates a break in the flow of a sentence, a break that can be adequately bridged with the use of a comma:
The problem is, that production in her department has dropped.
Remember, that we didn't have these problems before she started working here.
As a general rule, if the sentence feels just as good without the that, if no ambiguity results from its omission, if the sentence is more efficient or elegant without it, then we can safely omit the that. Theodore Bernstein lists three conditions in which we should maintain the conjunction that:
When a time element intervenes between the verb and the clause: "The boss said **yesterday that production in this department was down fifty percent." (Notice the position of "yesterday.")
When the verb of the clause is long delayed: "Our annual report **revealed that some losses sustained by this department in the third quarter of last year were worse than previously thought." (Notice the distance between the subject "losses" and its verb, "were.")
When a second that can clear up who said or did what: "The CEO **said **that Isabel's department was slacking off and that production dropped precipitously in the fourth quarter." (Did the CEO say that production dropped or was the drop a result of what he said about Isabel's department? The second that makes the sentence clear.)
No sé, a lo mejor es que "that" sirve para unir dos frases (cada frase debe tener un sujeto y un verbo).
Si analizo la frase: It was money that John took. Tiene dos frases: it was money - John took. "That" sirve sólo de enlace.
Sin embargo, este "that" no es un enlace en la frase "love is that you need". Por éso, a lo mejor está incorrecta.
A lo mejor, la frase correcta es: "love is what you need". ¿No crees?
You're saying that the <
> serves as a conjunction joining two clauses. In love is what you need. the what (relative pronoun) introduces a noun clause.
Le he echado un vistazo al diccionario, y he visto las frases de relativo con "that". En seguida me he dado cuenta de que "love is "that" you need" estaba mal. Pero, claro, ahora tengo otra duda.
Tu explicación ha reforzado un poco esta idea. La explicación de lo del "el dinero que tomó John". Pero, no sé, lo de: Love is what you need... Tengo que reconocer que no sabía que "what" pudiera ser un pronombre relativo. Tampoco sé muy bien que es una "noun clause". ¿Puede ser esta también una oración de relativo'. O sea, yo veo que "lo que tú necesitas" puede hacer de sujeto, ¿no'
"What you need is love" ¿es igual que? "Love is that you need"
"What John took was money" ¿es igual que? "it was money that John took"
You are translating them correctly when you change them to Spanish, but not in English. In Spanish you use lo que, but in English you are using that rather than that which.
What you need is love. You need what is love. That which you need is love.
What John took was money. John took what was money. That which John took was money.
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No sé, a lo mejor es que "that" sirve para unir dos frases (cada frase debe tener un sujeto y un verbo).
Si analizo la frase: It was money that John took. Tiene dos frases: it was money - John took. "That" sirve sólo de enlace.
Sin embargo, este "that" no es un enlace en la frase "love is that you need". Por éso, a lo mejor está incorrecta.
A lo mejor, la frase correcta es: "love is what you need". ¿No crees'
"What you need is love" ¿es igual que? "Love is that you need"
"What John took was money" ¿es igual que? "it was money that John took"
This is a very good question. I don't know how to explain when to use "what" and when to use "that".
"Love is that you need" is not correct.
"What John took was money" and
"It was money that John took" and
"What you need is love" are all correct.
Normally WHAT is used in a question and THAT is not. "Is that what you need'" however is perfectly correct.
Have a look in the dictionary section for WHAT and THAT - it may help you.
"What you need is love" ¿es igual que? "Love is that you need"
"What John took was money" ¿es igual que? "it was money that John took"
