what

What is he? 是询问职业、身份等, 可译为“他是干什么的?”或“他是做什么工作的?”而 Who is he? 是询问人的姓名、出身、人品或关系等。可回答为 He is John Smith. 或 He is my brother. 但这只是粗略的区分。实际上 What is he? 是一种不礼貌的说法。因此现在询问职业时大都使用 What is his profession? What is he by profession? 等说法。

1. A: What's her husband? A: 她丈夫是干什么的?

B: He's a film director. (CGEL) B: 他是个电影导演。

2. A: Who is her husband? A: 她的丈夫是谁?

B: He's Paul Jones, the famous art critic. (CGEL) B: 保罗·琼斯, 著名的艺术评论家。

从逻辑上来看,把 what you are 译为“你是怎样的人”,是犯了逻辑错误:“你的工作能力”显然包括在“你是怎样的人”之内。那怎么能说“重要的是工作能力,而不是你是怎样的人”呢?恰恰相反,“你是怎样的人”是至关重要的。从英文原文来看,这里的 what 是指职

业，而不是指“什么样的”。请看下面的例证：

1. What do you do? (=What is your job?) 你是做什么工作的?

2. What's her husband? (=What does her husband do?) 她丈夫是做什么的？[试译]重要的是你的工作能力，而不是你是哪里人或做什么工作的。

按照英语语法规则，在 wh-从句之前可以省略介词。在上句中是省略了介词 about(参见 note $^{4}$ , noun clauses, wh-clause $^{2}$ )。

由不可数名词表示的事物,当询问其数量时,可使用疑问代词 what,其含义相当于 how much。但是当询问 population, price, speed, depth, width, height, weight 的数量时,只能用 what(参见 population $^{3}$ )。

1. What's the temperature? 温度有多高?

2. What's the price? 多少钱?

3. What's two and five? 二加五等于几?

4. Polly, what's one and two? 波利, 一加二等于几?

作 how much 解的 what 还可用作形容词。

What cash has he? 他有多少现金？

由可数名词表示的事物,当询问其价格时,常使用 how much:

1. How much is that dress? 这件衣服多少钱？

2. How much are eggs today? 今天的鸡蛋多少钱?

____ is the population of this country? A. How B. What C. How much D. How many

虽然 what 和 that 都可以引导名词从句(主语从句、表语从句和宾语从句)，但它们有一个本质上的差别，就是 that 是个连词，不能在名词从句中充当句子成分，而 what 除引导从句之外，还要在它所引导的从句中充当句子成分(主语、表语或宾语)。在上面的试题里之所以必须选 What，就是因为除了用它引导一个主语从句作句子谓语 is 的主语之外，还要用它在从句中作从句的主语(其谓语是 caused)，其意义相当于 the thing(s) that 或 that which。请对比 what 和 that 引导的主语从句：

1. What that child needs is a good spanking! (what 引导主语从句并在从句中作 needs 的宾语) 那孩子需要的是被狠狠地打一顿屁股!

2. What we like to do most on holiday is just to visit old churches. (what 引导主语从句并在从句中作 to do 的宾语) 我们在假期最喜欢做的事情就是参观古老的教堂。

3. What he says is true. (what 引导主语从句并在从句中作 says 的宾语) 他所说的是真实的。

4. What I do with this money is not your concern. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code) 我怎样处理这笔款子与你们无关。(《达·芬奇密码》)

5. It was what they had been working so hard to find: pure radium. (what 引导表语从句，并在从句中充当 find 的宾语) 这就是他们一直辛勤劳动、孜孜以求的东西: 纯镭。

6. That he will help us is certain. (that 引导主语从句,但在从句中不作任何句子成分,仅仅是个连词) 他将会帮助我们,那是肯定无疑的。

7. That John became a poet may have been due to his mother's influence. 约翰成为诗人，可能是受了他母亲的影响。

这样的句子脱离上下文常常可以作两种解释。

what = 关系代词: He asked me the things I wanted.

what = 疑问代词: He asked me, “What do you want?”

What she wrote was a mystery. 亦可作两种解释：

what = 关系代词: The story that she wrote was a mystery. (= She wrote a mystery story.) 上句可译为“她写的东西是很神秘的。”

what = 疑问词: I don't know what she wrote. 上句可译为“她写了什么, 还是一个谜。”

著名语言学家 Jespersen 曾以“关系代词还是疑问代词”为题用了五页篇幅进行论述，试图找到某种区分标准。但是他以及其他语言学家们的努力并不是很成功的。例如，有的语言学家说：“ask 或 wonder 这类具有疑问意义的动词后接的 what 可以认为是 100% 的疑问词。”但是，正如前面我们所分析的那样，He asked me what I didn't know. 中的 what 也可以分析为关系代词。还有的语言学家说：“what 从句充当主语或主语补语时，what 可以看作是关系代词。”但是这种说法显然不适于下列句子：

1. What she wrote was a mystery. 她写的是什么还是一个谜。

2. The problem is what he said, not how he said it. 问题是他说了什么,而不是他怎样说的。

3. It doesn't matter what he does. 他做什么都没关系。

所以,有的语言学家说:“在语法形式上寻求区分标准几乎是不可能的。”然而,根据句意和上下文常常是可以排除歧义的:

1. He insists on knowing what it has cost. (疑问代词) 他坚持要了解花了多少钱。

2. He insists on paying what it has cost. (关系代词) 他坚持支付所花费的款项。

3. What followed is doubtful. (疑问代词) 后来发生了什么事,那还是个疑问。

4. What followed was unpleasant. (关系代词) 后来发生的事是令人不愉快的。

按照《新英汉辞典》和《远东英汉大词典》的解释,这种用作关系形容词的 what = all... that, any... that, as many(much)... as(《新英汉词典》译为“尽可能多的”)。它们选用的例句是:

1. I will give you what books I possess. 我要把我所有的书都给你。

2. I will give you what help I can. 我应当尽我的能力帮助你。

3. Lend me what reference books you have on the subject. 把你所有的关于这个题目的书都借给我。

但是，R.Quirk等人认为这种用作关系形容词的what还具有微量的含义：

1. What friends she has are out of the country. (CGEL)

= The few friends she has are out of the country.

2. He collected what information he could find.

= He collected the little information he could find. (CGEL)

他们还说,作限定词使用的 what, 其后只能跟表微量的词 few 和 little, 而不能跟表多量的词 many 和 much。

1. I gave him what money I had. = I gave him what little money I had. 我把我仅有的那一点钱都给了他。

2. He has sold what books he had. = He has sold what few books he had. 他把仅有的几本书都卖了。

3. I will lend you what books I can spare. = I will lend you what few books I can spare. 我将把我用不着的为数不多的几本书借给你。

4. He deposited what money he saves in a bank. = He deposited what little money he saves in a bank. 他把他节省下来的一点点钱都存入了银行。

由此可见，《新英汉词典》和《最新高级英汉词典》将关系形容词 what 译为“尽可能多的”[as many(much) as]，是不准确的。它们所提供的译文把微量含义变成多量含义，也有商榷的余地。建议在翻译上列各句时把 what 的微量含义给表达出来：

1. 我要把我仅有的那几本书都给你。

2. 我当尽我微薄的力量来帮助你。

3. 请把你的关于这个题目的那几本参考书都借给我吧。

He claims to be an expert in astronomy, but in actual fact he is quite ignorant on the subject. ____ he knows about it is out of date and inaccurate.

A. What little B. So much C. How much D. So little(全国研考,97-7)

这个问题我们已在

这样的用法并不罕见(参见 it ... what)。下面是一个我们从语法书上查到的例句：

It is a complete mystery what has happened to him. (AEG) 他究竟发生了什么事, 这完全是一件很神秘的事。

这种陈述疑问句常常用于采访、查询或反问中，是可以接受的。例如：

1. [A: “I saw John today.” “今天我看见约翰了。”]

B: “You saw who?” “你看见谁了?”

2. [A: “His son is an engineer.” “他的儿子是工程师。”]

B: “His son is a what?” “他的儿子是做什么的?”

3 「A: “How did you enjoy the carnival?” “你狂欢节玩得怎么样?”

5. {B: “How did I enjoy what?” (CGEL) “什么玩得怎么样?”

A: “Have you heard?” “你听说了吗?”

B: “Heard what ?” (Scheurweghs) “听说什么?”

5. [A: “The minister is to break the news to you.” “部长要把消息透漏给你。”]

B: “Break what news?” (Shaw) “透漏什么消息?”

what 在这种句型中是关系代词，在语意上相当于 that which (the thing which)。what 从句在主句中起表语(主语补语)的作用，what 在从句中也起表语(主语补语)的作用。这种句型的语意功能是对两件不同的事情进行对比。主句往往是语意重点之所在，作者常常把它当作读者所未知的内容而加以强调，而从句则表达读者已熟知的内容。通过由已知和未知的对比，读者就能获得新知。例如：

1. Railway is to transportation what blood is to a man's body. 铁路对于交通的重要性,就如同血液对于身体的重要性一样。

2. Manure is to crops what food is to man. 肥料对于农作物,就如同食物对于人一样。请做下面的英语试题:

3. Reading is to the mind ____ food is to the body.

A. what B. that C. which D. of which(大学生竞赛题)

2. Intellect is to the mind ____ sight is to the body.

A. what B. as C. that D. like(全国英语专业四级,01-45)

3. Nine is to three ____ three is to one.

A. when B. that C. which D. what(全国英语专业四级,08-53)

上面的句子实际上属于 Air is to us what water is to fish. 这种句型。只不过是把 what 从句提前罢了。研究一下这类句子，便可看出，这个句型是用来打比喻的。而比喻有个特点，就是总用熟悉的来比喻不熟悉的，用具体的来比喻抽象的，用近的来比喻远的，总之，用已知来比喻未知。因此，翻译这种句子时必须首先弄清楚，句子的哪个部分是作者认为读者所未知的内容而在语意上加以强调的。通过下面的例句，很容易看出，这个句型的主句是作者要告诉读者的语义重点（新信息），而 what 从句只不过是读者已知的内容（道理）而已。

1. Reading is to mind what food is to the body. 读书之于头脑如同食物之于身体。

2. Color, line, mass, space and texture are to a painter what words are to an author. (TOEFL) 颜色、线条、主体、空间和结构之于画家如同词之于作家。

3. What the blueprint is to the builder the outline is to the writer. 写作提纲之于作家,就如同蓝图之于建筑师一样。

4. What Newton was to mechanics and Darwin to biology, Freud was to psychology. 弗洛伊德之于心理学，就如同牛顿之于力学，达尔文之于生物学一样。（暗含意义：读者尚不了解佛洛伊德对心理学的贡献。）

5. An individual is to a country what a screw is to a machine. 一个人对于国家的作用, 就如同螺丝钉对于机器一样。

由此可以证明,在 What the leaves are to the forest,/That to the world are children. 这个句子里,What 从句表达的是读者已知的、熟悉的内容,而 to the world are children 才是全句的语意重点。因此应译为:

儿童之于世界,就像树叶之于森林一样。(暗含意义:读者尚不了解儿童对于世界的重要意义。)

一般都把 what 理解为“the thing which”，即理解为单数，因此，what 在从句中充当主语时，其谓语动词应取单数形式：

1. Give me what there is. (Palmer) 把有的(东西)都给我。

2. What is over is over. (Wilde) 过去的事情就让它过去吧。

3. What was once a palace is now a pile of rubble. (CGEL) 过去曾经是宫殿的地方现在是一片瓦砾。

但是,有时候人们把 what 理解为复数(those which 或 the things which):

1. We can see what appear to be camels. (Wood) 我们能看到的似乎是骆驼。

2. What were once truth are true no longer. 曾经是真理的东西现在已不再是真理了。

3. In some countries, what are called “Public Schools” are not owned by the state. 在某些国家，被叫做“公立学校”的机构并不归国家所有。

当 what 从句充当主语从句时,其谓语动词的数也是取决于对 what 所代表的数的理解:

1. What I should like most for a birthday present is a camera. (Wood) 我最喜欢的生日礼物, 就是一个照相机。

2. What were supposed to be new proposals were in fact modifications of earlier ones. 被看作是新建议的东西,其实是先前建议的改头换面而已。

3. You need not get any more stamps; what we have are quite sufficient. (Wood) 你不必再买邮票了；我们手头上的已足够了。

4. $\left\{ \begin{array}{l} \text {What I say and do are my own affair.} \\ \text {What I say and do is my own affair. (CGEL)} \end{array} \right.$ 我所说的和我所做的是我自己的事。

5. What are sovereign property rights to some people are nothing at all to Stanley. (Crews) 在某些人看来是至高无上的财产权，对斯坦利来说是毫无意义的。

6. What were left behind were five empty bottles. 所留下的东西是五个空瓶子。

7. What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces, above all, are its own gravediggers. 它首先生产的是它自身的掘墓人。(《共产党宣言》, p. 35)

8. What I had done with Monica Lewinsky was immoral and foolish. (B. Clinton, My Life) 我和莫妮卡曾做的事情是不道德的、愚蠢的。(《我的生活》)

9. Now I think what he didn't want was to lead another losing effort. I do understand that. (B. Clinton, My Life) 现在我认为，他不想要的是另一次竹篮打水。这我的确能理解。（《我的生活》）

10. But strange as it was for a kid of ten years old, what really dominated my TV viewing that summer were the Republican and Democratic conventions. (B. Clinton, My Life) 但说起来奇怪，那年夏天我这个年仅十岁的孩子真正注意看的电视节目却是共和党和民主党的代表大会。（《我的生活》）

What is he? 用来询问职业、职务、社会地位等：

A: What is your brother? 你哥哥是做什么工作的？

B: He is a worker. 他是个工人。

What is he like? 用来询问人的性格、能力、成就或给人的印象,亦可询问外表:

1. A: What's her mother like? 她母亲是什么样的人?

B: Oh, she's quite nice. 噢,她相当好。

2. A: What's the new teacher like? 新老师是什么样的人?

B: He's got a red beard and he makes stupid jokes. 他留着红胡子，开一些愚蠢的玩笑。

3. What is he like as a writer? 他作为一个作家成就如何？

4. What is the new neighbour like? 新邻居是个什么样的人？

5. What is he like? He's a tall man with a grey beard. 他是个什么样的人？他高高的个儿，留着灰白胡子。

用于指物时, What is it like? 用来询问事物的性质、质量、特征等, 有时候要求作详细的描述:

1. What is the tea like? 这茶怎么样？（指质量）

2. A: What was the concert like? 音乐会怎么样?

B: It was excellent. 太妙了。

3. What's the weather like this morning? 今天上午的天气怎么样？

4. What's the educational system like in your country? 你们国家的教育制度怎么样？

What does he (it) look like? 仅仅用于询问人或事物的外部特征:

1. A: What does it look like? 它是什么样子?

B: It's small and square. 它很小, 是正方形的。

2. What does he look like? He is tall and thin and very badly dressed. 他是个什么样的人？他又高又瘦，穿戴很糟。

请做下面的考题：

What is Mary like? She ____.

A. is very well B. likes icecream C. is like tall men D. is very pretty (Nelson, 100A)

该文作者由于对 what 的用法作了错误的解释,因而把整个句子结构都解释错了。

先讨论上句中 what 的用法。what 在这里是关系形容词,已没有疑问的含义,更没有感叹含义(见 what $^{7}$ ):

1. I took what books she gave me. (= ... the books that she gave me.) 我把她给我的书都拿走了。

2. What money I have is yours. [ = The money (that) I have is yours. ] 我所有的钱是你的。

关系形容词 what + 名词常常具有微量的意思, 因此, 它的后面只能跟表示微量的词 few 或 little, 而不能跟表多量的词 many 或 much:

What little I had was stolen. (= The little that I had was stolen.) 我有的那点儿钱被人偷走了。

现在来讨论上面试题的句子结构: what little ... of my spare time 根本就不是什么宾语从句（因而 what little 也不是从句的主句），而是一个名词短语，作 have taken 的宾语。即: have taken what little of my spare time。只不过是其间夹有一个定语从句 there is(由于 what 是个关系形容词, 其后的定语从句不出现关系代词 that)，把中心词 what little 与充当定语的 of my spare time 分隔开而已。见 splitting $^{3}$ ，what little。

[句意]改建房屋占去了我仅有的一点点儿业余时间。

R. A. Close 在 A Reference Grammar for Students of English 中说: 在直接问句中语序是“功能词 + 主语”(When will Mr X return?), 而在间接问句中则转而采用正常语序“主语 + 动词”(Tell me when Mr X will return.) 在说了这些话之后, 他做了一个脚注: “当功能词是实义动词 be 时, 在间接问句中有时会见到“功能词 + 主语”的语序, 例如, 说 Tell me what's the matter, 而不说 Tell me what the matter is.” (p.49) 这种说法似乎能够解释下列例句中的语序:

1. The owner of the shop came up to see what was the matter. (《高一英语课本》) 店主走过来看发生了什么事。

2. She wanted to know what was the matter. (Bennet) 她想知道出了什么事。

3. I could not understand what was the matter with me. (Wells) 我不明白自己怎么了。

但是，R. A. Close 的说法不能解释为什么英语里还有这样的语序：

He asked me what the matter was.

因此,必须寻求另外的解释。我们认为,这两种不同的语序跟 matter 的词义有关。当 matter 作“物质”“事情”解时,the matter 在下列句子里肯定是主语:

What's the matter? 这种物质(那件事)是什么?

He asked me what the matter was. 他问我这种物质(那件事)是什么。

但是, 当 the matter 作“有问题”“有毛病”解时, 具有形容词的特点, 常常用作表语, 相当于 wrong(with)。

请看下面的实例：

1. Something is the matter with your lungs. 你的肺有毛病。

2. “What's the matter with you?” “Nothing is the matter with me.” “你怎么啦?”“我没有什么。”

3. We told them that there was nothing the matter. 我们告诉他们没有出任何问题。

4. Is there anything the matter? (Mansfield) 出什么问题了吗?

因此,我们有理由把 What's the matter 中的 what 看作是主语,因而下面的语序就是自然而正常的了:

Tell me what's the matter. 告诉我出了什么问题(毛病)。

[附注]M. Swan 在 1995 年版的 PEU 中也指出 the matter 是表语, 但是他认为 be 既可以放在表语 the matter 之前, 也可以放在它之后, 见本书 matter(n.) $^{3}$ 。

正确的答案应当是 A。what they call, what is called 是英语里，尤其是论说语体的英语里常用的结构。但是不易为中国学生所理解。对于这类从句可以有两种分析方法：

A. 把 what they call, what is called 看作是半插入语, 因为把它们去掉后, 句子仍然完整:

1. The behavior of gases is explained by (what scientists call) the kinetic theory. 气体的特性可用(科学家所谓的)运动论来解释。

2. Just as sound travels through the air in waves, so electricity travels through the air in what we call radio waves. 正像声音以波的形式在空气中传播一样，电是以我们称之为无线电波的方式在空气中传播的。

B. 对 what 从句进行全面的句法分析: what 从句是名词性从句, 其中 what 是个关系代词, 在从句中充当主语或宾语。在上面的试题中, what 从句是 by 的宾语从句, 其中 what 为从句宾语, the kinetic theory 为宾语补足语。全句可直译为: 科学家称之为运动论的东西; 可意译为: 科学家所谓的运动论。请分析下列例句:

1. Most of what we call geniuses are successful only because they have made extraordinary efforts. 所谓的天才人物大部分只是由于非凡的努力才获得成功的。

2. They are what is called “the lowly” in capitalist society. 他们是资本主义社会里所谓的卑贱者。

选 C 固然正确,选 A 也没有错误。1995 年版的 PEU(§482) 明确指出,在 who/what/which + be + 表语(主语补足语)构成的间接问句中,be 既可以放在表语的前面,亦可以放在它的后面:

“一直接：Who's the best player here? 谁是这里的王牌？

间接: She asked me who was the best player. She asked me who the best player was. 她问我谁是王牌。

一直接: What's the matter? 出了什么事?

间接: I asked what was the matter.

I asked what the matter was. 我问出了什么事。

一直接: Which is my seat? 哪个座位是我的?

间接: She wondered which was her seat.

She wondered which her seat was. 她不知道哪个座位是她的。”

[附注]PEU的作者只是指出了存在两种语序的事实,而没有指出存在两种语序的原因。我们认为,之所以存在两种语序,是因为what/who/which既可以分析为表语,又可以分析为主语的缘故,见 $who^{1}$ ,