Mr.Maru: Could you get me the paper?

Sparky: Maybe. I'll do it if you give me a treat.

Mr.Maru: I'm not giving you a treat. You'll get fat.

Sparky: The one thing what makes me happy are treats.

Mr.Maru: The one thing that makes you happy are treats and belly rubs, right?

Sparky: Yea, Yea, belly rubs. I'll do anything what you want if you give me a belly rub.

Mr.Maru: Well, what I really want you to do is get the paper. Can you do that?

Sparky: Yea, Yea, paper! Got it.

How do you use the relative pronoun what? Relative pronouns can be difficult sometimes. They are incredibly powerful though when you use them in your writings. They help you do reduction. Reduction helps you make shorter and more concise sentences. Let's go over a strange relative pronoun, 'what'.

What is a relative pronoun?

First, let's talk about what a relative pronoun is. These are the words that introduce relative clauses. The three main relative pronouns are who, which, and the rarely used whom. Relative clauses are used to describe nouns and pronouns. They are like adjectives because they describe a noun or pronoun. For example,

I met a guy who likes to snowboard. (I met a guy. He likes to snowboard.)
George ate some pizza which is his favorite food. (George ate pizza. Pizza is his favorite food.)

The strange relative pronoun what

The word what can not be used like which or who. When it is used, it has the meaning 'the things which'. It creates a clause that is a noun and relative pronoun in one. It can be used as a subject, object or compliment. For example,

As a subject -
What a goalie does is protect the goal. (The thing which a goalie does is protect the goal.)
What I hope to do is create fusion power. (The thing which I hope to do is create fusion power.)

When we use it as the subject it places more emphasis on the the thing or activity we are doing not us.

As an object -

I already spent what I earned this month. (I already spent the thing which I earned this month.)
I haven't received what I ordered yet. (I haven't received the thing which I ordered yet.)

Again, using 'what' here emphasizes the thing or activity.

As a complement -

This is what I hoped for. (This is the thing which I hoped for.)
That is what he said. (That is the thing which he said.)

Be careful! The word what can not be used like a normal relative pronoun. It can not be used to describe a noun or pronoun that comes before it. For example,

X Sparky had everything what he wanted.
O Sparky had everything that he wanted.

X Kathy always ate chocolate what she loved.
O Kathy always ate chocolate which she loved.

Do you think you understand? Let's take a short quiz.

Relative pronoun what quiz

1) Did you understand everything ___________?

A) that I said

B) what I said

C) those I said

2) _________________ is talk to a doctor. It might be serious.

A) Which you need to do

B) What you need to do

C) How you need to do

3) Jenny carefully wrote down ___________.

A) which Kathy said

B) on which Kathy said

C) what Kathy said

Answers

1) A) – We need 'that' because 'I said' is describing 'everything'.

2) B) – We can use 'what' for the subject of this sentence.

3) C) – We can use 'what' as the object of this sentence.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you learned a few things. Thanks this week go to Pepe for sending me this question. Thanks for emailing me! If you are stumped, please send me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your question and I'll do my best to answer it.