In the sentence ‘no matter what I draw,’ understanding the role of ‘what’ is crucial for analyzing the structure of the sentence. The word ‘what’ often confuses learners of English because it can serve various grammatical functions depending on the context. In this article, we will clarify the part of speech of ‘what’ in this particular sentence and whether it behaves like an indirect question.
Understanding the Sentence Structure
The phrase ‘no matter what I draw’ can be dissected into its components: ‘no matter’ is a phrase that introduces the condition, and ‘what I draw’ acts as the object of that condition. The word ‘what’ in this context is a pronoun, specifically an interrogative pronoun, but it is not forming a direct or indirect question.
What’s the Role of ‘What’?
In this sentence, ‘what’ is used as a noun clause introducer, representing something indefinite or unspecified, but it does not form an indirect question. This is an important distinction because indirect questions typically contain a subject and a verb in a clause that acts as the object of a larger sentence. In ‘no matter what I draw,’ the clause ‘what I draw’ is simply a noun clause that functions as the object of ‘no matter.’
Thus, ‘what’ in this case is a relative pronoun, leading the noun clause ‘what I draw,’ where it refers to an unspecified thing or action. It’s not posing a question, but rather, it’s embedded in a conditional or hypothetical statement.
Indirect Question vs. Noun Clause
An important distinction to make here is between an indirect question and a noun clause. In an indirect question, the sentence structure changes, and it typically answers a direct question within a larger sentence. For example, in ‘Can you tell me what I should draw?’ the ‘what I should draw’ is an indirect question because it answers the query ‘what should I draw?’. However, in ‘no matter what I draw,’ we do not see an interrogative sentence or direct questioning pattern. Instead, we see a noun clause.
Conclusion
In summary, ‘what’ in ‘no matter what I draw’ is not acting as part of an indirect question. Instead, it is a pronoun that introduces a noun clause. Understanding this difference is important for correctly identifying the grammatical structure of sentences in English. While ‘what’ can sometimes introduce indirect questions, in this case, it serves as part of a noun clause that acts as the object of ‘no matter.’
コメント