When we encounter sentences like ‘What it means to be a cat’, the word ‘what’ can often confuse English learners. Is it a relative pronoun, or is it part of an indirect question? Understanding the structure of the sentence can help us distinguish between these two possibilities.
1. The Role of ‘What’ in the Sentence
In the phrase ‘What it means to be a cat’, ‘what’ introduces a noun clause that explains the subject of the sentence. The clause ‘What it means’ serves as the subject of the sentence, and the rest of the sentence (‘to be a cat’) explains the meaning. This structure indicates that ‘what’ here is part of an indirect question, not a relative pronoun.
In indirect questions, ‘what’ is used to ask about something indirectly. The sentence ‘What it means to be a cat’ could be rephrased as ‘I wonder what it means to be a cat,’ which shows that it’s questioning the nature or definition of being a cat, but it’s phrased in a declarative form.
2. Differentiating Between a Relative Pronoun and an Indirect Question
To differentiate between a relative pronoun and an indirect question, we can look at the sentence structure:
- Relative Pronoun: A relative pronoun connects a noun with additional information. For example, ‘The cat that lives next door is friendly.’ Here, ‘that’ connects ‘the cat’ with the description ‘lives next door.’
- Indirect Question: An indirect question does not have the same word order as a direct question. For example, ‘I know what it means to be a cat.’ Here, ‘what’ is part of an indirect question asking about the definition of being a cat.
3. Why ‘What’ in ‘What it means to be a cat’ is an Indirect Question
The phrase ‘What it means to be a cat’ cannot be classified as a relative clause because it does not modify a noun directly; rather, it provides an explanation or answer to a question. The sentence structure shows that ‘what’ introduces an indirect question about the meaning or nature of being a cat.
In other words, ‘what’ is not acting as a connector or modifier of a noun but rather as the subject of an indirect question embedded in the sentence. Thus, it functions in an interrogative sense, even though the sentence is declarative.
4. Examples to Illustrate the Difference
To further clarify the difference between a relative pronoun and an indirect question, here are two examples:
- Relative Pronoun: ‘I don’t understand the book that you gave me.’ (‘that’ connects ‘book’ with ‘you gave me’)
- Indirect Question: ‘I don’t understand what you meant by that.’ (‘what’ introduces the indirect question ‘what you meant’)
5. Conclusion: Understanding the Structure of ‘What it means to be a cat’
In summary, ‘what’ in the sentence ‘What it means to be a cat’ functions as part of an indirect question, not as a relative pronoun. By examining the structure and function of ‘what’, we can better understand its role in asking for clarification or explanation, even within a declarative sentence. This is a useful distinction when studying English grammar and sentence structure.
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