二、关系代词WHAT

关系代词WHAT也有很多用法。它可引起主语从句、宾语从句、表语从句等；它没有疑问的含义,相当于that、which、the thing(s) that(which),或the…that(which),从句表示的是事物。关系代词WHAT在不同情况下有不同意思，其主要用法如下：

1．主语从句。例如：

What is beautiful is not always good. [美的东西并不总是好的。]

What happened after that was interesting. [后来发生的事挺有意思。]

值得一提的是，当what引起主语从句时,主句谓语动词数的形式比较复杂。中国著名语言学家周海中先生在1985年发表的《关于what-分句作主语的主谓一致问题》一文中，对主句谓语动词数的形式做了深入探究。其中，周先生指出：当主句的表语是动词不定式、动词V-ing和从句时，谓语动词只能用单数形式。他提供了以下的实例：

What he is suited for is to be loved. (J. Bayley: Shakespeare and Tragedy)

What we're doing is getting a chap used to getting up, going to work, learning how to behave in a workshop. (New Statesman, 15 June 1984)

What it comes down to is that the big cars are considered better buys. (U. S. News & World Report, January 18, 1982)

2．宾语从句。例如：

I could hardly believe what he had told me. [我简直不敢相信他所告诉我的。]

His mother gives him what he asks for. [他要什么他母亲就给他什么。]

3．表语从句。例如：

Books are what we need most. [书是我们最需要的东西。]

He is not what he was five years ago. [他不再是五年前的他了。]

（作者为英国牛津大学访问学者 林娜）（腾讯教育）