Collins Cobuild English Grammar (104 page)

How many
and
how much
are used to ask what number of things there are or what amount of something there is.

How many
is followed by a plural countable noun.

How many people
are there?
How many languages
can you speak?
How many times
have you been?

How much
is followed by an uncountable noun.

How much money
have we got in the bank?
Just
how much time
have you been devoting to this?

How many
and
how much
can be used without a following noun when you do not need to make it clear what sort of thing you are talking about.

How many
did you find?
How much
did he tell you?
How much
does it cost?
How much
do they really understand?

How long
is used to ask about the length of a period of time.

How long
have you lived here?
How long
will it take?
How long
can she live like this?
How long
ago was that?

How long
is also used to ask questions about the length of something.

How long
is this road?

How far
is used in questions about distance and extent.

How far
can we see?
How far
is it to Montreal from here?
How far
have you got with your homework?

You can combine
how
with an adjective when you are asking to what extent something has a particular quality or feature.

How big
is your flat?
How old
are your children?

How come
? is an informal way of asking
why
? It is normally used only in speech.

How come
you know so much about Linda?

what

5.33
    
What
can be a pronoun or determiner, or it can be used in combination with
if
or
for
.

What
is used as a pronoun to find out various kinds of specific information, for example details of an event, the meaning of a word or expression, or the reason for something.

What
’s wrong with his mother?
What
has happened to him?
What
is obesity?
What
keeps you hanging around here?

What
can be used to ask someone’s opinion of something.

What
do you think about the present political situation?

What
is often used as the object of a preposition. The preposition usually goes at the end of the question.

What
are you interested
in
?
What
did he die
of
?
What
do you want to talk
about
?

What
is used as a determiner to find out the identity of something or to ask what kind of thing it is.

What books
does she read?
What church
did you say you attend?

What if
goes in front of a clause in the declarative. It is used to ask what should be done if a particular difficulty occurs.

What if
it’s really bad weather?
What if
they didn’t want to part with it, what would you do then?

You put
what
at the beginning of a question and
for
at the end of it when you want to know the reason for something or the purpose of something.
What are you staring for
? means the same as
Why are you staring
?
What is this handle for
? means
What is the purpose of this handle
?

What
are you going
for
?
What
are those lights
for
?

In informal spoken English, you can also say
What for
? when someone says what they have done, or what they intend to do, and you want to know the reason for their actions.

‘I’ve bought you a present.’ – ‘
What for
?’

What
can also be used in combination with
about
or
of
. This use is explained in paragraph
5.45
.

whatever
,
wherever
, and
whoever

5.34
    If you want a question to sound more emphatic, you can use
whatever
instead of
what
,
wherever
instead of
where
, or
whoever
instead of
who
.

Whatever
is the matter?
Wherever
did you get this?
Whoever
heard of a bishop resigning?

Directing other people’s actions: the imperative

orders and instructions

5.35
    When someone gives a very clear order or instruction, they usually use the
imperative
.

Discard
any clothes you have not worn for more than a year.
Put
that gun down.
Tell
your mother as soon as possible.

Written instructions are given in the imperative.

Boil up
a little water with washing up liquid in it.
Fry
the chopped onion and pepper in the oil.

USAGE NOTE

When they are followed by a second verb, the imperative forms of
come
and
go
are used with
and
, followed by the base form of the second verb, rather than a
to
-infinitive. The two actions seem to be separate, because of the
and
, but they are in fact very closely linked.

Come and see
me whenever you need help.

In spoken American English, the imperative forms of
come
and
go
can be followed directly by the base form of the verb.

Come see
what the dog did to the couch. (Am)
Go get
some sleep. (Am)

An order can be made more forceful by putting
you
in front of the verb.

You
get in the car.
You
shut up!

advice and warnings

5.36
    You can use the imperative when you are giving advice or a warning.

Be
sensible.
You
be
careful.

Often advice or a warning is expressed in a negative form. You form a negative imperative by putting
don’t
or
do not
in front of the base form of the verb.

Don’t be
afraid of them.
Don’t be
discouraged.
Do not
approach this man under any circumstances.