Subject verb object

statement / am reading 'Kim'

What-question What are you reading⁹ 'Kim'

What? can also be used in a variety of combinations, such as

13.34.1 'What book/books...?' 'What boy/boys...?' [compare > 13.36.1 ] What + noun asks about things (singular or plural) or substances

What book/books did you buy? What soap do you use? What + noun can sometimes ask about the identity of people, male or female, singular or plural

What boy/boys/girl/girls/people did you meet at the party? but this is less common, since we generally ask about people with Who(m)? What? on its own refers only to things and to an

, Particular question-words and their uses

unlimited and unspecified choice So, for example, the question What would you like? with reference to a menu is not limited - except, of course, by the extent of the menu itself Where the choice is limited and specified, we often prefer Which? as in eg Which would you prefer beef or lamb?

13.34.2 'What (be, look, etc.) like?' [compare > 6.1]
We use What like? to obtain descriptions of e g

- people or things, appearance or characteristics What's your brother like? (= 'to look at' or 'as a person') What's your car like? (= 'to look at' or 'as a vehicle/to drive')

- the weather, climate, etc What's the weather like today? What's it like today?

What...?': names, etc.

- people What's he called? (= What's his name'?) He's called John

- technical terms, etc What's this called? It's called a microchip

- foreign words What's this called in English? It's called chalk

- What + make What make is your car? - It's a Volvo