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"Which" is more formal when asking a question that requires a choice between a number of items. You can use "What" if you want, though. Generally speaking, you can replace the usage of "which" with "what" and be OK grammatically. It doesn't always work the other way around, however. There needs to be a context of choice. For example: Which/What flavor ...


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Both of the clauses beginning with what are noun clauses. You can tell they're noun clauses because they're both the object of the preposition of. much of [what scientists know about dinosaurs] the phenomenon of [what are known as corporate networks] Noun or complement clauses can function like nouns -- as subject, direct object, or prepositional object. ...


4

Questions of attribute which and what: We usually use which when we are asking about a fixed or limited number of things or people, and what when we are not. Often, however, we can use either which or what with little difference in meaning. Compare: • What towns do we go through on the way? (the speaker doesn't know the area) and • Which towns do we ...


3

What is utterly ungrammatical here. Which is perfectly fine, but does introduce the ambiguity you have identified. Two ways to remove it would be: Adding new information may change the database. This provides people with some practical solutions. Adding new information, which provides people with some practical solutions, may change the database. ...


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They aren't exactly equivalent. "Which" should be used when the choice is to be made from within a defined, finite set of options, as in, "Which of these is your favourite: Math, English, or Social Studies?" "What" should be used when the answer to the question could be almost anything, and is not presupposed to come from a limited subset of all possible ...


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One difference between the usage of "What" and "Which" is the difference between Noun Clauses and Adjective (Relative) Clauses. The same confusion occurs when a student makes a sentence like: The information WHAT scientists know about dinosaurs is limited. = X This sentence should be: WHAT scientists know about dinosaurs is limited. = Noun ...


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This isn't really a difficult one, watch this: Question: What do you know about dinosaurs? Make it to: Question: What do scientists know about dinosaurs? Answer with: Most of what scientists know about dinosaurs has been recently discovered.


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Generally, use "which" to select from a confined set of possibilities where all are mentioned. Use "what" to select from an open set or where the possibilities have not been mentioned. There is some overlap, such as where there's an implied confined set. For example "For which day of the week are our reservations?" Here the set is confined but not ...


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What kind of bird is this? What kind of birds are these? [EDIT] What kind of bird are these? (for a flock of identical birds) [EDIT] What kinds of birds are these? (assumes two or more different types of birds) What kinds of birds are facing extinction? (assumes two or more different types of birds) Which kind of bird is facing ...



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