The difference between: what and that

This is something that I often hear native English speakers get wrong!

Follow these tips to work out whether to use what or that.

That is a thing

That refers to a specific thing "I like that dress you are wearing." - that refers to the dress.

What is a question

What is used to ask a question "What are you going to wear to the party tonight?" - what asks for more information, in this case about your outfit!

• "I like that car."

In this sentence 'that' refers to the specific car.

• "What car do you have?"

'What', in this case, asks a question about your car.

What always wants to find out more information.

I like that car.

I often hear "I like the car what you have." This is not correct.

In this sentence 'the' is used to refer to a specific object (the car) but 'what' should be replaced by 'that' because you are not asking a question.

This sentence is not a question so we should use 'that'.

'What' is used when we ask a question.

'That' should be used because it talks about a specific car

• "I like the car that you have."

An even better sentence would be "I like your car."

• "I have finished reading the book that I bought last week!"

In this sentence 'that' gives us very specific information about the book - it was bought last week.

• "What books did you buy last week?"

'What' asks for more information about the books that our friend bought.

What books did you buy last week?

"I've finished reading the book what I bought last week." is not correct because this is not a question.

We use 'what' to ask a question and we use 'that' to refer to something specific - the book that I bought last week.

• "I've finished reading the book that I bought last week."

Remember - that is a thing and what is a question.

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