ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Which, what

Marius Hancu — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:19:01 GMT

Surprisingly, at Google books:

http://books.google.com

the hits are:

282 on "what is your favorite book"

16 on "which is your favorite book"

Re: Which, what

MarvinTheMartian — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:56:51 GMT

Perhaps this is how I should have phrased my question: is it acceptable to use "what" in reference to finite numbers? After all, I often come across sentences like "What's your favorite "Godfather" movie" and so on... (even though there are only three movies in the "Godfather" series.)

Thanks in advance.

Re: Which, what

Mister Micawber — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:51:33 GMT

.
They are all acceptable, but since (I presume) there are only a few books in the series, which is preferred for careful writing.

Which, what

MarvinTheMartian — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:47:24 GMT

Hi, I know this may sound a bit silly, but I was wondering which of the following sentences is best and why. Please explain.

1. What's your favorite book in the "Vampire Chronicles" series?

2. What's your favorite "Vampire Chronicles" book?

3. Which is your favorite book in the "Vampire Chronicles" series?

4. Which of the "Vampire Chronicles" books is your favorite?

I'm inclined to say they're all acceptable, but I'd like someone else's opinion.