Thread: What or who?

Perhaps it's a too simple question for my level of English but I'm not sure about the difference between "who I am" and "what I am". When should I use its? Could you help me with it?

PS: thanks.
PPS: correct my mistakes if there are some ones in my message, please

Originally Posted by Zaya

Perhaps it's a too simple question for my level of English but I'm not sure about the difference between "who I am" and "what I am". When should I use its? Could you help me with it?

PS: thanks.
PPS: correct my mistakes if there are some ones in my message, please

You use "who am I" when you are talking about yourself as a person, who has an identity, or someone who is known.

And, you use "what am I" if you are describing yourself as a thing, an object.

Who > person (he/she)
What > object/thing (it)


Examples:

"Who am I"

Think of someone who has lost their memory:

Person 1: Who am I?
Person 2: You are John.

"What am I"

Think of someone who is describing themselves as an object:

Person 1: I am used when it rains, what am I?
Person 2: You are an umbrella.

You may see it used sometimes in terms of mood/characteristics, but it's more informal speech, usually:
-"What am I! I'm MAD! You sent my package to the WRONG ADDRESS AGAIN!!!"


"What" is also used in terms of profession. That is, in Russian when talking about your profession (кто вы по профессии?) you use "who", not "what"; in English the opposite is true.

-"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
-"I want to be an astronaut!"

"You are an umbrella."

Oh my God, I rolled on my floor laughing...

Who am I: What sort of person are you (I am a sensetive Norwegian with a great interest in dust)
What am I: Hard to explian, it is kind of your "state". I am an Engineer, I am happy.

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Who am I: What sort of person are you (I am a sensetive Norwegian with a great interest in dust)
What am I: Hard to explian, it is kind of your "state". I am an Engineer, I am happy.

Please. Do you know any engineers who are truly happy? Norwegians undoubtedly do appreciate dust, though, since it's the closest to tropical beach as they'll ever get...

Hey! We Norwegians have beaches! And they DO become tropical, it just depends on how much Aquavit you drink beforehand!

Originally Posted by Zaya

PPS: correct my mistakes if there are some ones in my message, please

should be "any"

Originally Posted by Zaya

Perhaps it's a too simple question for my level of English but I'm not sure about the difference between "who I am" and "what I am". When should I use its? Could you help me with it?

You can say "who I am" or "what I am" for emphasis.

Who are you?
I am an engineer - that's who I am.
I am an engineer - that's what I am. (colloquial)

should be "any"

Could you explain me why it is so?

Originally Posted by MrB

Originally Posted by Zaya

PPS: correct my mistakes if there are some ones in my message, please

should be "any"

Or: 'correct my mistakes if there are some in my messages, please'.

'Some ones' doesn't make sense, it sounds too much like 'someone's' in everyday speech.

You could only really use it for example, if you are talking about a maths (or math if you prefer) problem like 'there are some ones on this side of the equation'. But you would have to put emphasis/stress on the word 'ones', to make it more distinguishable from saying 'someone's'.

Originally Posted by Barmaley

You may see it used sometimes in terms of mood/characteristics, but it's more informal speech, usually:
-"What am I! I'm MAD! You sent my package to the WRONG ADDRESS AGAIN!!!"


"What" is also used in terms of profession. That is, in Russian when talking about your profession (кто вы по профессии?) you use "who", not "what"; in English the opposite is true.

-"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
-"I want to be an astronaut!"

So If I want to know what your profession is, can I ask you "What are you?"

Originally Posted by 007

So If I want to know what your profession is, can I ask you "What are you?"

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by 007

So If I want to know what your profession is, can I ask you "What are you?"

I'm serious! We learned at school that "Who is your mother?" means "What's your mother's name?" and "What is your mother?" means "What is your mother's profession?". So it is wrong???

Originally Posted by 007

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Originally Posted by 007

So If I want to know what your profession is, can I ask you "What are you?"

I'm serious! We learned at school that "Who is your mother?" means "What's your mother's name?" and "What is your mother?" means "What is your mother's profession?". So it is wrong???

If you ask "What are you?" you are asking what kind of creature they are.

Example
Question: What are you?
Answer: I am a werewolf.

If you want to find out somebody's profession, I normally say "What do you do for a living?" or simply "What is your profession?"

In England, we'd often say "What does your mum do?" or "Where does your mum work?".

Originally Posted by 007

So If I want to know what your profession is, can I ask you "What are you?"

That would be like saying in Russian: "ты - что?"

You can say "What are you?" to enquire about profession, although other methods would probably be preferred.