It doesn't really matter what I do

[keannu]

Source : "Lesson 3 : Be Positive, Be happy!" from a middle school textbook
Let me tell you what my mother does about her stress. She feels stressed by all the things she has to do at work and at home. When she's under stress, she writes “Me Time” on her calendar. This means she takes some time out for herself. She reads a book, watches a movie, or talks with her friends.
She says, “It doesn't really matter what I do, as long as it's something I like. I've been writing 'Me Time' on my calendar for two months, and I feel much better.” Which methods will work for you?

ex)It doesn't really matter what I do.
1. I gave him what he wanted.
2. I asked him what he wanted.

Is "what" in ex same as "what" as a relative pronoun in 1 or as "what" as an interrogative in an indirect question in 2?

 

[GoesStation]

Source and author?

 

[keannu]

The source in the first line is all that I know. Please don't ask me for its exact source, which will make me search for it on the internet for a long time.

 

[5jj]

If you can't be bothered to give us a source, I can't be bothered to deal with your question.

 

[tzfujimino]

I've found this, keannu:

https://www.google.com/search?q=BBE...uOS4xmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

I don't understand Korean, but I think the "BBEM's Edu&English" has something to do with the text.

(Edit)
I've actually found a PDF here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Les...AuMTaYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

 

[keannu]

I think tzfujimino's source is correct.

 

[jutfrank]

What you're asking about here is what we teachers call 'wh'-clauses. The structure is: question word + clause.

what I do
what he wanted
where I went
how I did it
when she arrived
why they stopped

 

[GoesStation]

I'm afraid that careful enunciation is not a hallmark of bluegrass music. Hopefully learners will at least be able to make out the oft-repeated chorus in this classic anyway:

 

[keannu]

What you're asking about here is what we teachers call 'wh'-clauses. The structure is: question word + clause.

what I do
what he wanted
where I went
how I did it
when she arrived
why they stopped

Is this an indirect question? How can you tell if "what" is a question word or a relative pronoun in various contexts?
As I know, indirect questions normally go with "ask" or "know", but this sentence doesn't have those verbs. So "what" in this sentence seems to be a relative pronoun.
What do you think?

It doesn't really matter what I do.
*I guess if paraphrased => What I do doesn't really matter.

 

[GoesStation]

Rearrange the sentence to this: What I do doesn't really matter. Now the wh-clause is the subject. Does that help answer your question?

 

[keannu]

Rearrange the sentence to this: What I do doesn't really matter. Now the wh-clause is the subject. Does that help answer your question?

No, I'd like to know how to distinguish "what" as a relative pronoun and "what" as a question word. Or do the two have th same root, not easily distinguishd?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Is this an indirect question? How can you tell if "what" is a question word or a relative pronoun in various contexts?
As I know, indirect questions normally go with "ask" or "know", but this sentence doesn't have those verbs. So "what" in this sentence seems to be a relative pronoun.
What do you think?

It doesn't really matter what I do.
*I guess if paraphrased => What I do doesn't really matter.

It is not an indirect question. The word "what" is not always a question.

In writing, you can tell it's a question by the question mark. In speaking, you can tell it's a question because the voice usually goes up at the end of the sentence. Another clue: If it's a question, then "What" is usually the first word in the sentence.

Think of it this way:

- Me: What do you like to do? [question mark]

- You: I like to study English. That is what I like doing. What I like to do is study English. [full stops]​

You can substitute "the thing":

- You: l like to study English. That is the thing I like doing. The thing I like to do is study English.​

 

[jutfrank]

Is this an indirect question?

No, but indirect questions often include wh-clauses. An example is Could you tell me what he said? The direct question equivalent is What did he say?

How can you tell if "what" is a question word or a relative pronoun in various contexts?

Forget about that. Focus on identifying when what is part of a wh-clause.

As I know, indirect questions normally go with "ask" or "know", but this sentence doesn't have those verbs.

Many indirect questions use ask and know but many don't.

So "what" in this sentence seems to be a relative pronoun.
What do you think?

I think you should forget about relative pronouns and focus on learning how to use wh-clauses.

It doesn't really matter what I do.
*I guess if paraphrased => What I do doesn't really matter.

That's right.

 

[PaulMatthews]

ex)It doesn't really matter what I do.
1. I gave him what he wanted.
2. I asked him what he wanted.

Is "what" in ex same as "what" as a relative pronoun in 1 or as "what" as an interrogative in an indirect question in 2?

Relative “what” only occurs in the fused relative construction; the kind where the antecedent is combined, or fused, with the relativised element, as in “I’ve eaten [what you gave me]”, where the bracketed element is a noun phrase.

Interrogative “what” is also a pronoun used in main clause interrogatives and subordinate ones, the latter being typically called embedded questions.

[1] I gave him [what he wanted].
[2] It doesn't really matter [what I do].

[1] is a 'fused' relative construction, where the bracketed element is a noun phrase functioning as direct object of “gave”. It is comparable to the non-fused “I gave him that which he wanted”.

The bracketed element in [2] is a subordinate interrogative clause (embedded question), where the meaning is:

“The answer to the question ‘What do I do?’ doesn’t really matter.”