Englishfor English speakers
what
Pronoun
—
What is used to ask for information about things.
What did you see?
What do you mean?
—
What is used to add a clause with more information.
I don't know what you mean.
I'll tell you what to do.
I'll see what I can do to help.
—
What is used when you want to describe something instead of naming it.
Take what you can find.
Can I see what you did?
I could change it if that's what you want.
what
Determinative
—
What is used to ask about the member(s) of a group.
What book did you buy?
—
What is used to add a clause to identify the member(s) of a group.
I don't know what problems you mean.
I'll tell you what button to push.
I'll see what food I can give.
what
Adjective
—
used to show that you feel strongly about something.
What a great book this is!
are
Verb
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Are is the present tense, second person form of the verb be.
Hello John, how are you?
We are all happy.
Are we there yet?
John and Mary are playing.
Are you all hungry?
the
Determiner
—
Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist.
Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book."
—
Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special.
Are you the John Smith that I went to school with?
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Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned
The poor are always with us.
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Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs.
You are the best.
working
Noun
—
The workings of something is how it functions.
He showed us the machine's inner workings.
hours
—
noun
a period of time assigned for work
they work long hours
—
noun
an indefinite period of time
they talked for hours