"If you know what X is" or "if you know what is X"

Asked Oct 19 '13 at 00:48

Active Oct 19 '13 at 00:48

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Recently I encountered the phrase "If you know what is QQ then(...)". The writer wasn't a native English speaker(neither me).

First, I thought it should be "If you know what QQ is ...". But then, I thought about the phrase: "If you know what is right..." I think the latter implies that you already know what "true" is and you should find/select an object. Or is it related to the fact that "true" is an adjective? Or is it just wrong?

So, I'm very confused. Can you help me?

I tried to search for it, however searching for "what is" in search engines is really difficult! The nearest questions are this one and this one, but I don't think it's a duplicate.

Thank you in advance.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

Community

asked Oct 19 '13 at 00:48

fatihpense

1

You may find English Language Learners useful. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Oct 19 '13 at 01:01
1

In "If you know what is right...", what is the subject. In "If you know what QQ is", what is the object. The subject being QQ. These are two completely different whats. – RegDwigнt Oct 19 '13 at 01:08
We need to recognized when an intelligent question is asked. Even if the wording of the question itself may be simple. Voting to reopen. – Kris Oct 19 '13 at 07:31
fatih, Patience! – Kris Oct 19 '13 at 07:33

"If you know what X is" or "if you know what is X"

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