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Because I’ve previously studied a lot about “wh-movement,” I’ve developed at least a basic understanding of wh-words. However, today I came across the following expression on a language exchange platform, and after thinking about it, I found myself thoroughly confused:

1.1 What color do you like?

My personal understanding of “what” is that it should be used when you have absolutely no knowledge about the object of your question—for example:

1.2 What do you like?

In this case, regarding the verb “like,” we truly know nothing about its object.

But in the sentence “What color do you like?”, we already know one piece of information about the object of “like”—namely, that it’s a “color.” In other words, our answer will be selected from the set of all possible colors. Therefore, I feel that “which” should be used here instead of “what.”

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  • Q: Which color do you like? A: Baby Fawn, but the Gray Owl is nice too. Q: What color would you like for the trim? A: White Dove, I think. The set of all possible colors is practically infinite… Commented 17 hours ago
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    This question is similar to: "Which" vs. "what" — what's the difference and when should you use one or the other?. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem. Commented 17 hours ago
  • I'm sorry, but I don't know how to further clarify my question. It's somewhat related to cognitive linguistics. I think that once an explicit set like "color" is brought up, it implies we're selecting from within that set, so I tend to prefer "which." I really can't quite understand why "what" would be used here.@DW256 Commented 16 hours ago
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    As HippoSawrUs says, and as I said in my answer, what is selecting from all imaginable colours, which from a limited range. Commented 15 hours ago

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My understanding is that "What colour do you like?" or "What's your favourite colour?" invites the listener to state a preference among all possible colours.

We would ask "Which colour do you like?" when asking someone to make a choice between a number of available coloured items, for example a garment or manufactured object.

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    I'm not sure why this has been downvoted; it's just a statement of how the language is used in practice: "which colour" usually implies a choice from a specific, limited selection of colours, while "what colour" usually implies an unconstrained choice. Commented 15 hours ago
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    @psmears It's probably because the answer has been given before, in a question easily found. Though I won't add a DV. But site bloat is something we should all seek to avoid; it hinders searchability and thus overall usefulness, and diminishes site integrity (why else the 'duplicate' CV reason?) Commented 15 hours ago
  • @Edwin Ashworth - But newcomers look up the old answers and think, 'Wow, I wonder if they still had textbooks back then. How charming is that? Almost Victorian.' Just fix them all; you can do it. Who else has evolved so well? Nobody. I'm still morally required to reverse unclaimed downvotes. Not my fault, it's almost like they wanted to give someone 8 points in spite of themselves. Carry on. Commented 9 hours ago
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    @HippoSawrUs There is some truth in what you say. But you are misusing votes if you automatically counter-vote. And though inflated reps can mislead visitors, correctly following site protocols is the right thing to do (or go somewhere else). The site is intended to be a bloat-free (easier to search and more professional) repository of knowledge about ELU as outlined in the Help Center, not primarily Q and A entertainment. Commented 6 hours ago
  • @HippoSawrUs My downvote as there are no supporting references, cited examples, or really even an attempt to address the OP’s particular concern (that there was already a set to be selected from which would prompt him personally to prefer ‘which’). I have no idea why answers that amount to simplistic personal opinions get upvotes on a site dedicated to authoritative, well-supported answers. Oh, and the fact that it is an exact repeat of the answers at the duplicate, but with less nuance. Commented 6 hours ago

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