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Is it ok: "what did he wear?"

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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms

One paragraph about my favorite TV programme | usage of the verb "spare"

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Thu May 03, 2007 14:27 pm Is it ok: "what did he wear?"

In my book correct answer is "what did he have on" but I think that "what did he wear" is also possible. What do you think?

Zajac
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Joined: 28 Apr 2007
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Thu May 03, 2007 15:08 pm Is it ok: "what did he wear?"

You're right, both sentences are possible and mean the same.

Conchita
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Thu May 03, 2007 16:02 pm Is it ok: "what did he wear?"

thanks for help!

Zajac
I'm new here and I like it ;-)

Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 19

Thu May 03, 2007 20:22 pm Is it ok: "what did he wear?"

zajac wrote:

In my book correct answer is "what did he have on" but I think that "what did he wear" is also possible. What do you think?

It's probably worth mentioning that "What did he wear" is not always interchangeable with "What did he have on?" It depends on the context. Often a much better equivalent for that would be "What was he wearing?"

In many contexts, "What did he wear?" does not have quite the same meaning as "What did he have on?" For example:

Imagine someone on the street stole your briefcase half an hour ago. You saw the thief. When the police ask you for a description, they might ask you either "What was he wearing?" or "What did he have on?" The assumption is that the thief would still be wearing some or all of the same clothes and this description might help them spot the thief more quickly. Also, the length of time that the thief was wearing his clothes was longer than something else that happened at the same time (the theft).

In the context above, the question "What did he wear?" would suggest that the thief put on special clothes at the beginning of the theft and then took them off again as soon as he had snatched your briefcase -- a very unlikely scenario. The thief would hardly stop to change his clothes before running away. Wink

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One paragraph about my favorite TV programme | usage of the verb "spare"

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