The phrase what is appears in some of the most basic and useful questions in English. You use it when you want information about a thing, person, idea, situation, meaning, time, name, or definition. The word what asks for information, while is is a form of the verb be. Cambridge Dictionary
what is is an English question phrase formed from the interrogative word what and the verb is. It commonly asks someone to identify, define, describe, or explain something, as in “What is your name?” or “What is gravity?” In informal English, it is usually contracted to what’s.
Understanding this small phrase makes it easier to form hundreds of everyday questions correctly.
What Does “what is” Mean?
At its simplest, what is means that the speaker wants information about something.
Consider these questions:
- What is your name?
- What is this?
- What is the problem?
- What is photosynthesis?
- What is the answer?
- What is your favorite food?
The type of information requested changes, but the grammatical purpose remains similar.
The word what is used to ask for particular information about a person or thing. Dictionaries classify what primarily as an interrogative pronoun or determiner, although it has other grammatical functions as well. Dictionary.com
The word is is a present-tense form of be. When the two words appear together at the beginning of a direct question, is normally comes before the subject:
What + is + subject/complement?
For example:
What is your address?
Here, what requests the missing information.
How “what is” Works in English Grammar
Questions containing what is are examples of wh- questions. English has several common interrogative words, including what, who, where, when, why, and how.
Compare:
| Question word | Typical purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What | asks for information or identification | What is that? |
| Who | asks about a person | Who is she? |
| Where | asks about a place | Where is it? |
| When | asks about time | When is lunch? |
| Why | asks for a reason | Why is it closed? |
| How | asks about manner or condition | How is it made? |
What is especially broad because it can request many kinds of information. Cambridge gives examples involving time, objects, events, causes, and other kinds of information, demonstrating how flexible the word is. Cambridge Dictionary
Basic Question Structure
A common pattern is:
What + is + noun/pronoun + ?
Examples:
What is your name?
What is the temperature?
What is this button?
What is her job?
Another common structure asks for a definition:
What is + noun/concept + ?
For example:
What is democracy?
What is artificial intelligence?
What is a search query?
In these questions, the speaker already has the term but wants to know its meaning.
“what is” for Asking Definitions
One of the most familiar uses of what is is asking someone to define a word, concept, process, object, or subject.
For example:
What is gravity?
The expected response explains gravity.
Similarly:
What is a search query?
A search query is the word, phrase, question, or other input a person submits to a search engine to find information. Search-industry sources distinguish the actual query entered by a user from a keyword that a marketer or SEO professional chooses to target. Roborank
This definition-seeking structure appears constantly in education and online search:
- What is DNA?
- What is an algorithm?
- What is inflation?
- What is SEO?
- What is a noun?
- What is climate change?
These are informational questions. The searcher generally wants to understand a subject rather than reach a particular website or immediately complete a purchase.
Why “What Is X?” Is Such a Common Search Pattern
Search engines receive questions written in natural language, and definition queries are among the clearest expressions of informational intent.
A person typing:
what is blockchain
has communicated both the subject—blockchain—and the desired type of answer—a definition or explanation.
Search systems can interpret the query and retrieve pages considered relevant to that information need. A search query itself is the actual input submitted to a search engine. Dashword
This explains why educational articles frequently begin with a short definition before expanding into examples, types, benefits, limitations, or related concepts.
“what is” for Identifying Something
Not every what is question requests a dictionary-style definition. Sometimes you simply want to identify something.
Imagine seeing an unfamiliar object.
You might ask:
What is that?
You are not necessarily requesting its technical definition. You primarily want to know what the object is.
Other examples include:
What is this symbol?
What is that sound?
What is the building over there?
What is this tool called?
Context determines how detailed the answer should be.
“What is that?” might require a one-word response, while “What is quantum computing?” could require several paragraphs.
Using “what is” to Ask for Specific Information
what is can also request a particular piece of information rather than a definition.
Names
What is your name?
The expected answer is a name.
Time
What is the time?
More naturally in many situations, English speakers say:
What time is it?
Address
What is your address?
The requested information is a location or mailing address.
Price
A speaker could ask:
What is the price?
In everyday conversation, however, alternatives such as “How much is it?” may sound more natural depending on context.
Problem or Situation
What is the problem?
Here, the speaker is asking for an explanation of a situation.
The flexibility of what is one reason it appears so frequently in English. Oxford describes it as a word used in questions to request particular information about somebody or something. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
“what is” vs. “what’s”
What’s is the common contraction of what is.
For example:
What is your name?
can become:
What’s your name?
And:
What is happening?
becomes:
What’s happening?
Both forms can be grammatically correct.
The main difference is style. The full form what is can sound slightly more deliberate or formal, while what’s is extremely common in ordinary speech and informal writing.
| Full form | Contracted form |
|---|---|
| What is your name? | What’s your name? |
| What is happening? | What’s happening? |
| What is this? | What’s this? |
| What is wrong? | What’s wrong? |
| What is the answer? | What’s the answer? |
There is an important complication: what’s can also mean what has.
For example:
What’s happened?
Here, what’s means what has, not what is.
You determine the meaning from the words that follow and the grammatical structure.
“what is” vs. “what are”
Choosing between what is and what are usually depends on whether the relevant subject is singular or plural.
Use is with a singular subject:
What is this?
What is the reason?
What is your favorite movie?
Use are with a plural subject:
What are these?
What are the reasons?
What are your favorite movies?
Compare:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| What is this object? | What are these objects? |
| What is the problem? | What are the problems? |
| What is your goal? | What are your goals? |
| What is the difference? | What are the differences? |
The distinction comes from subject-verb agreement.
A common learner mistake is using is automatically after what, even when the subject is plural. Instead, look at the noun or pronoun associated with the verb.
“what is” vs. “what does”
These structures are easy to confuse because both can introduce questions.
Use what is when be functions as the main or linking verb:
What is SEO?
What is your job?
What is the problem?
Use what does when asking about an action or when another main verb is required:
What does SEO mean?
What does she do?
What does this button control?
Compare:
What is this word?
This asks for identification.
What does this word mean?
This asks for its meaning.
Both may lead to similar information, but their grammar is different.
Direct and Indirect Questions With “what is”
One of the most common grammatical problems occurs when a direct question becomes part of a larger sentence.
A direct question might be:
What is his name?
But an indirect question becomes:
Do you know what his name is?
Not:
Do you know what is his name?
The word order changes because what his name is is embedded inside the larger question.
Another example:
Direct:
What is the problem?
Indirect:
Can you tell me what the problem is?
Direct:
What is her address?
Indirect:
Do you know what her address is?
This distinction matters in both formal writing and natural conversation.
A Simple Way to Remember It
If what is begins the direct question, inversion is normal:
What is the answer?
When the question becomes an embedded clause, normal statement-like word order usually returns:
I don’t know what the answer is.
That small change makes English sound much more natural.
“what is” and “which is”: What Is the Difference?
What and which can both ask for information, but they are not always interchangeable.
What often leaves the possibilities relatively open:
What is your favorite movie?
The person can choose from an enormous number of movies.
Which commonly points toward a more limited or identifiable set of choices:
Which is your bag—the black one or the blue one?
Oxford’s entry for what specifically directs learners to compare it with which, reflecting this useful grammatical distinction. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
The boundary is not absolute in every context, but thinking in terms of an open question versus a limited choice is a useful starting point.
Other Meanings and Uses of “what”
Understanding what is becomes easier when you realize that what does more than introduce straightforward questions.
Asking for Information
This is the most relevant use:
What is your favorite book?
Referring to “the Thing That”
What can also mean something close to “the thing that”:
I understand what you mean.
Here, nobody is directly asking a question.
Cambridge and Oxford both document this non-interrogative use of what. Cambridge Dictionary
Expressing Surprise or Emotion
What also appears in exclamations:
What a beautiful day!
Or when someone is surprised:
What?
Again, these uses should not be confused with the normal what is definition-question structure.
Common “what is” Questions in Everyday English
Learning patterns can be more useful than memorizing an abstract grammatical definition.
Here are some common constructions:
What is this?
Used to identify an object, idea, message, or situation.
What is that?
Similar to What is this?, generally referring to something less immediate or farther away.
What is your name?
Requests someone’s name.
What is your opinion?
Requests a person’s view.
What is the difference?
Asks someone to compare two or more things.
What is the meaning of this?
Requests an explanation or definition.
What is happening?
Asks about a current event or situation.
What is wrong?
Asks about a problem.
What is it?
Can request identification, but context can give it additional conversational meanings. For example, it may be used when asking what someone wants or when showing concern about a situation. Wiktionary
These patterns demonstrate why context matters as much as grammar.
Common Mistakes With “what is”
The words themselves are simple. Most errors happen because the surrounding sentence requires a different structure.
Using “is” With a Plural Subject
Incorrect:
What is these things?
Correct:
What are these things?
Keeping Question Word Order in an Indirect Question
Awkward or incorrect in standard usage:
Can you tell me what is your name?
Correct:
Can you tell me what your name is?
Confusing “what’s” With Only “what is”
Remember that what’s may represent either what is or what has.
What’s that? = What is that?
What’s happened? = What has happened?
Using “what” When “who” Is More Natural
If you are specifically asking for a person’s identity, who may be preferable:
Who is that?
But what can be appropriate when asking about a person’s occupation or role:
What is she?
Even then, depending on context, “What does she do?” or “What is her job?” often sounds clearer and more natural.
How to Answer a “what is” Question Clearly
A good answer depends on what information the question requests.
For a simple identification question:
What is that?
A short answer may be enough:
It’s a thermometer.
For a definition question, a useful structure is:
Term + category + distinguishing characteristic.
For example:
A thermometer is an instrument used to measure temperature.
That is usually stronger than beginning with a long history of thermometers before explaining what the object actually is.
For complex subjects, start with a direct definition and then add:
- how it works,
- why it matters,
- important types or components,
- a practical example,
- relevant limitations or exceptions.
This structure works particularly well for educational explanations because the reader receives the essential answer first.
Why Context Changes the Answer
The question what is cannot communicate a complete information need by itself in most situations. Something normally has to follow it, or the surrounding conversation has to provide the missing subject.
Compare:
What is a noun?
What is your name?
What is going on?
What is 10 percent of 500?
Each begins similarly but requests a completely different kind of response.
The first seeks a grammatical definition. The second asks for personal information. The third requests an explanation of a situation. The fourth asks for a calculation.
That is why what is should be understood as a flexible question structure rather than a phrase with one narrow standalone meaning.
Why “what is” Matters in Search and Learning
The phrase has an especially important role in educational search because it signals a basic information need.
Search queries can consist of individual words, phrases, or complete questions, and different users may express the same underlying need in different ways. Yoast
Someone interested in the same topic might search:
what is a search query
search query meaning
define search query
search query definition
Although the wording changes, the underlying intent may be almost identical.
Modern search systems therefore have to interpret meaning and intent rather than depend entirely on exact word matching. Search-query resources describe queries as user-generated inputs that search engines interpret to retrieve and rank relevant results. Roborank
For readers, the practical lesson is simpler: what is usually signals that a clear explanation should come quickly.
Final Takeaway
what is is one of the fundamental question structures in English. What requests information, while is is a present-tense form of be. Together, they can ask for a definition, identity, description, fact, explanation, name, condition, or other specific information.
Use what is with appropriate singular constructions, what are when the relevant subject is plural, and remember that direct and indirect questions use different word order. In everyday speech, what is frequently becomes what’s.
Once you understand those patterns, questions such as “What is this?”, “What is the difference?”, and “What is this word?” become much easier to form and answer naturally.
