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Is "What things are safe?", instead of "which things are safe?", grammatical and good usage? Here is an example in a (simplified) context:

In this formula, we use predicate Psafe, which describes what values are safe.

In this formula, we use predicate Psafe, which describes which values are safe.

I prefer the latter, while a coauthor prefers the former to avoid repeating the word "which".

FWIW: In the actual text, we already given technical definitions for the collection of "values" and the concept of "safe". And "predicate" is used in the sense from logic — as a property that can be true or false of some subject (here, if v is a value then Psafe(v) can be true or false). So Psafe are selecting a subcollection of "safe" values across a larger collection of all values.

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Blaisorblade
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  • (FWIW, I've already found https://english.stackexchange.com/a/3414/71325 and https://english.stackexchange.com/a/59350/71325, but I don't find it very convincing in this case). – Blaisorblade Mar 08 '20 at 15:37
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    I'm with you here, and if it weren't for the repeat, 'which' would be my firm favourite. But in speaking, more weight / stress is given to the first 'which' (- - ....), so the repeat is a trivial issue. And actually, 'what' sounds a little clumsy here. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 08 '20 at 16:13
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    Your coauthor has some erroneous ideas about natural use of English, if he thinks you should avoid repeating *which* in such contexts. Native speakers routinely do this without anyone noticing anything unusual (even more so with repeated *that* in similar constructions). – FumbleFingers Mar 08 '20 at 18:01
  • ... Even FumbleFingers can begin to sound almost normal. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 08 '20 at 19:14
  • "In this formula, we use predicate Psafe, which describes safe values." – Greybeard Mar 08 '20 at 20:05

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I would write:

In this formula, we use the predicate 'Psafe' which describes the values that are safe.

Maryam Nasseri
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