0

I was filling out an application form, when I had noticed this sentence:

If bilingual, please provide in what languages.

If I was writing this, I'd form it as which languages, instead of what languages. Is the sentence above correct?

RegDwigнt
  • 97,231
jcora
  • 171
  • Hmmm. I'd say that there's a bigger question, which is, is the statement structured correctly? I would have said something like, 'If Bilingual, please list the respective languages'. I'm a copywriter so, while we're not always the best academic English writers, we're trained that, sometimes, beyond grammar and word usage, there are better ways to make sentences flow and sound less 'clunky'. – Warren van Rooyen Oct 04 '12 at 20:08
  • 2
    See for instance “Which” vs. “what” — what's the difference and when should you use one or the other? – Kit Z. Fox Oct 04 '12 at 20:10
  • 1
    @Warren, your example misuses the word respective. I agree that what vs which is an insignificant question here, as either can be used. More important: "provide in" is defective ("specify in" or "specify" would be better) and "Bilingual" should be lower case and "multilingual" – James Waldby - jwpat7 Oct 04 '12 at 20:24
  • 1
    I'd suggest applying somewhere different. Regardless of whether it's an application to enter a country, work for a company, or join a club, do you really want to get involved with illiterates who would write such gibberish on an "official" form? Apart from the points raised by @Warren above, since when was it appropriate to capitalise "Bilingual" in such contexts? Not for at least a couple of centuries, I suggest. – FumbleFingers Oct 04 '12 at 20:39
  • 1
    I like which as well. But I really would prefer "If you are a polyglot, in which languages are you fluent?" mostly because I like the word polyglot. – mikeY Oct 04 '12 at 20:44
  • @jwpat7: According to this Wikipedia article (which I freely admit may be just so much tosh), you can be described as "multilingual" simply by virtue of being able to communicate reasonably well in multiple languages. To me, a bilingual/trilingual person is someone who effectively has multiple "mother tongues" (they're *really* fluent in all of them). I imagine almost nobody ever has that level of fluency in more than three languages. – FumbleFingers Oct 04 '12 at 22:48
  • @FumbleFingers, I don't know the context of the question's application form, and meant merely to suggest that "bilingual" probably is wrong, as opposed to claiming "multilingual" is right. If context were clear, one might suggest better rewordings; absent context, neither of us can say what word or words ought to be used. (Incidentally, trilingual “means” “Able to read or speak three languages”; I assert there are millions of East Asians who read or speak four or more languages, eg combinations like English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada.) – James Waldby - jwpat7 Oct 04 '12 at 23:09
  • @jwpat7: That's what I was getting at. Your definition of bi/tri/multilingual is different to mine. Obviously our own RegDwight is able to read/write English, but although he's a "bilingual" native speaker of two languages, he doesn't claim that level of fluency in English. Billions of people can "get by" in multiple languages to varying degrees of proficiency, but few are truly multilingual in my book. – FumbleFingers Oct 05 '12 at 03:52

1 Answers1

3

According to The American Heritage Dictionary entry for what, the sentence is correct.

adj. 1. which one or ones of several or many: What college are you attending? You should know what musical that song is from.

However, my preference (like yours) would be "If bilingual, please list in which languages." Just because I think it sounds better.

JLG
  • 23,238