Watt or what?
watt is a noun meaning “In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a…”; what is a determiner meaning “Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities”. Use watt as a noun and what as a determiner (what is also a noun: “The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what”). They sound the same (/wɒt/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) what is about 490 times as common as watt.
What is the difference between watt and what?
| watt | what | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | determiner, pronoun, adverb, interjection, noun, particle |
| Meaning | In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second | Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities Which Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc |
| Example | none recorded | What colour are you going to use? |
| Forms | watts | wha, wat, whats |
| Pronunciation | /wɒt/ /wɑt/ | /wɒt/ /wɔt/ /wʱɔʈ/ |
| In writing | 4.9 times per million words | 2,399 times per million words |
Sources: watt and what in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of watt and what
watt
- 1
In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second
what
- 1
Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities
What colour are you going to use?
- 2
Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc
Hammer in that nail –What with? I didn't bring my set of tools
- 3
In what way; to what extent
What does it matter?
- 4
An expression of surprise or disbelief
What! That’s amazing!
- 5
The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what
- 6
Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener
Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]
- 7
Which
I wonder what colour he is going to use
- 8
That which; those that; the thing(s) that
He knows what he wants and what to do to get it
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, watt or what?
watt appears 4.9 times per million words; what 2,399 times per million words.
watt 4.9 times per million wordswhat 2,399 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).