Of what (different ideas of what it should look like)

Tung_Quoc · September 13, 2006, 2:47am

Dear teachers,

Please read:

A: So, you’re an architect. That must be interesting.
B: Yes, it is. Right now we’re in the middle of a big project.We’re designing a new hotel.
A: Uh-huh.
B:The only trouble is the guy I work with and I have completely different ideas of what [color=red]it should look like.
A: Is that going to be a problem?
B: I hope not. You see, I’m his bosss.

1/What does of what mean?What does what refer to?
2/What does it refer to? “It” here is empty subject?If yes, what is the real subject.
3/ What is the difference btw “look” and “look like”? Can I wrote as follows:
[color=red]The only trouble is the guy I work with and I have completely different ideas of what it should look.
If yes, why? If no, why?

Quoc
PS: I don’t understand the structure of this sentence. If possible, please do the grammatical analysis about what I have asked.

Pamela · September 14, 2006, 1:40pm

Can you give one more extract of the text?

Yankee · September 14, 2006, 1:57pm

Hi Quoc

It’s not possible to say what it refers to in your sentence.

“What it sould look like” = How it should look

Tung_Quoc · September 14, 2006, 4:23pm

Dear teacher,

“What it sould look like” = How it should [b]look /b
What it sould look like" = How it should look like (2)

a.(1) and (2) have the same meaning?
b. Please answer my 3 questions above.

Thanks
Quoc

Yankee · September 14, 2006, 6:52pm

.

1/What does of what mean?[color=blue]The word of means the same thing as about.

What does what refer to?
[color=blue]Maybe these simple examples will help:

Question: What does it look like?
Answer: It looks like (what).

Request for information: Please tell me what it looks like.
Answer: It looks like (what).

2/What does it refer to? “It” here is empty subject? [color=red]NO If yes, what is the real subject. [color=blue]It refers to the new hotel.

3/ What is the difference btw “look” and “look like”? Can I wrote as follows:
The only trouble is the guy I work with and I have completely different ideas of what it should look. [color=red]NO
[color=blue]When you want information about the appearance of something, there are two basic ways of talking about this. One way uses the word what, the other uses how.
With what you use look like
With how you use look:

What + look like → What does it look like?

How + look → How does it look?

Tung_Quoc · September 15, 2006, 1:57am

Dear teachers,

Many thanks for your responses. Now, I’d like to ask you about “look like” and “look”, “seem like” and “seem”…

1/You know, I wonder whether to use “like” or not in some cases, such as:

It looks like an interesting book. (1)
It looks an interesting book. (2)

Many people said they have the same meaning. Do you think they have the same meaning? If yes, what is the meaning of like in (1)? Like here is necessary or not?
If no, what is the difference btw them?

2/ It looks as if it’s an interesting book. (3)
Do you think (1), (2) ,(3) have the same meaning?
If not,what is the difference btw them?

Quoc