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⭐ Suhyun 수현 Amy ⭐
Professional TeacherI learned this sentence
'To what do we owe the pleasure?'
I understood the meaning like I'm happy you here but why you here. However, I can't understand about ' what' and 'to what' Why does it mean?
Sep 6, 2023 11:29 PM
Answers · 1
Your interpretation is correct. The relative pronoun "what" refers to the reason for being here.
The verb "to owe" works well with both a direct and an indirect object. In this sense it acts like the verb "to give". For example,
"Jim gives a dollar to Bill"
"Jim owes a dollar to Bill"
So you can ask
"We owe the pleasure to what?"
though it sounds more natural to put the interrogative at the beginning of the sentence:
"To what do we owe the pleasure?"
September 7, 2023
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⭐ Suhyun 수현 Amy ⭐
Language Skills
English, Korean
Learning Language
English
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