What does "What is it about cats that makes me want to pet them? what does "what is it about..." mean in this sentence? " mean?

20 Nov 07:26 AM

Featured answer

English (US)

@weeeer Absolutely! It all depends on tone in which it is said and the context
"What is it about cats that make them so cute?" if you said this with a serious tone, then people may try to answer.
"Maybe it is their big eyes, or their little ears?"

Does that make sense?

if you say calmly and genuinely, you will get a real answer
if you exclaim it, you may not, people may simply agree with your question, thinking you were being silly and seeking affirmation :)

"What is it about cats that make them so cute?" said excitedly, will make people think you mean "cats are so cute, don't you agree?"

its a weird thing in english that doesn't make much sense! it just takes practice to get the hang of when people mean it one way or the other

beccacm

20 Nov 06:40 AM

English (US)

Basically, this is asking what quality or attribute of a cat that makes the speaker want to pet them.

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Highly-rated answerer

weeeer

20 Nov 06:42 AM

Korean

@beccacm
thx:) could you please give me some examples of it?

ghostlycoffee

20 Nov 06:45 AM

English (US)

@weeeer it is rhetorical! No answer is expected, they are simply saying that cats are soooo cute, they dont even understand themself why they feel they have to pet them! And often, the speaker will even answer their own rhetorical question by following it with an answer/comment such as, "They're just so cute."

or something like that, to emphasize their point

hope this helps

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ghostlycoffee

20 Nov 06:48 AM

English (US)

@weeeer in another sentence, you could say "What is it about rice that makes me want to eat so much?" and you could continue, for emphasis, by saying "It's just so good!"

people around will likely agree with you, the phrase is kind of said to seek confirmation

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weeeer

20 Nov 06:56 AM

Korean

@ghostlycoffee
ahh thx:) then is "Good Lord, what is it about women with little hats?" rhetorical? what does "what is it about.." mean in this sentence?

ghostlycoffee

20 Nov 07:00 AM

English (US)

@weeeer If you exclaimed this while seeing a woman in a tiny hat, yes, i would say its unlikely anybody would give you a real answer. Instead they might agree that they also dont understand/or have seen many women in tiny hats. "Good lord!" makes this sentence feel more like the speaker is simply shocked, or frustrated, rather than seeking a real answer to a serious question. :)

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weeeer

20 Nov 07:06 AM

Korean

@ghostlycoffee
aha thank you~! :) i got it! I have a last question! are there any 'no rhetorical sentences' using "what is it about..." ? i mean all sentences using "what is it about..." are rhetorical?

ghostlycoffee

20 Nov 07:26 AM

English (US)

@weeeer Absolutely! It all depends on tone in which it is said and the context
"What is it about cats that make them so cute?" if you said this with a serious tone, then people may try to answer.
"Maybe it is their big eyes, or their little ears?"

Does that make sense?

if you say calmly and genuinely, you will get a real answer
if you exclaim it, you may not, people may simply agree with your question, thinking you were being silly and seeking affirmation :)

"What is it about cats that make them so cute?" said excitedly, will make people think you mean "cats are so cute, don't you agree?"

its a weird thing in english that doesn't make much sense! it just takes practice to get the hang of when people mean it one way or the other

1 like 0 disagrees

weeeer

20 Nov 07:31 AM

Korean

@ghostlycoffee
thank you again! :)) i totally got it~ㅎㅎ
감사합니다! -> thank you!

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What does What is it about cats that makes me want to pet them?what does "what is it about..." mean in this sentence? mean?

What does What is it about cats that makes me want to pet them?

what does "what is it about..." mean in this sentence? mean?