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There is an online English class room which has an increasing number of teachers, most of whom I don't know at all.

I have to book a room by time, e.g. 8 pm Wednesday, to attend class. I don't know who will be assigned to that classroom before I booked a room successfully.

To convey the same idea, should I say

I don't know which teacher will be assigned to me

I don't know what teacher will be assigned to me

Eddie Kal
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PutBere
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  • The fact that the number is increasing makes no difference to the use of *which* or *what*. You could have a million teachers, and *which* would still be appropriate. The general criteria is that when you use *which*, you are referring to one out of an identified set of things (of any size); when you use *what*, you are referring to something in general, which isn't specified as coming from an identified set of things. – Jason Bassford May 30 '20 at 15:11
  • Think of it this way: if you are envisioning a particular group of people or things in the context of using the sentence, then *which* is generally more common; otherwise, it would be *what*. – Jason Bassford May 30 '20 at 15:14
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    @JasonBassford That is a wrong duplicate target about relative pronouns. This question is about determiners. – Eddie Kal May 30 '20 at 15:31
  • @JasonBassford That reminds me of a comment at that link. Phone numbers are a large, but limited set. You don't say "which is your phone number." – Jack O'Flaherty May 30 '20 at 15:40
  • @JackO'Flaherty You do if you hand somebody a phone book before asking. – Jason Bassford May 30 '20 at 19:30
  • @EddieKal Oops! That's not the one I'd meant to link. It should have been [“at which time” vs. “at what time”](https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/15127/at-which-time-vs-at-what-time) – Jason Bassford May 30 '20 at 19:35
  • @JasonBassford I don't think so. – Jack O'Flaherty May 30 '20 at 21:20
  • @JackO'Flaherty If I hand you a phone book, and I ask ***Which*** *is your phone number?* that would sound natural. If I hand you a phone book, and I ask ***What*** *is your phone number?*, that would not sound natural at all. On the other hand, if I *don't* hand you a phone book, and I'm not presenting you with a *choice*, then ***What*** *is your phone number?* is the more natural phrase. It depends entirely on context. – Jason Bassford May 30 '20 at 21:26
  • @JasonBassford If I'm a police investigator, and I have a phone book with ten or twenty numbers, and say "I have a book of phone numbers. I know one is yours! Which is it?", that might be natural. I can't imagine someone handing a person a city directory and saying, "Which is your phone number?" – Jack O'Flaherty May 30 '20 at 21:35

1 Answers1

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"Which" is more appropriate for referring to one of a known small set, for example, "There are five teachers. I wonder which of them will be assigned." I think "what teacher" fits the situation you describe.

Jack O'Flaherty
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