Episode 65: What I Learned Was…

what = the thing that (nominal relative clauses) — Socrates, 399 BC (B1-B2)

Grammar Box

Meaning: “What” as a relative pronoun means “the thing that” or “the thing which.” It introduces a clause that acts as a noun, often expressing lessons, discoveries, or realizations.

Form: “What + subject + verb” or “What + verb” creates a noun clause. Common patterns: “What I need is…”, “What surprised me was…”, “What matters most…”

Example 1: “What she said made me think differently about the problem.” (The thing that she said…)

Example 2: “What I learned from failure was more valuable than what I learned from success.” (The things that I learned…)

Common mistake: Wrong: “What I need it is time.” Better: “What I need is time.” (Don’t add extra “it” — what already functions as the subject.)

The Challenge

Luna read a philosophy quote and paused. “‘What I know is that I know nothing.’ Professor, why do philosophers use ‘what’ this way? Why not just say ‘I know that I know nothing’?”

The watch glowed with ancient warmth. Professor Wisdom appeared with a solemn expression. “Sometimes ‘what’ does more than ask questions. It can express the essence of knowledge itself. Let me show you the moment when the wisest man in Athens taught his final lesson.”

The Journey

Athens, 399 BC. A stone prison cell where Socrates, the 70-year-old philosopher who had spent his life questioning everything, sat calmly awaiting execution. His student Plato, who would later record this moment for eternity, watched his teacher with tears streaming down his face. The city that Socrates loved had condemned him to death for “corrupting the youth” and “not believing in the gods” — charges that stemmed from his relentless habit of exposing ignorance through questions.

This was a man whose entire philosophy centered on one paradoxical claim: true wisdom begins with admitting what you don’t know. While other teachers in Athens charged high fees to teach rhetoric and persuasion, Socrates, who owned almost nothing, wandered the marketplace asking questions that made powerful people uncomfortable. He had questioned generals about courage, politicians about justice, poets about beauty, always revealing that what they thought they knew was often just unexamined opinion.

He faced death without fear, though he had every right to be terrified. The court had offered him exile instead of execution if he would simply stop philosophizing, but Socrates, whose commitment to truth exceeded his attachment to life, had refused. His friends, who had bribed the guards and arranged an escape plan, begged him to flee. What most people would have chosen without hesitation — saving their own life — Socrates rejected as a betrayal of his principles.

As the poison hemlock was prepared in the next room, Socrates continued teaching. “What I’ve been trying to show you all these years,” he told his students, “is that an unexamined life isn’t worth living. What matters isn’t how long you live, but how well you live. What we should fear isn’t death, which might be the greatest blessing, but rather living without ever truly thinking.”

The cell smelled of stone and sweat, of the olive oil lamps that flickered against the walls. You could hear the quiet sobbing of students who would never see their teacher again, the distant sounds of Athens going about its business unaware that its wisest citizen was about to die, the footsteps of the guard approaching with the cup of poison. Socrates’s voice, which had questioned assumptions in the marketplace for decades, remained steady and clear as he spoke about what death might teach the living.

The Deep Dive

“What” creates noun clauses that express ideas, lessons, or discoveries as complete concepts. “What he said” means “the thing that he said” — it’s a compact way to refer to entire ideas without repeating all the details. This structure is especially powerful for expressing lessons: “What I learned” captures the essence of your learning without listing everything specifically.

The pattern “What + clause + be + complement” is incredibly common: “What I need is time,” “What surprised me was his honesty,” “What matters most is trying.” Notice how “what” clause acts as the subject of the sentence. You can also reverse it: “Time is what I need,” “His honesty is what surprised me.” Both structures work.

Common errors include adding extra pronouns: “What I need it is time” is wrong because “what” already serves as the subject. Another mistake is confusing “what” with “that”: “I know what you mean” (correct — what is a pronoun) versus “I know that you’re right” (correct — that is a conjunction). “What” always contains the idea of “thing” within it; “that” doesn’t. You can say “The thing that I learned” OR “What I learned,” but not “The thing what I learned.”

More Examples

History: “What Gandhi demonstrated through the Salt March was that nonviolent resistance could challenge an empire more effectively than weapons.”

Science: “What Darwin discovered wasn’t just evolution — it was a mechanism explaining how life’s diversity arose naturally.”

Everyday: “What frustrates me most isn’t making mistakes; it’s making the same mistake repeatedly without learning from it.”

Formal: “What the research indicates is that early intervention produces significantly better outcomes than delayed treatment in most cases.”

Informal: “What I’m saying is, you need to stop worrying about what everyone thinks and do what makes you happy.”

Contrast: “That surprised me” (simple statement) vs. “What surprised me was his kindness” (emphasizes the specific thing that caused surprise).

Practice & Reflection

Exercises:

1. Fill in the blank: “_____ matters most isn’t winning — it’s how you play the game.”

2. Correct the mistake: “What I need it is more time to finish this project properly.”

3. Choose and explain: Which emphasizes the lesson more powerfully?
   a) “He taught me that honesty matters.”
   b) “What he taught me was that honesty matters.”

4. Rewrite: Express this using “what”: “The thing that I regret most is not traveling when I was younger.”

5. Compare: What’s the difference in emphasis? “I know the answer” vs. “I know what the answer is.”

6. Your reflection: Complete this sentence about a life lesson: “What I’ve learned from experience is that _____”

Answer Key:
1. What — creates noun clause meaning “the thing that matters”
2. Remove “it” — “What I need is more time” (what already functions as subject)
3. (b) emphasizes more — “what” structure highlights the specific lesson learned
4. “What I regret most is not traveling when I was younger.” (more concise and powerful)
5. First is direct; second emphasizes the content/nature of the answer itself
6. Check: Does your sentence use “what” to express a lesson? Is the structure “What + clause + be + lesson”?

The Lesson

Back in the present, Luna wrote thoughtfully. “What Socrates knew was that he knew nothing. The ‘what’ makes it feel deeper, like he’s expressing the essence of wisdom itself.”

“Exactly,” Professor Wisdom said. “When Socrates said ‘What I know is that I know nothing,’ he wasn’t just making a statement. He was defining wisdom itself as the recognition of ignorance. The ‘what’ structure lets us present ideas as completed thoughts, as lessons worth remembering.”

Luna nodded slowly. “So when I write ‘What I learned was…’ I’m not just reporting information. I’m presenting the essence of my learning as something important.”

“Yes,” the Professor replied. “And that’s what great teachers understand. Socrates died, but what he taught survived for millennia. What he showed through his life — that questions matter more than answers, that integrity matters more than survival — became wisdom that still guides us. When you use ‘what’ to express lessons, you’re doing what Socrates did: distilling experience into essential truth.”

“What matters,” Luna said with a smile, “is understanding why this grammar works.”

Professor Wisdom grinned. “Now you’re thinking like a philosopher.”