0

The original sentence would be:

'what's this book release date?'

Can I say it as:

'of when is this book release date' Even if it sounds odd?

2 Answers 2

2

Films and recordings are released: books are published.

We would usually ask, "What is/was the publication-date of this book?" (using is if it hasn't yet been published, or was if it has) or "What is/was the date of this book's publication?"

More informally we might ask, "When is this book to be published? What date?" Or, if it has already been published, we might ask, "When was this book published? What was the date?"

Your first question (with no 's after book) could be used in certain unusual circumstances, but your second couldn't. "Of when is" is not colloquial.

2
  • My thought was: 'Of when" of used as "from" and "is this book release date" the "date agreeing with the when from the beginning of the sentence, just to give a poetry style Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 12:14
  • Not a poetry style I'm familiar with. Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 16:22
1

No, you cannot say it that way. Imagine what the statement version would be: This book's release date is ______. There is no of - we don't say "This book's release date is of ____."

We are asking a when-question, so we structure it like any wh-question. The noun phrase we are asking about is "this book's release date", so the question version is just

When is this book's release date?


You might be thinking about a different structure you've seen somewhere: As of when will this book be released? As of when is basically a rather fancy and formal way of saying "when".

7
  • @stangson, I wanted to make a concordance with the words "when" from the sentence beginning and the date, get it? and the "of when", of meaning from Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 12:16
  • But "of when" doesn't mean "from". And even if it did mean "from", you wouldn't say "From when is the release date".
    – stangdon
    Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 15:34
  • Is this a UK/US thing? Books aren't released here: they are published. Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 16:15
  • @OldBrixtonian In the US I would generally say published too, but it's not unusual to see "the book was released".
    – stangdon
    Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 17:22
  • @stangdon, according to this: 'merriam-webster.com/dictionary/of' 'of' can be used to indicate origin, so 'of when' would be interchangeable for 'as of' get it? so it would be same as 'as of when is this book release date? as just a different way to say it from the usual Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 18:08

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .