先纠正一下提法.what是不能引导定语从句的.that可以引导定语从句.
what只能用来引导名词性从句,比如主语从句,如:What he said was not ture.(他说的不是真的.) 或者宾语从句,如:I don't believe what he said.(我不相信他说的话.)而定语从句属于形容词从句.
(that可以引导的从句类型较多,只回答在定语从句中的用法.)
that作为关系代词,引导定语从句,修饰其先行词.如:All that glitters is not gold.(发光的不都是金子)定语从句that glitters修饰先行词all,起形容词作用,所以定语从句属于形容词从句.在这句话中,that其实是代替了先行词all,在从句中作glitter的主语.that也可以在从句中作宾语,有时可以省略掉,如:The car (that) I hired broke down after five kilometers.(我租来的车五公里后就抛锚了.)that替代car,在从句that I hired中作hire的宾语.
你可以比较以下一组句子.
What I said is true.我说的是实话.(what引导名词从句,在句中作主语,what前没有任何东西)
All that I said is true.我说的一切是实话.(that引导定语从句,在句中作定语,all是先行词,that I said修饰all)