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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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 Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:50 pm Post subject: That / Which |
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I have been struggling with this grammar point for some time.
When do you use 'that' to separate clauses and when do you use 'which'?
I looked up the rules, but they usually sound better the other way around! (When the rules say use 'that', use 'which.')
Are there regional variations? |
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intergalactic
Joined: 19 May 2003
Location: Brisbane
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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Um..
my spellchecker usually wants to put a comma before 'which'.
eg "The dog peed on the cushion, which was on the floor" OR
"The dog peed on the cushion that was on the floor".
I think the first sentence is telling you something about the cushion just for the heck of it. The second sentence is identifying the exact cushion peed upon, as there may have been a number of cushions.
Same goes for "The dog that was wearing a blue collar peeed on the cushion that was on the floor", would mean there were a few dogs, but the blue-collared one was the culprit, and the cushions on the sofa escaped.
But I really don't know. |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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That actually helps quite a bit.
It says a lot for the public grade school and university system that I am teaching myself this at this late date... |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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| intergalactic wrote: |
eg "The dog peed on the cushion, which was on the floor" OR
"The dog peed on the cushion that was on the floor".
I think the first sentence is telling you something about the cushion just for the heck of it. The second sentence is identifying the exact cushion peed upon, as there may have been a number of cushions.
Same goes for "The dog that was wearing a blue collar peeed on the cushion that was on the floor", would mean there were a few dogs, but the blue-collared one was the culprit, and the cushions on the sofa escaped.
But I really don't know. |
You're talking about the differences between defining and non-defining relative clauses. "That" cannot be used in non-defining relative clauses, so "which" must be used.
Example: My car, which is in the garage, is brown. (The non-defining clause simply gives extra information. We can't use "that" here.)
However, in defining relative clauses, we can use either "which or "that".
Example: My car which is in the garage is brown. -OR- My car that is in the garage is brown. (The clause is defining because it says which car. In this situation, I have more than one car, and I'm telling you which one is brown.)
There are some rules about when we should use "which" or "that" in defining relative clauses, but I think they are more about style. I wouldn't say that either is incorrect. |
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