Which v. that

Which By Ali Hale. Stop making those embarrassing mistakes! Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips today! You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free! Try It Free Now. I learned a thing or two on this post.

Nancy on April 10, pm I have been following your posts on grammar. Ali on April 10, pm Whoops … thanks, Marketeer! Ali marketeer on April 10, pm Ali, I have also struggled with it. PreciseEdit on April 10, pm Restrictive vs. You can simple replace whom with who in most of the places.

Thanks to Ali for the great article. Keep them coming. Is that a good explanation? Tarah Sweeney on April 11, am Sudheer and Danica: Please do not think this usage is in decline.

Ali on April 11, pm Danica: Interesting point. Thanks for the comments, all of you. Danica on April 12, am Thank you all for the explanations. Segun Omojola on April 15, pm hi, i was interested in improving my writing skills so i decided to see what the web could offer me and i stumbled on this site.

Fixed now. Kat on July 30, pm Thanks for the explanation. Michael on September 29, pm Kat: Sorry for not giving a more normal example. Michael on September 27, pm Jean: I looked at the source code for this page. Peyton Todd on October 19, pm Actually, your that vs. Jenefer on December 13, pm Wow this article was fantastic!

Very well written! Ashley on January 02, pm Thank you for this very clear explanation! EnglishMidterm on January 23, pm Thank you so much! Thanks a lot. Vic on February 07, pm Go on a which hunt.

If you're confused about that versus which , don't feel bad. It's one of the most common topics people ask me about. I used to work as a technical writer, and I'd often edit documents in which people used the wrong word. More than once, I'd put in the right word, only to have clients change a perfectly fine that to a which and send it back to me. In fact, having a client try to overrule my correction of a which to a that was one of the things that pushed me over the edge and made me start the Grammar Girl podcast.

That vs. Which: What's the Difference? Here's an easy way to remember the difference between that and which: If removing the words that follow would change the meaning of the sentence, use "that. Some people will argue that the rules are more complex and flexible than this, but I like to make things as simple as possible, so I say that you use that before a restrictive clause and which before everything else.

Restrictive Clause—That A restrictive clause is just part of a sentence that you can't get rid of because it specifically restricts some other part of the sentence.

That Quiz Practice Questions Take a quick which vs. That Printable Quiz If you want to use the quiz in a classroom setting or to take it without the temptation of looking at the answers, you can print the which vs. Answers to Which vs. That Quiz Practice Questions Check out the answers to the quiz and read the explanations to better understand why which or that is correct. She showed the leg that was injured. The shirt was my favorite color, which is blue. Knowing the color of the shirt is extra information.

The book that covers soil erosion is boring. The magazine I read at lunch, which had pictures of goats, reminded me to grab goat cheese. Knowing the specific part of the magazine that served as a reminder is extra information.

A map would have made it easier to get to the city, which was far away. Use who for a person, when for a time period and where as a substitute for "that place". For example:. On the other hand, use which with non-restrictive or non-defining clauses.

These are clauses providing additional information about something that has already been identified in the context. In this use, which is always preceded by a comma and a comma is placed after the restrictive clause ends if the sentence continues. When the clause is at the end of the sentence, only one comma is used, before which :.

In this case, the clause which is hard to follow is descriptive, not restrictive i. For these cases, which sounds more natural than that. Some grammarians extend the rule and insist on that being used only in restrictive clauses, while which should be used only in nonrestrictive clauses. The use of which with restrictive clauses is fairly common, even in edited prose.