{"id":3590,"date":"2020-07-07T23:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T05:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=3590"},"modified":"2021-05-04T11:17:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T16:17:13","slug":"to-restrict-or-not-to-restrict-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/pronouns\/to-restrict-or-not-to-restrict-that-is-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To Restrict or Not to Restrict: That Is the Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who, that, <\/em>or which; <\/em>restrictive or nonrestrictive: Most of us have at some point had to grapple with interpretation, pronoun choice, and punctuation for a statement containing essential or nonessential information. For example, what would be succinct within the following statements?<\/p>\n

Jayla always orders the surf and turf that the master chef prepares for her.<\/em>
\nJayla always orders the surf and turf, which the master chef prepares for her.<\/em>
\nJayla always orders the surf and turf which the master chef prepares for her.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The coach who is an inspiration to the team is Mr. Frogg.
\nThe coach, who is an inspiration to the team, is Mr. Frogg.
\nThe coach that is an inspiration to the team is Mr. Frogg.<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s been a little while since we last reviewed restrictive and nonrestrictive elements, so we thought now would be a good time to revisit this relevant and oft-questioned subject.<\/p>\n

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Defined<\/h3>\n

Nonrestrictive <\/strong>(nonessential) adjective clauses and phrases follow and do not limit the words they modify. They will not affect the main clause\u2019s meaning and clarity if omitted. They offer parenthetical information that is set off by commas and indicated by either which<\/em> or who.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jayla always orders the surf and turf, which the master chef prepares for her. <\/em>(There is only one selection of surf and turf, and the master chef prepares it for her.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The coach, who is an inspiration to the team, is Mr. Frogg. <\/em>(Mr. Frogg is the sole coach of the team.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Restrictive <\/strong>(essential) adjective clauses and phrases follow and limit the words they modify. They affect the main clause\u2019s meaning and clarity if omitted. They provide vital information that is typically indicated by that <\/em>or who<\/em> and are not set off by commas.<\/p>\n

Jayla orders the surf and turf that the master chef prepares for her. <\/em>(There is a particular surf and turf, and Jayla orders it when the master chef can make it for her.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The coach who is an inspiration to the team is Mr. Frogg. OR<\/em>
\nThe coach that is an inspiration to the team is Mr. Frogg. <\/em>
\n(There is more than one coach, but Mr. Frogg is the one who gives the team inspiration. Both who <\/em>and that <\/em>can refer to people restrictively; that <\/em>and which <\/em>will refer to things.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Can Which<\/em> Be Restrictive?<\/h3>\n

English-grammar prescriptivists have tended to adhere to a strict use of which <\/em>for nonrestrictive elements and that <\/em>for restrictive ones. However, many style and grammar authorities have expressed that the guideline is broader than may be supposed.<\/p>\n

Professional writers and journalists will often use which <\/em>or that <\/em>interchangeably for restrictive elements according to style and preference, particularly when doing so favors better form.<\/p>\n

Examples
\n<\/em><\/strong>That is the team which is sure to win the pennant. <\/em>(The relative clause in this context is restrictive in meaning. We would typically use that <\/em>to restrict, but which <\/em>helps to avoid a potentially undesirable close repetition of the same word: That is the team <\/em>that is sure\u2026<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

That which is good for the mind can also be good for the soul. <\/em>(Here again we are flexible with signaling restrictive information to avoid a construct such as That that is\u2026<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Greater debate might form around our previous example Jayla always orders the surf and turf which the master chef prepares for her.<\/em> In this case, both that <\/em>and which<\/em> can serve as the restrictive pronoun depending on the writer\u2019s preference.<\/p>\n

However, the rationale for using which <\/em>here can be less clear to the reader, who might pause to consider if the clause is missing a comma. In a statement such as this one, we will often best serve the reader by using that <\/em>to remove all doubt about restriction.<\/p>\n

Through mastery of restrictive and nonrestrictive components, we become more adept at ensuring readers know what is crucial to clarity and what is extra information we offer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Using what you’ve learned in this article, choose the restrictive or nonrestrictive pronoun for each sentence.<\/p>\n

1. She is one of the directors [that\/which] have a distinctive visual style.<\/p>\n

2. Let’s visit the park [which\/that] has the opulent rose garden.<\/p>\n

3. That [which\/that] can be said about him can likewise be said about her.<\/p>\n

4. Timothy’s father is Mr. Bowles, [that\/who] will speak at the graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. She is one of the directors [that<\/strong>] have a distinctive visual style.<\/p>\n

2. Let’s visit the park [that<\/strong>] has the opulent rose garden.<\/p>\n

3. That [which<\/strong>] can be said about him can likewise be said about her.<\/p>\n

4. Timothy’s father is Mr. Bowles, [who<\/strong>] will speak at the graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who, that, or which; restrictive or nonrestrictive: Most of us have at some point had to grapple with interpretation, pronoun choice, and punctuation for a statement containing essential or nonessential information. For example, what would be succinct within the following statements? Jayla always orders the surf and turf that the master chef prepares for her. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,10,8,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commas","category-definitions","category-pronouns","category-who-vs-which-vs-that"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3590"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}