{"id":825,"date":"2012-10-29T14:58:16","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T20:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=825"},"modified":"2020-11-25T10:23:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:23:00","slug":"that-vs-which","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/who-vs-which-vs-that\/that-vs-which\/","title":{"rendered":"That<\/em> vs. Which<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s grammar tip focused on the rules for using who<\/em> vs. that<\/em>. This week, we will learn the rules to guide us on when to use that<\/em> vs. which<\/em>.<\/p>\n

NOTE:\u00a0<\/strong>We feel that maintaining the distinction between\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0which<\/em>\u00a0in essential and nonessential phrases and clauses is useful, even though the principle is sometimes disregarded by experienced writers.<\/p>\n

Rule 1:<\/strong> That<\/em> may refer to people, animals, groups, or things. (As mentioned last week, who <\/em>is preferred when referring to people.)<\/p>\n

Rule 2:<\/strong> Which<\/em> refers to animals, groups, or things.<\/p>\n

Since that <\/em>and which <\/em>may each refer to animals, groups, or things, how do we know when to use that<\/em> and when to use which<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Rule 3:<\/strong> That<\/em> introduces essential clauses while which<\/em> introduces nonessential clauses.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong> I do not trust editorials that<\/strong> claim racial differences in intelligence.<\/em>
\nWe would not know which editorials were being discussed without the that<\/em> clause.<\/p>\n

Example:<\/strong> The editorial claiming racial differences in intelligence, which<\/strong> appeared in the Sunday newspaper, upset me.<\/em>
\nThe editorial is already identified. Therefore, which<\/em> begins a nonessential clause.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Essential clauses do not have commas surrounding them, while nonessential clauses are surrounded by commas.<\/p>\n

Example: <\/strong>Chess is a game that<\/strong> requires intense concentration.<\/em>
\nThe second part of the sentence is essential for conveying the meaning of the sentence.<\/p>\n

Rule 4:<\/strong> If this<\/em>, that<\/em>, these<\/em>, or those<\/em> has already introduced an essential clause, you may use which<\/em> to introduce the next clause, whether it is essential or nonessential.<\/p>\n

Example: Those<\/em><\/strong> responses to the questions, which<\/strong> were not well thought out, eliminated him from further job consideration.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rule 5:<\/strong> Try not to use that<\/em> twice in a row in a sentence.<\/p>\n

Example: That<\/em><\/strong> is a problem that<\/strong> can\u2019t be solved without a calculator.
\nThis sentence would be better written as: That<\/em><\/strong> is a problem which<\/strong> can\u2019t be solved without a calculator.
\nThe best way to write the sentence would be: That<\/em><\/strong> problem can\u2019t be solved without a calculator.<\/p>\n

Example: That<\/em><\/strong> is a promise that<\/strong> cannot be broken.
\nAgain, the above sentence could be rewritten as: That<\/em><\/strong> is a promise which<\/strong> cannot be broken.
\nThe best way to rewrite it would be: That<\/em><\/strong> promise cannot be broken.<\/p>\n

Rule 6:<\/strong> Whenever you have more than one that<\/em> or which<\/em> in a sentence, see if you can rewrite it in a way that removes at least one that<\/em> or which<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong>
\nChoose whether that<\/em> or which<\/em> is correct for each sentence. Then determine whether the sentence should contain commas. If so, place the commas in the correct location in the sentence.
\n1. Hannah is on the team that\/which won the county softball championship.
\n2. The Fairview Hawks softball team that\/which my daughter played on won the county softball championship.
\n3. \u00a0The Golden Gate Bridge that\/which was completed in 1937 is considered by many to be the most beautiful bridge in the world.
\n4. The bridge that\/which connects the city of San Francisco with Marin County was completed in 1937.
\n5. That rooster that\/which crows every morning at dawn is going to drive me crazy.
\n6. That is a point that\/which is worth considering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Quiz Answers<\/strong>
\n1. Hannah is on the team that<\/strong> won the county softball championship.
\n2. The Fairview Hawks softball team, which<\/strong> my daughter played on, won the county softball championship.
\n3. The Golden Gate Bridge,<\/strong> which<\/strong> was completed in 1937,<\/strong> is considered by many to be the most beautiful bridge in the world.
\n4. The bridge that<\/strong> connects the city of San Francisco with Marin County was completed in 1937.
\n5. That rooster,<\/strong> which<\/strong> crows every morning at dawn,<\/strong> is going to drive me crazy.
\n6. That is a point which<\/strong> is worth considering. (“That is a point that<\/strong> is worth considering” is also acceptable, but the best answer is either “That point is worth considering.” OR<\/strong> “That is a point worth considering.”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s grammar tip focused on the rules for using who vs. that. This week, we will learn the rules to guide us on when to use that vs. which. NOTE:\u00a0We feel that maintaining the distinction between\u00a0that\u00a0and\u00a0which\u00a0in essential and nonessential phrases and clauses is useful, even though the principle is sometimes disregarded by experienced writers. […]<\/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":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-who-vs-which-vs-that"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825"}],"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=825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}