That which doesn’t restrict you makes you non-essential
Sep 19th, 2008 | By John Roach | Category: Grammar“That” or “which” — the eternal question. Which of these two words should you use to start a clause?
The answer depends on how important what you’re writing is. If the clause is important to the meaning, you use “that”; if it can be omitted without changing the meaning, you use “which.”
Essential clauses take “that”
Essential clauses are just that: they are essential to the meaning of the sentence. When introducing such a clause, you use “that.”
The car that cut me off was a blue Honda.
Taking the clause out leaves us with a meaningless sentence.
The car was a blue Honda.
Nonessential clauses take “which”
If the clauses can be left out without any loss in meaning, you use “which” and set it off with commas.
The blue Honda, which had a vanity plate, was going about 90 mph.
Dropping the clause leaves us with the same meaning.
The blue Honda was going about 90 mph.
Sure, we miss out on the vanity plate, but we get all the important stuff.
What the experts say about “that” and “which”
The usual suspects agree with me almost entirely. style is identical to the rules set out above. Style agrees with the rules, but points out that they refer only to American English. also agrees but wimps out, saying that not everyone follows the rules. That being said, if you’re well-known enough to make it into Fowler’s, you’ve probably earned the right to break a few rules.
A final exception
It most be noted that there is one big exception: “That” cannot be used with a preposition. If a preposition is called for, use “which,” regardless of how essential the clause is.
The blue Honda of which we speak is being pulled over right now.
The living room in which we are sitting is on fire.
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This article was written by John Roach http://prowritingtips.com John is a writer and copy editor. You can follow him on twitter at . To see more posts click here |
