When should you choose which versus that?
Compiled for the students of Michael Krigline, MA (December
2004)
www.krigline.com.cn
(see the sources below)
Many Chinese
students use “which” when they should be using “that.” The following
information is rather detailed, but it can help you learn the difference
between these two similar words.
Reference Handbook of Grammar and Usage (p256)
says:
That is usually preferred as a relative pronoun
in restrictive clauses (where the clause limits or characterizes the meaning
of the noun phrase it modifies), and which in nonrestrictive clauses
(in which case you can eliminate the parenthetical information and still
understand who/what the noun phrase refers to):
Restrictive:
A novel that he wrote
in ten days was on the best-seller list for nine months.
Nonrestrictive:
His first novel, which
he wrote in ten days, was on the best-seller list for nine months.
(The subject is just as
clear in: “His first novel was on the best-seller list for nine months.”)
Jason got off work early,
which was nice.
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According to Larsen-Freeman (the definitive GRAMMAR
BOOK for EFL teachers, p573), Chinese speakers sometimes produce sentences
like the following because of differences between Chinese and English
grammar:
The man
who you were talking to him is my uncle.
Chinese speakers may also be confused because, where
English uses a relative pronoun (e.g., who), Chinese employs other
kinds of markers between the head noun and the relative clause.
That is preferred in the following cases (of
RESTRICTIVE relative clauses): (p579)
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as the subject, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as an indirect object. E.g: The man that I gave the book to
is over there.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a direct object, and the identical noun in the relative
clause also functions as a direct object. E.g: I know the place that you
mentioned.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a direct object, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as an indirect object. E.g: I gave the man that you
mentioned the book.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as an indirect object, and the identical noun in the
relative clause functions as a direct object. E.g: I sent the boy that Mary
saw a letter.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as an indirect object, and the identical noun in the
relative clause also functions as an indirect object. E.g: I told the boy
that you gave the book to a story.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as an indirect object, and the identical noun in the
relative clause functions as the object of a preposition. E.g:
I gave the boy that you were talking about
the book.
(Remember: an indirect object is the person or thing some action has
been done to, such as “the dog” in “Ming Ming gave the dog a bone.”)
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as the object of a preposition, and the identical noun in
the relative clause functions as a direct object. E.g: I work for the man
that you met.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as the object of a preposition, and the identical noun in
the relative clause functions as an indirect object. E.g: Mary knows about
the boy that I gave the book to.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a predicate noun, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as a direct object. E.g:
Latin is the subject that Mr. Thomas teaches.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a predicate noun, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as an indirect object. E.g:
He’s the boy that I gave the present to.
Which is preferred in the following cases;
NOTICE that “which” can be omitted in these cases (but only if the
preposition has not been fronted along with the relativized object noun
phrase—and further research is needed to determine whether deletion can be
considered preferential): (p579-81)
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as the subject, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as the object of a preposition. E.g:
The place which you spoke about is Denver.
The place about which you spoke is Denver. The place you spoke about is
Denver.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a direct object, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as the object of a preposition. E.g: I know the
place which you spoke about. I know the place you spoke about.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as the object of a preposition, and the identical
noun in the relative clause functions as the object of a preposition.
E.g: I know the place which John spoke about. I know the place John spoke
about.
w
When the head noun in the main
clause functions as a predicate noun, and the identical noun in the relative
clause functions as the object of a preposition. E.g:
Denver is the place which you will want to go
to. Denver is the place to which you will want to go. Denver is the place
you will want to go to.
Put another
way, (for restrictive
clauses) use that
unless
the noun in your relative clause is
the object of a preposition,
and use that
if the noun in your relative clause is
the object of a preposition
AND the head noun is an
indirect object.
Larsen-Freeman writes: “The relative pronoun that
cannot be used to replace the relativized object of a preposition, if
the preposition is fronted with the pronoun; that is, who(m) and
which are obligatory in this environment.
NOT: The person with that
you were talking is the principal.
NOT: The chair on that
you were sitting broke.
“The relative
pronoun that can be used, however, if the preposition is not fronted
along with the relative pronoun.”
The person
that you were talking with is the principal.
or The
person which you were talking with is the principal.
The chair
that you were sitting on broke.
or The
chair which you were sitting on broke.
In relativized noun phrases (in object position),
that is preferred to which or who in
conversational language, though which and that are both used
in writing. (no examples given; p582)
I saw the book that I
referred to.
I saw the book which I
referred to.
I saw the book to which
I referred.
Olofsson also found that which was preferred
with relativized propositional objects, while the relative pronoun is
normally deleted with relativized nonhuman objects, and that
is preferred with nonhuman subjects. (Larsen-Freeman p585)
Larsen-Freeman (586) also report this interesting
information from Yan’s research: “In written texts that deal with the same
topic and that are of approximately the same length, Chinese uses
one-third fewer relative clauses than English. …This suggests that
Chinese and English may use relative clauses for different discourse
functions, making it all the more imperative that ESL/EFL teachers present
relative clauses to learners in rich and clearly defined discourse contexts
rather than simply at the sentence level.”
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The following is also from Larsen-Freeman
(p 591f)
Restrictive clauses give essential information.
Nonrestrictive clauses give added information. Consider the
“unspoken” information (in parentheses) implied in these sentences.
Restrictive: The
books that are on the table are old. (The books elsewhere are not.)
Nonrestrictive: The
books, which are on the table, are old. (All of the books are on the
table.)
The restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses in the
examples above contain noun phrases that are identical to the noun phrases
in the main clause. Such clauses are sometimes called an “appositive
clause” because they expand on the head noun in the main clause.
The other type of nonrestrictive clause uses
which as a relative pronoun that refers to the entire preceding
clause (instead of just one noun phrase).
Jason
got off work early, which was nice.
“Which” refers to an event (Jason’s getting off work
early) and the nonrestrictive relative clause comments on the event.
As with restrictive clauses, which is used in
nonrestrive clauses with a preposition. But a semantically related relative
adverb can often be substituted for the “preposition+which.” (p598)
Sam knows the place at which
we are meeting.
Sam knows the place where we
are meeting.
Sam knows where we are
meeting.
Sam doesn’t know the reason
for which we are meeting.
Sam doesn’t know the reason
why we are meeting.
Sam doesn’t know why we are
meeting.
Larsen-Freeman
notes that many writers (both native and nonnative) omit commas when the
meaning is clearly nonrestrictive. (p604) She also admits that
which, who, etc.,
are sometimes used instead of
that
in restrictive clauses. (p594) This is especially confusing to those
learning to write in English. Learners should try to stick to the “rules,”
even while they recognize that many native speakers do not always follow
such rules.
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Sources include:
THE GRAMMAR BOOK: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course, Marianne
Celce-Murcia & Diane Larsen-Freeman, Heinle & Heinle, USA, second edition
1999. (This thick book is where I turn when I want a definitive answer to a
grammar question.)
REFERENCE HANDBOOK ON GRAMMAR & USAGE, Scott, Foresman
and Company, Glenview, IL, 1972. (I got this as a high school student, and
still refer to it for its clear explanations. If you can find a copy, it is
a great reference book!)
This resource was created for our students under my
understanding of "fair use" for educational resources.
© 2007 Michael Krigline, all
rights reserved. As far as I am concerned, people are allowed to print/copy
it for personal or classroom use.
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