Wednesday, December 28, 2016

word usage - “that” and “which” as relative pronoun


Since both “that” and “which” can be used to modify things in a sentence with an adjective clauses, which one is preferred in which situations? I found the following rules on the Internet. I am wondering if there are other rules. Thank you very much.


Rules cited from http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/which.htm


• In clauses that follow impersonal constructions, such as it is, that is preferred: “It was the dog that died”.


• Clauses that refer back to the words anything, nothing, something, oreverything have a slight preference for that over which: “Can you think of anything that still has to be done?”


• Clauses that follow a superlative also tend to prefer that: “Thank you for the most superb dinner that I’ve ever eaten”.


Thank you very much!




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