Think of the word or phrase which

There’s a lot of confusion about that and which. These two words are often used interchangeably, even though they’re not necessarily interchangeable.

Historically, that and which may have carried the same meaning, and some English dialects may allow for that and which to be swapped without affecting the meaning of a sentence.

However, in American English, the grammar rules offer a distinct difference between the two words. By the time you’re done reading this post, you’ll fully understand the difference between that and which, and you’ll be able to use both words correctly.

That and Which

As with most grammar rules, there are exceptions and exemptions from the standard ways that and which should be used in a sentence. To gain understanding of confusing word pairs, it’s always best to start with the basics. As we look at how to properly use that and which, we’ll focus on simple, standard usage.

Relative Pronouns

From Wikipedia: “A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause within a larger sentence. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates to the word that it modifies.”

Like adjectives and adverbs, relative pronouns modify other words. Adjectives modify nouns:

• I have a car.
• I have a red car.

Adverbs modify verbs:

• I am walking.
• I am walking quickly.

The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives usually modify things (nouns) while adverbs modify actions (verbs). Relative pronouns also modify words, but they often do so as clauses rather than as single, descriptive words. In the examples below, the clauses are italicized.

• Bring me the bucket.
• Bring me the bucket that has apples in it.
• The bucket, which has apples in it, is blue.

The difference between the words that and which and how they are used as relative pronouns depends on whether the clause they belong to is restrictive or nonrestrictive.

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses

Restrictive Clauses Are Necessary

A restrictive clause is necessary to the meaning of a sentence. For example:

• I want the bucket that has apples in it.

If you removed the clause “that has apples in it,” the meaning of the sentence would be lost. Nobody would know which bucket the speaker wants. The clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and is therefore a restrictive clause. Because it’s a restrictive clause, it should take the relative pronoun that.

Nonrestrictive Clauses are Unnecessary

A nonrestrictive clause is not necessary to the meaning of a sentence. In fact, it can be removed from a sentence without affecting its meaning. For example:

• The bucket, which is blue, has apples in it.
• There are apples in the bucket, which is blue.

If you removed the nonrestrictive clause “which is blue,” from either of the sentences above, the meaning of the sentences would not be lost. We’d still know that the bucket has apples in it. Note that in the second example, the nonrestrictive clause adds information about something that has already been identified. Because the clause is unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence, we know it’s a nonrestrictive clause, and therefore should take the relative pronoun which.

• Use that before a restrictive (necessary) clause.
• Use which before a nonrestrictive (unnecessary) clause.

Hello, guys! Welcome to Grammar Zone! My name’s Harry
Jones.

My best friends Allan and Kate will help me make our
lessons useful and enjoyable.

Yesterday I was searching for something interesting to
read at the library when I found this dictionary. It’s not a typical
dictionary.

The Devil’s Dictionary was written between 1881 and
1887 by Ambrose Bierce. He was a 19^th-century American author and
journalist.

Bierce’s dictionary does not contain normal
definitions – his definitions are funny and cynical.

For example, look at this definition. What do you
think the missing word is?

______ a person who puts metal in your mouth and takes
coins out of your pocket.

Well, the missing word is a dentist.

In a normal dictionary the definition of a dentist
is “a kind of a doctor who looks after people’s teeth.” But The Devil’s
Dictionary is a … different kind of dictionary.

Think of normal definitions for these words or
phrases:

a bank, a boring person, the brain, a star, a friend,
a secret.

Now match the words to the definitions from the
Devil’s Dictionary.

1. A star is a person who works all her life to
become famous and then wears sunglasses so people don’t recognize her.

2. A secret is something which you only tell
one person.

3. A boring person is somebody who talks about
himself when you want to talk about yourself.

4. A friend is somebody who dislikes the same
people as you.

5. A bank is a place where you can borrow money
only if you can show that you don’t need it.

6. The brain is something which starts working
when you get up in the morning and stops working when you get to work or
school.

What do we call the highlighted words in these
sentences:

a) reflexive pronouns?

b) relative pronouns or

c) question words?

The highlighted words are called relative pronouns.

We use a relative pronoun in the beginning of a
relative clause to give more information about a noun in the main sentence.

Here is a list of the relative pronouns and their
uses.

·                  
We use WHO or THAT for people.

The old lady whom I met was one hundred and
three years old.

·                  
We use WHOSE to show possession both for
people and things.

This is Mr Simpson whose son moved to New York.

·                  
We use WHICH or THAT for animals and
things.

The car which/that they bought was quite
expensive.

Relative adverbs are where, when and why.

·                  
We use WHERE for place.

The town where I grew up is very small.

·                  
We use WHEN for time.

That was the year when I finished the university.

·                  
We use WHY for reasons.

The real reason why she came was to talk to my dad.

Warning:

Have you seen the book that Ron gave me?

NOT: Have you seen the book what Ron gave me?

There are two types of relative clauses:
defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses
give essential information about the noun they refer to. Without them the main
clause doesn’t make sense.

Look at these two sentences:

The people are very noisy. (main sentence)

They live in the flat above us. (essential
information)

The main clause doesn’t make sense unless we define
who we are talking about.

This information comes in the relative clause.

The people who live in the flat above us are very
noisy.

Jane made a cake. (main sentence)

Nobody liked it. (essential information)

Nobody liked the cake that Jane had made.

·                  
When who/whom, which or that
is the object of the relative clause, we usually leave it out.

The book is very good.
(main clause)

You gave me this book. (This book is the
object.)

The book (that) you gave me is very good.

·                  
We never leave out the relative
pronoun if it refers to the subject of the main clause.

The book is very good.
(main clause)

The book won the prize. (The
book is the subject.)

The book that won the prize is very good.

Non-defining relative
clauses give us extra information about the noun to which they refer to.
The information is not essential because the main clause is complete without
it.

Look at these two sentences:

London has over 6 million people.

London, which is the capital of
Britain, has over 6 million people.

The clause which is the
capital of Britain gives us more information about London, but we do
not need this information to define London. We can understand the first
sentence without this extra information.

Which
is the capital of Britain is a non-defining
relative clause.

·                  
Who
and which are not omitted in non-defining relative clauses!

·                  
That
cannot replace who or which.

He invited me to the party, which was very kind
of him.

Peter, who works really hard, got a promotion.
NOT: Peter, that works really hard, got a promotion.

Punctuation

A defining relative clause is not put in commas.

A non-defining relative clause is put in commas.

Note how the commas change the meaning of the
sentence:

The boys in my class, who enjoyed the film, saw it
again. (all the boys in my class)

The boys in my class who enjoyed the film saw it
again. (only some boys in my class)

Allan: To practice the rule, I’d like you to complete
the text about another prominent writer – Lewis Carroll by putting who,
which or whose in the gaps.

Let’s check.

Alice in Wonderland, which is one of the most
popular children’s books in the world, was written by Lewis Carroll, whose real
name was Charles Dodgson.

Carroll, who had a natural talent as a
story-teller, loved to entertain children, including Alice Liddell, whose
father was a colleague of Carroll’s at Oxford University. One day Carroll took
Alice and her sisters for a trip on the river Thames, which flows
through Oxford. After the trip, Carroll wrote in his diary that he had told the
children a wonderful story, which he had promised to write down for
them. He wrote the story, illustrated it with his own drawings, and gave it to
the children. Later it was published.

Harry: That’s all for
now. Join our lessons at videouroki.net, where you can find a lot of
useful information.

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1. At the end of the holiday
   ________ on to any unused foreign currency because it may come in
   handy on another occasion.

If
your call is not answered within two minutes, you’re advised to
________ up and dial again.

The company decided to
________ a portrait of the retiring managing director in the
boardroom.

1. Helen
   rubbed her carpet as hard as she could but the stain still wouldn’t
   _____ out.

I’m
afraid people don’t ________ much meaner than my neighbour; she
even re-uses her old tea bags!

Matt
has gone out this evening to try and forget how badly his
presentation went, but in the cold light of day it’ll ________ back
to haunt him.

1. Everyone was surprised to
   discover that the young man was eligible to ________ for president.

The factory closure became
such a contentious issue that even the national newspapers decided to
________ a series of articles on it.

The supervisor had to ________
through the safety guidelines several times before she was convinced
that all the staff had understood.

1. There are many jobs that my
   sister could do but she seems unwilling to ________ herself to
   anything.

The varnish will not have a
smooth finish if you ________ it too liberally.

I
was attempting to complete the whole form until I realised that half
the questions didn’t ________ to me.

1. Because he failed to ________
   up for the job interview, Mr Garrard has been crossed off the
   shortlist of applicants.

In
terms of recognition, Tamsin had little to ________ for all the
effort she’d put into reorganising the office.

Despite her poor reception in
New York, the artist was still keen to ________ her work across the
rest of the USA.

1. Many people fail to recognise
   that the mind needs regular ________ just like any other part of the
   body.

Trying to get every member of
staff to take their holiday at a different time was a very
frustrating ________.

Every ________ in the book is
designed to build up your reasoning skills.

9. Using the data of various dictionaries compare the lexical valency of the words:

peel,
scrape, scrub; guilt, fault, blame; roam, wander, ramble, rove,
stray, walk around; value, worth, utility; fear, alarm, dismay,
panic; avert, avoid, evade.

10. Suggest a frame of your own for the concept “trade”.

Topic for presentation

• Ideographic
  dictionary by P. Roget

Seminar 6. Homonymy and Paronymy

Homonymy. Sources of homonymy: convergent sound development (phonetic
change), borrowing, conversion, divergent meaning development (split
of polysemy), shortening. Classification by W. Skeat into perfect
homonyms, homophones and homographs. Classification by A.I.
Smirnitsky into lexical, grammatical and lexico-grammatical homonyms.
Full homonyms and partial homonyms. Homonymy and polysemy. Paronymy.
Definition of paronyms. Paronomasia.

Test Questions

1. Give the definition of
   homonyms. Why is English so rich in homonyms?

2. What
   is the most widely accepted classification of homonyms?

3. What are the formal criteria which help to differentiate between
   polysemy and homonymy? Give examples.

4. What
   words are defined as paronyms?

Tasks
and assignments

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