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However, it can be confusing when deciding when to use that or which. This article will help you understand the difference between these two relative clauses.
What is the Difference Between That and Which?
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When you use that and which, it’s important to remember whether the clause they introduce is nonrestrictive or restrictive. Nonrestrictive clauses add supplementary information and are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. This information is typically preceded by a comma, while restrictive clauses are essential and always preceded by a comma.
Both that and which are used as adjectives and as relative pronouns to define a noun in the dependent clause of a sentence. However, which differs from that in how it is pronounced and how it functions as an adjective. Both words have a number of different uses, but knowing the difference between that and which can make your writing clearer.
Which is Restrictive
A restrictive clause narrows down the noun it modifies, and it’s essential to meaning. It should be offset with commas.
Nonrestrictive clauses add information that’s not necessary to understanding the noun they describe. They can be separated with a single which.
There’s no need to get hung up on this “rule.” Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, Melville, and many other excellent writers used which with restrictive clauses. Geoffrey Pullum has a helpful article on Language Log that explores some of the history of this so-called rule.
Which and that are common words in English, but they can trip up writers if we’re not careful. Learning the difference between these relative pronouns is essential to writing correctly. Grammarly can help you master the nuances of this distinction and elevate your writing. It’s a powerful tool that anyone who writes should consider using. Try it for free today. Just copy and paste your writing into the site, and Grammarly will work its magic.
Which is Nonrestrictive
A nonrestrictive clause adds information to a sentence without limiting the subject. It can begin with a relative pronoun (which, who, whom, whose) or a noun phrase. For example, the sentence about the animals mentioning the fact that they are furry is a nonrestrictive clause. If you remove the words that they are, the sentence still makes sense: the animals make great companions.
Nonrestrictive clauses are set off with commas or parentheses (brackets). Which also can be used in nonrestrictive clauses to introduce additional, removable information. For instance, Stacy’s truck, which is painted red, has a dent in the back bumper. Adding the word which after the adjective that in this example changes the sentence to say: Stacy’s favorite cafe, which serves excellent coffee and paninis, is in Memphis, Tennessee. This is an acceptable alternative. The grammar app suggests this. But it also points out other errors, such as wordiness, ambiguity, run-on sentences, passive voice, and faulty verbs.
Which is Interrogative
Native English speakers use interrogative sentences frequently without giving their grammar much thought. These sentences end with a question mark rather than a period and contain auxiliary verbs such as what, when, why, and how. They also feature question words such as who, which, and whose. These words are called relative pronouns and are used to introduce nonrestrictive clauses (also known as nonessential or nondefining clauses).
For example, the sentence Stacy’s truck, which is painted red, has a dent in the back bumper contains a nonrestrictive clause. In the above examples, that connects the noun phrase Alison’s truck to the relative clause describing its color. Which, on the other hand, prompts a specification for a noun or noun phrase. Similarly,?por que? (for what reason?) is a common Latin question word. It can be replaced with which, but the word porque carries a written accent when it appears in Spanish. Try using our free sentence checker to test the difference.