If you’re not a native English speaker, you may have a difficult time remembering whether to use “that” or “which” in certain situations. That’s because they’re relative pronouns that set off clauses.
To keep your sentences clear and concise, it’s best to choose which word you need based on the context of the sentence. For example, you would use “which” in a nonrestrictive clause.
Which is Restrictive
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Which is Nonrestrictive
Restrictive clauses provide crucial clarifying information about a noun, limiting its meaning and making it necessary in the sentence. Nonrestrictive clauses, on the other hand, describe a noun in a nonessential way and can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.
Grammarly defines restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses as follows:
Restricting clauses, also known as essential or defining clauses, provide key, identifying information about a noun in the sentence. Nonrestrictive clauses, also called nonessential or nondefining clauses, describe a noun in a nonessential way and can be removed from the sentence without altering its meaning.
Which is an important part of English grammar. It can make a big difference in the meaning of a sentence. This is why you should know which to use. It also helps you punctuate your writing correctly.
Which is a Relative Pronoun
Who, whom, whose, which, and that are relative pronouns that introduce subordinate clauses functioning as adjectives. These subordinate clauses can be defining or nonrestrictive.
A restrictive relative clause (also called an essential relative clause) introduces information that changes the meaning of the sentence. If the clause were omitted, it would not make sense.
The nonrestrictive relative clause (also called a nonessential relative clause) does not introduce any information that changes the meaning of the sentence. It also cannot be set off by a comma.
Who and whom are neutral gender-neutral pronouns. They are used for people and sometimes animals, although they are rarely used for things.
Which is a Relative Clause
A relative clause, sometimes called a dependent or defining clause, modifies a noun phrase in the main clause. It is usually introduced by a relative pronoun, such as which, that, who, whom, or whose.
A bound relative clause, the type most often considered, qualifies an explicit element (usually a noun or noun phrase) appearing in the main clause, and refers back to that element by means of some explicit or implicit device within the relative clause.
The noun in the main clause that the relative clause modifies is called the head noun.
In some languages, relative pronouns are similar to linking words that agree with the head noun in gender, number, definiteness, animacy, etc., but do not adopt the case role that the shared noun assumes in its embedded, not matrix, clause.
German, for example, has two varieties of relative pronouns that inflect according to their antecedent. One is based on the definite article der, die, das and is essentially related to English that; the second, which is more literary, is based on the dative and genitive forms of the verb welchem and is comparable to German who.