This thread is for the discussion of the language, culture, travel, daily life, etc. of Japan. Let's tark at randam in Japanese and English. Take it easy!
When is it appropriate to use that as opposed to which?
Carter Sanders
I am a native speaker and I confess I don't know either; the only time I ever notice it is when using a certain Microsoft product, and I always do what it suggests just to get rid of those damned green squiggles.
Isaiah Perez
This is precisely why I turn off the grammar checking in Word. I still write however I want, but it bothers me that a software program doesn't approve. I guess that's one definition of neurosis.
Jace Ramirez
this is something that always gets me as well, and I never seem to remember the rules governing the use of the two words.
Blake Turner
this made me think of, "That which does not kill me makes me stronger"
Robert Price
That and which are interchangeable when introducing integrated relative clauses. Although some grammar mavens (i.e., people who hold forth on such topics but know little or nothing about linguistics) and copy editors will insist otherwise, the rule is completely bogus.
See, for instance, Language Log on that vs which, written by the co-editor of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.
Practically speaking, it is not something that any normal person will generally notice or follow in spoken English and it's frequently — and rightly — ignored even in literary writing. So even from that point of view it's not worth worrying about.
Christian Gray
I hate this answer. There is a difference between that and which in that the latter is nonrestrictive. –
Julian Ramirez
There is a difference between that and which in that the latter may be used grammatically to mark a nonrestrictive relative clause, and the former may not. In restrictive clauses, of course, both are grammatical.
Eli Sullivan
Well, the difference is slight but real. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary:
In U.S. English, it is usually recommended that which be employed only for nonrestrictive (or nonessential) clauses: : the horse, which is in the paddock, is six years old (the : which clause contains a nonessential fact, noted in passing; the horse would be six years old wherever it was). A : that clause is restrictive (or essential), as it identifies a particular thing: : the horse that is in the paddock is six years old (not any horse, but the one in the paddock).
Note also that the word that can be omitted where it introduces a subordinate clause:
He said he was coming. [He said that he was coming.]
But it is required when it is the subject of the clause:
The family that plays together stays together.
More usage notes from NOAD:
Is there any difference between the use of that and which in sentences such as : any book that gets children reading is worth having, and : any book which gets children reading is worth having? The general rule is that, in restrictive relative clauses, where the relative clause serves to define or restrict the reference to the particular one described, that is the preferred relative pronoun. However, in nonrestrictive relative clauses, where the relative clause serves only to give additional information, which must be used: : this book, which is set in the last century, is very popular with teenagers, but not : this book, that is set in the last century, is very popular with teenagers.
Bentley Brooks
>In U.S. English Is it different in other English????
to be honest she was not easy to get as gf. but I showed most of my wealth I will inherit someday and she started to see as possible bf. I will use her to show me the areas of Laos and Vietnam that are free of whites. we are already making a list of 100 barclubs, we will go one by one and if we find whites inside then we will leave immediately and go to another barclub, repeating this action until we finally find a barclub 100% free of whites.