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Showing posts from March 30, 2007

Pet Peeve Number 2 - That and Which

That and which. There's a difference. A lot of people don't know that. ALOT. (That's a joke. Look carefully.) Here's the basics - if the clause introduced by that or which can be taken out of the sentence without affecting its central meaning, use a "which" with a comma in front of it. If the clause is required, then use a "that" with NO comma. Some examples: The cars, which are on the lawn, are broken. - this means that the cars that are broken happen to be on the lawn. "Which" indicates a non-restrictive clause; a clause that provides more information about the noun in question, but that information is not essential. It's a "by the way" statement. The cars that are on the lawn are broken. - this means that the cars that are on the lawn are broken. "That" indicates a restrictive clause; a clause that provides essential information about the noun in question. Is this a big problem in fiction? No, not r