That versus which

From this entire argument, from these generations of just bickering, I have sussed out two distinctions. Distinction one, that is bad with commas. Distinction two, which is bad with people. So, let's start with distinction number one that that is bad with commas. Now Bryan Garner says that most of the time, nine times out of ten in fact, he says if you want to use a relative pronoun and you're trying to choose between that and which you should probably use that and the one time out of ten that you do want to use which, you're supposed to use a comma first.

So, a comma, which, as in, "The carrot, which was orange, was tasty. Because the carrot, comma, which was orange, comma, was tasty means that you could take out the comma-bracketed clause without changing the meaning of the sentence. The fact that the carrot is orange is essential to the sentence. However, if we try to use that in a non-restrictive way, to say, "The carrot, that was orange, was tasty," it, to me, and to other native English speakers, that just sounds a little weird. It's not ungrammatical, per se.

There's nothing about the word that or which that says, "This is what it must be used for. And to try that once more, without commas, now we have, "The carrot that was orange was tasty.

And this one works. So, number one works. Number two works. Number three is weird, and number four is fine. So, the distinction here is that that just doesn't play well with commas. The standard rule of grammar is that the usage of that vs.

Because "which" indicates a non-restrictive optional clause, it is usually set off by commas before "which" and at the end of the clause. The general rule requires that you use that only to introduce a restrictive or defining relative clause, which identifies the person or thing being talked about. For example,. In this sentence, the phrase that I was telling you about specifically identifies the object in the previous phrase building and is a restrictive clause.

In this use, that should never be preceded by a comma because the word is an integral non-optional part of the description. Note that the subject of the restrictive clause can change "that" to "who", "when" and "where" for correct usage. Use who for a person, when for a time period and where as a substitute for "that place". For example:. On the other hand, use which with non-restrictive or non-defining clauses.

These are clauses providing additional information about something that has already been identified in the context.

In this use, which is always preceded by a comma and a comma is placed after the restrictive clause ends if the sentence continues. When the clause is at the end of the sentence, only one comma is used, before which :. In this case, the clause which is hard to follow is descriptive, not restrictive i. It's one of the most common topics people ask me about. I used to work as a technical writer, and I'd often edit documents in which people used the wrong word. More than once, I'd put in the right word, only to have clients change a perfectly fine that to a which and send it back to me.

In fact, having a client try to overrule my correction of a which to a that was one of the things that pushed me over the edge and made me start the Grammar Girl podcast. That vs. Which: What's the Difference? Here's an easy way to remember the difference between that and which: If removing the words that follow would change the meaning of the sentence, use "that. Some people will argue that the rules are more complex and flexible than this, but I like to make things as simple as possible, so I say that you use that before a restrictive clause and which before everything else.

Restrictive Clause—That A restrictive clause is just part of a sentence that you can't get rid of because it specifically restricts some other part of the sentence. Here's an example: Gems that sparkle often elicit forgiveness. The words that sparkle restrict the kind of gems you're talking about. Without them, the meaning of the sentence would change.

Without them, you'd be saying that all gems elicit forgiveness, not just the gems that sparkle.