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"Which" or "that": Choosing between them made
easy
Copyright 2004 Tim North
Consider the following sentences. Both are
acceptable, but they mean quite different things.
The books, which have red covers, are new.
The books that have red covers are new.
The first sentence implies that ALL of the
books are new. The second implies that only the red books are new.
In the first sentence the words "WHICH have
red covers" are adding information about the books. They're telling you more
about the books than you would otherwise have known.
In the second sentence, the words "THAT
have red covers" are restricting the sentence. They're limiting which books
we're talking about. Without them, we'd be talking about all the books. With
them, we're limited to talking about just the red books.
This distinction leads to a simple rule of
thumb for chosing between "which" and "that":
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Use "which" (surrounded by commas) if a
group of words adds information. Use "that" if it restricts.
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Here's another example just to make that
clear:
Elephants, which have big ears, live in
Africa.
Elephants that have big ears live in
Africa.
The first of these sentences wrongly
implies that ALL elephants have big ears. (In fact, only African elephants
do. Indian elephants have small ears.)
Ah, you learn the good stuff here don't
you? :-)
The second sentence restricts the elephants
we're talking about. It thus correctly implies that only African elephants
have big ears.
To the total bewilderment of most American
readers, I shall point out that they're asking Noddy for a ransom. :-)
Sorry. Couldn't resist!
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You'll find many more helpful tips
like these in Tim North's
much applauded range of e-books. FREE
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http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com
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Author: Tim North,
www.BetterWritingSkills.com,
E-MAIL:
info@betterwritingskills.com
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