These rules are actually older than the words themselves, which were frequently interchangeable until the 18th century. Do you suffer from low self-esteem? Do you have anxiety, or difficulty making decisions? Do you find yourself unable to decide whether you should use that or which when composing a sentence? However, if the source of your trouble is the issue of that and which we may be of some small assistance. Use 'which' or 'that' to introduce a restrictive clause, and 'which' to introduce a nonrestrictive clause.
Once upon a time, long ago, when the English language was still basking in its Edenic youth, that and which were freely interchanged. Everyone was very happy. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things which are Gods. Render therefore unto Caesar, the things that are Caesars; and unto God, the things that are Gods.
Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars: and unto God the things that are Gods.
The careful reader may have noticed that in the four examples given above, all published within a span of four decades, each of the authors writes what is essentially the same sentence, but uses that and which in a manner that is different from each of the others.
The midth century was apparently a period of syntactical free love. Then the rules on restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses came along. If you are not a copy editor, or someone who is deeply interested in grammar, you may have forgotten what restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses are.
A restrictive clause is a part of a sentence that may not be removed without rendering that sentence incomplete, difficult to understand, or with its meaning substantially changed. The resources below break down the grammar rules associated with that and which and describes when to use each one. Whether to use that and which depends on whether the clause it introduces is restrictive or non-restrictive.
A restrictive clause means that the information in the clause is necessary to understand the preceding noun. For a restrictive clause, use that. Here, because not all laptops are used for gaming purposes, we use that to indicate the necessary information.
Once again, this sentence indicates there are multiple chairs in the kitchen, making it important to include a restrictive clause. Note that the restrictive clause does not necessarily need to be positioned immediately after the noun. This sort of clause is a non-restrictive clause. There is one other important distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses: commas are used to separate the non-restrictive clauses from the rest of the sentence. Therefore, we use which and separate the non-restrictive clause with commas.
In this example, because all human hearts have four valves, the descriptive clause does not provide necessary identifying information to the sentence. Here are the sentences that used that. In the second sentence, changing to which causes the sentence to imply that Brad only has one sweater. The product is already identified.
Therefore, which appeared in the Sunday newspaper is a nonessential clause containing additional, but not essential, information. Essential clauses do not have commas introducing or surrounding them, whereas nonessential clauses are introduced or surrounded by commas.
Rule 3. If that has already appeared in a sentence, writers sometimes use which to introduce the next clause, whether it is essential or nonessential. This is done to avoid awkward formations. Example: That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
This sentence is far preferable to the ungainly but technically correct That that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The distinction between that and which , though a useful guideline, is not universally accepted as a hard-and-fast rule. For many centuries and up to the present, which has been routinely used by great writers and journalists to introduce essential clauses. Enable JavaScript Uh oh! Hide Notice.
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