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Which or That: The Grammar Battle Commences

Should I use which or that? This is the focus of my grammar post (which I might make a series while I edit my work). I am currently focused on retraining my brain on correct grammar usage. This is something any writer should do. I am by no means perfect and I do make many mistakes. But, since I am learning the rules, I can share these with you. 

At the moment, I am editing a short story to put on this blog for you to read. Practice makes perfect, or so I hope. If you would like to read more about how I start off editing my books, click here. For the "which-or-that" ponderers, read on.


Which or That: Is There a Difference?

The which that has many friends is happy. The which, which can easily go away, must be used correctly. These two might not make any sense to you now, but come back to this once you read through all of details. 

The use of which and that is important if you want to sent a clear message to your readers. As writers, we must write a bar above the rest. If we don't, what makes us different from people who are not considered as writers? We set the bar and we show people what writing should look like.

As a grammar-role model, we need to be able to tell the difference between which and that and when to use it. We know which and that gets used for objects and animals, whereas who gets used for people (not always, see this post).

The way to differentiate between these two is quite simple. Think of which as the unrestricted insect that can disappear without you knowing about it. That, on the other hand, is the restricted prince who is always in the centre of attention and must act in certain ways.

The Unrestricted Clause called Which

Which is used when the meaning of the sentence stays the same when it's removed.


Without which, the sentence goes on as normal. The vital meaning behind the sentence is not lost. "I drink a lot of water" is the point I want to make with this sentence. The second part, "which is good for my body" is an afterthought. It's not vital and is often seen between commas.

The Restricted Clause called That

On the contrary, that is vital in a sentence. If you were to remove that and the part (clause) following it from the sentence, the sentence will lose its meaning. 


In this sentence, if you take out "that are of light colour", the sentence will still make sense, but the meaning is lost. What walls make a room look bigger? Not only is the info given in the that-clause vital, but it's also not between commas.  

Thus, all you need to think of when you have to decide between which and that is that you can live without which, but not without that. You can give your examples by leaving a comment!

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