that, which. Use that, not which, in a restrictive clause — a clause necessary to the reader’s understanding of the sentence: The town that the pitcher calls home is tiny Hawley, Pa. (The sentence serves no purpose without that the pitcher calls home.) Note that there are no commas around the clause. In a nonrestrictive clause — one providing added information, not essential to understand the sentence — use which, preceded by a comma: Hawley, Pa., which the pitcher calls home, is tiny. (The sentence is understandable without which the pitcher calls home.)Claims "Grammar Girl": "A quick and dirty tip (with apologies to Wiccans and Hermione Granger) is to remember that you can throw out the 'whiches' and no harm will be done. You use which in nonrestrictive clauses, and if you eliminate a nonrestrictive clause, the meaning of the remaining part of the sentence will be the same as it was before."
CMOS basically agrees, though conceding that "Some people use 'which' restrictively, which is more or less okay (and popular among writers of British English) as long as no commas are involved."
Here's a challenge that you can take, which is a nice test of this distinction. Does it matter?
Survey SAYS! "The difference between 'that' and 'which' is something that I ..." care about and get right (44%), care about but get wrong (33%), or ignore (21%).
This is something I struggle with all the time according to MS Word's grammar check, but I got all four of the quiz's questions right without reading this post first.
ReplyDeleteHugely important to me, and very grating when I see someone get it wrong.
ReplyDeleteDid the test and got all the answers, but I also went to the J-School at KU. Is it cheating when the test givers also taught me everything I know about copy editing?
ReplyDeleteI got the questions right, and I agree with the rule in principle, but there has to be a middle ground to remember this between "restrictive versus unrestrictive" and "I know it when I see it."
ReplyDeleteThe NYT also gives a terrible example -- in both sentences, the term "where' could be used and still be correct and, indeed, better.
ReplyDeleteIt's not hugely grating to me but I like it when it's right.
ReplyDeleteI'm a practicing journalist, so I've done it second nature for years. I didn't realize there was enough here for a grammar rodeo.
ReplyDeleteThey're not all going to be barnburners. I'll take suggestions.
ReplyDeleteThis is my grammar kryptonite. I can recite the rule, but am completely incapable of applying it in practice. (Ditto "lay" vs "lie.")
ReplyDeleteThat said, awesome shout-out to Hawley, PA. My summer camp was about 15 minutes from there and I can still taste the ice cream at Smith's Ice Cream Parlor. And it's really not particularly tiny, especially compared to the town the camp was in (Tafton, PA), which consists of the camp, ten houses, part of a lake, and a general store. No traffic light.
Very much grates when used wrong. I write proposals and it's a very common thing to have to edit for. One of those things that feels more obvious to me now than it probably really is.
ReplyDeleteAdam, we could do a "which seemingly common items" are actually brand names, alongside their recommended, but clunky generic forms. That's one I'm constantly fighting in my newsroom. I've got a whole list that is fun to guess both what is the generic form and, sometimes, to guess the brand name when given the generic form (For instance, what brand name do the words "luncheon meat" describe? As a hint, you would never see it at a luncheon.).
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on lay vs. lie! I've never gotten it, and I get so frustrated when the subject comes up that I take a wild guess and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteOscar Mayer?
ReplyDeleteSure, we can talk about tissue paper and reprographics at some point.
The best lay/lie mnemonic I know is built on matching the vowel sounds to the action:
ReplyDeleteTo lay (long a) is to place (long a) something.
To lie (long i) is to recline (long i).
I reckon it's "Now I lay me down to sleep" that leads some of us into confusion, because what is THAT if not reclining? But lay is a transitive verb, and the direct objective of lay -- the thing I am placing down on on my bed -- is my own body, me.
Also problematic: The past tense of lie is lay, and then there's that other verb lie, meaning "to tell a falsehood," which takes different past tense forms and, thus, provides more opportunities to be wrong or to worry about maybe being wrong and then get stammery and feel like a dope.
lay, laid, laid
lie, lay, lain
lie, lied, lied
Marsha - given that Hawley has, I think, ONE traffic light, I think I'd still call it tiny. Sadly, I don't think Smith's is there any more.
ReplyDeleteOoh, great way to remember the difference. Lay/lie doesn't really give me much trouble, but I do have a tough time with effect/affect. Got an easy way to remember how to use those? I've been known to rewrite sentences just to avoid a decision.
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