In which?

[sorkroto]

Why do we put "in" when we write "in which?" Does that mean we are talking about a place? Like "where?"
I'm confused with "in which" and "where"; sometimes I see "where" in a similar case to ones that used "in which."

These are examples I saw:

1) Prosperity: a condition IN WHICH a person or community is doing well financially.

2) Anorexia: an illness IN WHICH a person has an overwhelming fear of becoming fat, and so they refuse to eat enough and become thinner and thinner.

I found out that when we use 'where' or 'in which', a word that follows them is a noun, unlike how we use a verb after 'which'. Am I on the right track?

I'd really appreciate if you could explain why we use "IN which", and also how it's different from "where", and just "which" (without in).

Thank you guys! God bless you!

[Raymott]

Why do we put "in" when we write "in which?" Does that mean we are talking about a place? Like "where?"
I'm confused with "in which" and "where"; sometimes I see "where" in a similar case to ones that used "in which."

These are examples I saw:

1) Prosperity: a condition IN WHICH a person or community is doing well financially. OR
1) Prosperity: a condition WHICH a person or community is doing well IN, financially. - not as good

2) Anorexia: an illness IN WHICH a person has an overwhelming fear of becoming fat, and so they refuse to eat enough and become thinner and thinner.

I found out that when we use 'where' or 'in which', a word that follows them is a noun, unlike how we use a verb after 'which'. Am I on the right track?

I'd really appreciate if you could explain why we use "IN which", and also how it's different from "where", and just "which" (without in).

Thank you guys! God bless you!

Yes, "in which" means 'where', but sometimes the 'where' is used colloquially, not to mean a place. For example, you might see "Anorexia is a condition where a person ..." "In which" would be more strictly correct, but 'where' is common.

The reason you need "in which" is that in these sentences a preposition is needed. Compare these sentences:
"This is the city I grew up in; This is the city in which I grew up." These mean the same thing, as does your example 1, and my amendment in blue above.

Here are some more sentences that need a preposition:
"This is the table from which I took the book; This is the table which I took the book from." You can see that "This is the table which I took the book" doesn't work.
"This is the man to whom I owe the money; This is the man [whom] I owe the money to"

[sorkroto]

A-ha!!!! Now I completely get it! Thank you so much Raymott!!!!!