whichever

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I came across a sentence. Could you please explain if the sentence is correct or not?

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

I have difficulty understanding the function of 'which'. I think the sentence should be:

I will take whichever dictionary that is useful. Is that right? I think so because 'whichever' serves as an adjective and is followed by a noun.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Tdol]

There are different views about the grammatical form:
The American Heritage would agree with you: whichever. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
Cambridge and Oxford call it a determiner:
Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press
AskOxford: whichever

However, I would not use 'that' in the sentence.

[RonBee]

Re:

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

I agree with Tdol. I would not use "that" after "dictionary" in that sentence.

~R

[jiang]

Dear Tdol,

Thank you very much for your explanation and help. Now I see.

Jiang

There are different views about the grammatical form:
The American Heritage would agree with you: whichever. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
Cambridge and Oxford call it a determiner:
Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge University Press
AskOxford: whichever

However, I would not use 'that' in the sentence.

[jiang]

Dear RonBee,

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Jiang

Re:

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

I agree with Tdol. I would not use "that" after "dictionary" in that sentence.

~R

[svartnik]

Dear teachers,

I came across a sentence. Could you please explain if the sentence is correct or not?

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

I have difficulty understanding the function of 'which'. I think the sentence should be:

I will take whichever dictionary that is useful. Is that right? I think so because 'whichever' serves as an adjective and is followed by a noun.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

nominal relative clause serves as the object of 'take'
whichever = modifies 'dictionary(=noun)' --> adjective, nominal relative pronoun.

I will take whichever dictionary (that) is useful.
'Whichever' means 'any dictionary that',
any one from a limited set. The limitation is established by the word 'useful'. So 'that' (that = another limiting (restrictive) word) is redundant.

[RonBee]

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

nominal relative clause serves as the object of 'take'
whichever = modifies 'dictionary(=noun)' --> adjective, nominal relative pronoun.

I will take whichever dictionary (that) is useful.
'Whichever' means 'any dictionary that',
any one from a limited set. The limitation is established by the word 'useful'. So 'that' (that = another limiting (restrictive) word) is redundant.

Excellent!

[jiang]

Dear svartnik,

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Best wishes,

Jiang

I will take whichever dictionary is useful.

nominal relative clause serves as the object of 'take'
whichever = modifies 'dictionary(=noun)' --> adjective, nominal relative pronoun.

I will take whichever dictionary (that) is useful.
'Whichever' means 'any dictionary that',
any one from a limited set. The limitation is established by the word 'useful'. So 'that' (that = another limiting (restrictive) word) is redundant.