that vs which

[naomimalan]

Hi Naomi,

Just when I thought I got a fairly clear idea of what the difference between that and which is, you sent me plummeting back into a giant blackhole of ignorance, which, I suspect, I will never get out of.

The usage of which in all the extracts except the third is something I don't understand. If I had to write them, I would use that instead.

I failed, terribly.

Hi Daemon,

It was wrong of me to ask you to explain the occurrences of which in those excerpts. I suppose I was using you as a kind of buffer. I’m sorry.

If you’re worried about making mistaken choices, you will never be wrong if you do it the American way and choose that. In every one of the extracts I quoted, you could substitute that for which and it would still be considered perfectly correct. In any case, the way languages evolve, sooner or later we’ll all be following the American example, it’s inevitable I think. The change from which to that in British English is happening already for defining clauses.

Explaining the choice of which in the excerpts would get us into the domain of linguistics rather than grammar, entailing a lot of quite lengthy explanations. I’m not sure most students in the forum would find it pertinent to their needs. But if you are keen to know more, you can send me an email or a PM and I’ll gladly explain.

Sorry again,
Naomi

[daemon99]

It was wrong of me to ask you to explain the occurrences of which in those excerpts. I suppose I was using you as a kind of buffer. I’m sorry

You tried to help me, it was just that I was out of my depth, that's all

If you’re worried about making mistaken choices, you will never be wrong if you do it the American way and choose that

Well, that puts my mind at ease. Thanks for that.