With or without comma in a sentence

[Ju]

1. The paint which Mary bought at the hardware store was bright red.

2. The paint, which Mary bought at the hardware store, was bright red.

Can I know the differences in meanings between the above sentences?

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

1. The paint which Mary bought at the hardware store was bright red. :cross:

2. The paint, which Mary bought at the hardware store, was bright red. :tick:

Can [STRIKE]I know[/STRIKE] you tell me the [STRIKE]differences[/STRIKE] difference in [STRIKE]meanings[/STRIKE] meaning between the above sentences?

[STRIKE]Thanks.[/STRIKE] Unnecessary.

The main difference is that sentence 1 is incorrect. You can use "that" after "The paint", but not "which", or you can say "The paint Mary bought ...". Sentence 2 uses "which" correctly, in a parenthetical phrase

I'm aware that some variants consider "that" and "which" to be interchangeable so I fully expect someone to disagree with me.

1. The paint [that] Mary bought at the hardware store was bright red. (Here, "bright red" is a description of "The paint [that] Mary bought at the hardware store".)
2. The paint, which Mary bought at the hardware store, was bright red. (Here, we are told that the paint is red, and the fact that Mary bought it at the hardware store is extra information.)

 

[TheParser]

Can I know the differences in meanings between the above sentences?

NOT A TEACHER

Here in the (United) States, most books agree it is a good idea to use "that" when the information is essential to the meaning of the sentence. "Which" must be used when the information can be left out without causing any misunderstanding and put between commas.

I have made up these examples:

1. "The newspaper that has always fascinated me is The Times of London."

2. "The Times of London, which has always fascinated me, used to be an enormously influential newspaper."

 

[jutfrank]

The main difference is that sentence 1 is incorrect.

I don't like it much, either, but it isn't really incorrect. Most coursebooks teach that it's fine.

I'm aware that some variants consider "that" and "which" to be interchangeable so I fully expect someone to disagree with me.

It's the British variant that allows for the interchangeability. Your sense that it sounds wrong (which I largely share) I take as evidence that this may be changing.

 

[Phaedrus]

It's the British variant that allows for the interchangeability.

I think the sense that "which" is wrong in restrictive relative clauses is a fairly recent development, even in American English. The quotations below, from two of the most famous speeches in U.S. history, each feature a restrictive relative clause beginning with "which."

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."

- Abraham Lincoln, "The Gettysburg Address" (1863)

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt, opening sentence of "Address to the Congress Asking That a State of War Be Declared Between the United States and Japan"

Also, it's worthwhile to note that everyone uses "which" in restrictive relative clauses with Pied Piping, since Pied Piping doesn't work with "that."

That is the cupboard in which I put the glass.
*[strike]That is the cupboard in that I put the glass.[/strike]

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. The paint that Mary bought at the hardware store was bright red.

There were several colors of paint. Mary bought one color at the hardware store. It was bright red.

We don't know where the other colors came from, and we don't know who bought them.

2. The paint, which Mary bought at the hardware store, was bright red.

There was just one color of paint. Mary bought it at the hardware store. It was bright red.

Can [STRIKE]I know[/STRIKE] you tell me the difference in meaning between the above sentences?

Thanks.

Now you know!