That or Which

M

MC

When using 'that' or 'which' Word often indicates 'incorrect grammar'...when
is it appropriate to use 'that' vs. 'which'?
Click to expand...

It depends on where you are to some extent. In UK English they are more
or less interchangeable, but in American English they aren't.

SOURCE: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/which.html

I must confess that I do not myself observe the distinction between
³that² and ³which.² Furthermore, there is little evidence that this
distinction is or has ever been regularly made in past centuries by
careful writers of English. However, a small but impassioned group of
authorities has urged the distinction; so here is the information you
will need to pacify them.

If you are defining something by distinguishing it from a larger class
of which it is a member, use ³that²: ³I chose the lettuce that had the
fewest wilted leaves.² When the general class is not being limited or
defined in some way, then ³which² is appropriate: ³He made an iceberg
Caesar salad, which didn¹t taste quite right.² Note that ³which² is
normally preceded by a comma, but ³that² is not.
 
J

John McGhie

{clap clap clap clap!} Sustained applause :)

You are the first poster I have seen get that absolutely correct in here :)

I wasn't aware that they were at all interchangeable in UK English, my
Reuters subeditors were very emphatic in ensuring that I not only knew the
rule, but applied it correctly :)

To answer the original posters' other question, if you need fonts that Apple
or Microsoft did not give you, you will have to purchase them.

Hope this helps


It depends on where you are to some extent. In UK English they are more
or less interchangeable, but in American English they aren't.

SOURCE: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/which.html

I must confess that I do not myself observe the distinction between
³that² and ³which.² Furthermore, there is little evidence that this
distinction is or has ever been regularly made in past centuries by
careful writers of English. However, a small but impassioned group of
authorities has urged the distinction; so here is the information you
will need to pacify them.

If you are defining something by distinguishing it from a larger class
of which it is a member, use ³that²: ³I chose the lettuce that had the
fewest wilted leaves.² When the general class is not being limited or
defined in some way, then ³which² is appropriate: ³He made an iceberg
Caesar salad, which didn¹t taste quite right.² Note that ³which² is
normally preceded by a comma, but ³that² is not.
Click to expand...

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]
 
C

Clive Huggan

Robert Burchfield, in the New Fowler's Modern English Usage, has a page and
a half devoted to the subject, under the head "that". (I would have posted
it here, but I can't get my copy open far enough to scan it, and when I then
photographed it, my OCR application said the resolution was too low.)

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the Americas and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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