Can someone give me an easy way to determine whether I should use “that” or “which” in a sentence?
In my new job (!!) I find myself explaining things a lot via my writing, and as a habit I always cntrl +F and find all my “thats” and delete most of them because I have a horrible habit of putting them in my writing.
That fact nonwithstanding, I am seeing I use “that” to explain pretty much everything, and I know there’s a rule when to use “that” and when to use “which” and I’ve looked online and the explanations are technical and difficult and confusing.
Does anyone have an easy way for me to determine which one I should use?
If the clause being introduced is essential to the meaning of the sentence, then use “that.”
If the clause is not necessary, but merely provides additional information, use “which.”
The bicycle that is red is next to the house.
Here you are giving information about a specific bicycle, the one that is red. You are distinguishing it from other bicycles that happen to be other colors.
The bicycle, which is red, is next to the house.
Here you are mainly interested in specifying where the bicycle is. The clause is giving additional information that is not essential for identifying the bicycle.
The major manuals of style for American English, the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook, give the basic rule as I have stated it. This is for American English; the distinction is often not made in British English.
This said, the rule IMO is often overemphasized, and it is often not followed in informal writing. If you are worried about people criticizing your usage, follow the rule. If not, it’s not strictly necessary.
Just make sure you don’t do it reflexively and that it’s not, say, after a comma used as part of an interjection, as in, “Tom thought, unlike what everyone was saying, that it was a pretty good idea.”
True, but nobody would say “Tom thought which it was a pretty good idea.” Some that’s and which’s are not interchangeable no matter where in the sentence they are.
Right. What it doesn’t tell you is when to use “which.”
The rule is as given above: if removing the clause would change the meaning of the sentence, use “that” (restrictive clause). If removing it would not change the meaning, use commas and “which” (nonrestrictive clause).
I think that “which” sounds naturally “smart” to people. I taught remedial English writing in college, and I had a student once who tried to insert “in which” everywhere, I theorize because he was uncomfortable with formal writing and thought that “which” sounded intelligent and formal somehow.