ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Shea
Clarity on ‘that’ Let’s begin with a simple sentence-opening function.
Prelude Principle – Use that to open a sentence by referring to something just
mentioned in the earlier sentence.
Positive stock signals capture the attention of market observers like flies do frogs.
But some economic indicators put frogs off their food: take excessive corporate
debt. That scares the spots off conservative market mavens.
Comment: Opening this final sentence with that close on the heels of
‘corporate debt’ is clear and direct.
Caution: Make sure that what you refer to in the prior sentence is clear.
NEW IDEA: Using ‘that’ or ‘which’ in a clause
“That is the question!” -- Hamlet in grammlet school!
Clarity on choosing ‘that’
Take heart; you CAN do this!
Writers use that to open an essential clause, saving which to open an optional clause.
Grammarians call essential clauses restrictive; the clause restricts the meaning of the sentence.
Writers intend that audience know something essential about this particular sentence.
Another way to say: Restrictive means the clause is essential to the sentence main idea.
Mnemonic Use this nursery rhyme to remember that as essential to the sentence’s meaning:
Tra La La: This is the house that Jack built. This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack
built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This
is the cat that worried the rat that ate. . . .and on ad infinitum
Comment: Jack built this house; this action SPECIFIES this house.
Try this scenario: As the clock strikes twelve, you realize the book review is due tomorrow.
You ask your roommate to borrow either The Business or Cheese, saying you want the book
that is easier to read. You specify – or restrict -- the choice by ease of reading. Naming the
right book is essential to your task – and sentence!
3 More Examples of that to open essential clauses:
 The grammar book that Karen Gordon wrote uses vampire metaphors to drive
home language points.
Comment: if you remove ‘that Karen Gordon wrote’ you no longer know the specific
grammar book.

The pending court case that accuses college students of copyright violations
strikes fear in UMD students.
Comment: if you remove ‘that accuses college students of copyright violations’ you no longer
know the specific court case.

The new software that will revolutionize vampire slaying is nearly finished.
Comment: if you remove ‘that will revolutionize vampire slaying’ you don’t know the
specific software for vampiracide.
Four pages total
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ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Shea
Principle: If the clause is essential to the meaning of the main sentence idea, open with
that. Typically, that-clauses DO NOT take a comma.
NEW IDEA: Now a young writer’s thoughts turn to ‘which’ hunting. – Shakespeare, too?
Clarity on which This pronoun also opens clauses. Unlike that-clauses, which-clauses are
not essential to the main idea. They give additional – and often important—information.
Grammarphiles call these clauses non-restrictive.
Principle: Writers open a clause giving additional information that is interesting but
optional, with which. Notice that the preceding sentence opens the defining clause about
‘additional information’ with that.
Try this scenario:
Students in English101 complain about the textbook, which is hard to follow.
Comment: that the book “is hard to follow” is interesting but not defining information.
Compare:
Students in English 394 complain about the textbook that Karen Gordon wrote.
Comment: It is the textbook that Karen Gordon wrote. This is like the house that Jack
built.
Punctuation guide: which clauses generally take a comma.
To drive the point home, consider these four examples.





The grammar book, which Buffy prefers, features absurd metaphors to aid
memory.
The pending court case, which some follow on usenet lists, strikes fear in UMD
students.
The new software, which vampires fear, is nearly finished.
Civilian casualties continue to alarm, which does not bode well.
“Drat! Gap has returned to classic style, which I don’t like at all,” Buffy
grumbled.
Still bothered by which?
TRICK 1: Delete which. Often, this strategy works.
The grammar book Buffy prefers, features absurd metaphors to aid memory.
The pending court case followed on usenet lists, strikes fear in UMD students.
The new software feared by vampires is nearly finished.
Comment on punctuation:
I left the commas in to prevent confusion about the predicate. ‘Prefers’ is NOT the
predicate, features is. Likewise, ‘lists’ is NOT the predicate, ‘strikes’ is.
TRICK 2: Pull part of the ‘which’ clause to the front of the sentence.
Preferred by Buffy, the grammar book features….
Followed on usenet lists, the pending court case strikes. . .
Feared by vampires, the new software is . . .
Four pages total
rev.7.31.03
ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Shea
That and Which sightings taken from the wild world of books
Robert Hendrickson writes lovingly of garden words in Ladybugs, Tiger Lilies & Wallflowers.
Api. The French gave this name to the old tasty apple variety that in English is called the
“red lady.”
Asparagus has been regarded as a phallic symbol since earliest times, but this certainly is not
why the perennial patches of it are called beds, which is just a common garden term.
Choke Pear. The fruit is so named because of its rough astringent taste, which could make
a person choke.
Cut and Dried. The allusion is not to ready-cut timber, as some say, but to the cut and
dried herbs that were sold in the herbalists’ shops of seventeenth century England.
Garlic. Pilgarlic is an interesting word that is no longer used to mean a “baldheaded man.” It
takes its name from the early English pylld garleke, “peeled garlic,” for someone who
resembles a shiny peeled garlic bulb.
Haw. Commonly called the thorn apple for its thorny trunks, which make impenetrable
barriers, the hawthorn’s lovely flowers were used to crown Athenian girls at weddings. . .
Jonquil....but in the nineteenth century jonquil began to be pronounced “John-Quill,” which
certainly sounds much better to the English or American ear.
Insane Root. Banquo says to the witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth:
Were such things here as we do speak about?
Or have we eater on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?
Either henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) or poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), the hemlock
that killed Socrates, is the insane root that was supposed to deprive anyone who ingested it
of his senses.
Judas Tree. . .the “Judas Tree” (Cercis siliquastrum), a leguminous tree of southern Europe
that flowers before its leaves appear.
Whew. Lots of heavy lifting here. It is hard work to detect whether that or which belongs
in these and other sentences. Review:
that defines or explains material intrinsic to the meaning of the sentence
Hint: This is the house that Jack built....
which offers detail, facts, or further comment on the elements in the sentence.
Hint: if you can take the clause away and the sentence retains integrity, then use
which....and add a comma, usually.
Hint::
Comma
graphic on
a witch’s
hat!
Four pages total
rev.7.31.03
ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Shea
Closing notes on That and Which
Whew. Sigh of relief. This is one of the more difficult principles of grammar to master.
Grammarians continue to debate this distinction, including whether the choice matters. Be
encouraged. Scholars know of many examples where the choice between that and which is
unclear. What should the writer do? Here are some rules of thumb:

Think on what you intend. Ask: is the clause essential to my meaning? If so, signal to
the reader by using that.

That or which is a relative pronoun, meaning it relates or refers back to the noun in the
subject position of the sentence. If you can tell what the noun is without the clause, then
which is preferred.
Strategy:
Does “by the way” fit? Then use which.
Does “by the way” NOT fit? Then use that.
You may already have a sense of the use of restrictive and non restrictive clauses when you
recall that commas set off incidental information in an appositive. Try these memorable
examples from Dave Williams, George Mason University, who lives in Swampoodle, VA.
My grandmother, who smokes pot, is nearly 100.
Comment: the grandmother is nearly 100, she happens to smoke pot.
My grandmother who smokes pot is nearly 100.
Comment: the grandmother is nearly 100, she is the grandmother who smokes pot.
Extended discussion: Without commas this sentence says that of the two grandmothers (you
may have more due to step families), it is the pot smoking grandmother who is nearly 100.
The scotch-slinging grandmother is a near ninety-seven.
Without commas, the phrase is restrictive or essential. It tells us which
grandmother you are talking about.
With commas, the phrase implies you have only one grandmother – the multiple
others are deceased – who is nearly 100 and by-the-way, she smokes pot.
Finally, an artistic license example of which:
Don’t worry, this is funny.
From the Wizard of Oz musical, do you remember this:
Munchkin Man:
And oh what happened then was rich
Chorus:
The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch
It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch
Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked witch
Comment: In this anti-example, the more proper relative pronoun would be that since the
which-clause fully contains the entire essential element of the long noun phrase that
paints a vivid picture of what happened to the witch – most would agree that “was not a
healthy situation for the wicked witch’ is essential to the sentence. But, which rhymes with
the string of important words: rich, pitch, slitch, witch, ditch, SITuation, and finally witch.
Four pages total
rev.7.31.03
ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Four pages total
Shea
rev.7.31.03
ENGL 394 DRAFT
That is That
Which is Which
Shea
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Four pages total
rev.7.31.03