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Who,That,Which|GrammarRules

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Who,That,Which

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Rule1.Whoandsometimesthatrefertopeople.Thatandwhichrefertogroupsorthings.
Examples:
Anyaistheonewhorescuedthebird.
"TheManThatGotAway"isagreatsongwithagrammaticaltitle.
Lokuaisontheteamthatwonfirstplace.
Shebelongstoagreatorganization,whichspecializesinsavingendangeredspecies.

Rule2a.Thatintroduceswhatiscalledanessentialclause(alsoknownasarestrictiveor
definingclause).Essentialclausesaddinformationthatisvitaltothepointofthesentence.

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Example:Idonottrustproductsthatclaim"allnaturalingredients"becausethisphrase
canmeanalmostanything.
Wewouldnotknowthetypeofproductsbeingdiscussedwithoutthethatclause.

Rule2b.Whichintroducesanonessentialclause(alsoknownasanonrestrictiveor
nondefiningclause),whichaddssupplementaryinformation.
Example:Theproductclaiming"allnaturalingredients,"whichappearedintheSunday
newspaper,isonsale.
Theproductisalreadyidentified.Therefore,whichappearedintheSundaynewspaper
isanonessentialclausecontainingadditional,butnotessential,information.

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NOTE
Essentialclausesdonothavecommasintroducingorsurroundingthem,whereas
nonessentialclausesareintroducedorsurroundedbycommas.

Rule3.Ifthathasalreadyappearedinasentence,writerssometimesusewhichtointroduce
thenextclause,whetheritisessentialornonessential.Thisisdonetoavoidawkward
formations.
Example:Thatwhichdoesn'tkillyoumakesyoustronger.
ThissentenceisfarpreferabletotheungainlybuttechnicallycorrectThatthatdoesn'tkill
youmakesyoustronger.

NOTE

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Who,That,Which|GrammarRules

Thedistinctionbetweenthatandwhich,thoughausefulguideline,isnotuniversallyaccepted
asahardandfastrule.Formanycenturiesanduptothepresent,whichhasbeenroutinely
usedbygreatwritersandjournaliststointroduceessentialclauses.

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