trictive Clause—That
observation A THAT or ,WHICH, ?
Bad news: They are interchangeable!
Good news:
There are rules!
Basic analysis:
1. Our house [that has a red door and green shutters] needs painting.
2. Our house [ , which has a red door and green shutters , ] needs painting.
3. The classrooms [that were painted over the summer] are bright and cheerful.
4. The classrooms [ , which were painted over the summer , ] are bright and cheerful.
• what is [ inside brackets ]
- sometimes is extremely important (cases 1 and 3)
- sometimes are "extra information" (cases 2 and 4)
in case 1, it's very important information
in this case we don't use commas (,)
we have a group of houses and
one is different: one of the houses has a red door...
in case 2, it's an "extra information",
in this case WE USE commas (,) AND we don't need this information there...
we don't have a group of houses, we have only one house,
the red door is not expressing that this house is different from other houses...
and AGAIN:
in case 3, some classrooms are bright...
in case 4, all classrooms are bright...
=)
observation B
She showed me the hand which was empty. √
She showed me the hand that was empty. √
the sentence is containing essential information about the noun that comes before it...
we have 2 hands and one was different: one hand was empty.
She showed me the hand, which was empty. X
She showed me the hand, that was empty. X
IF WE USE commas we express extra information , what is a mistake in this case...
unless the person has only one hand, in this case
I wouldn't need to differentiate a hand from others.
THIS IS NOT A CASE OF EXTRA INFORMATION!
Ferraris, which are expensive, couldn't be rent. √
IF WE USE commas we express extra information , what is correct in this case...
because ALL FERRARIS are expensive,
it's not my intention to differentiate a group of cars.
THIS IS A CASE OF EXTRA INFORMATION
observation C
What is the correct sencence?
( ) I preffer problems THAT are easy...
( ) I preffer problems WHICH are easy...
specific problems are easy? = no commas
= it's important information, it makes difference!
all problems are easy? = commas
= because it's just extra information
no commas? THAT √ / WHICH √
with commas?
So,
(√) I preffer problems THAT are easy...
( √ ) I preffer problems WHICH are easy...
observation D
restrictive relative clause
non-restrictive relative clausesources:
getitwriteonline.com
oxforddictionaries.com
