We had a long discussion about the word ‘that’ a while back, talking about all of its various uses and also where it might not be needed. If you missed it, click here for the post: That Dratted “That”
Today we tackle the ‘that, which, or who” quandary. The current trend is to ignore which relative pronoun is correct and to instead use the one that sounds best. While this is the easy way of dealing with the problem, here is the correct way of using them.
Which refers only to things.
Who (whom/whose) refers only to people.
That/these normally refers to things, but can refer to a class or type of person.
Examples:
Ms. Mary is the teacher who will start singing if the class gets out of line. [Who refers to Ms. Mary.]
That is a story which will remain timeless. [Which refers to the one timeless story.]
Those are stories that will remain timeless. [That refers to the type of stories which will remain timeless.]
In the past teachers taught that that should be used with restrictive modifiers and which should be used with nonrestrictive modifiers.
Examples:
These are the instructions that came with the kit. [the modifier ‘that came with the kit’ is necessary to the sentence making it restrictive]
The instructions, which look complicated, are in the box. [The modifier ‘which look complicated’ can be removed from the sentence, making it nonrestrictive]
Confused yet? Consider this – using which for a restrictive modifier often makes a sentence sound better. This is especially true when the sentence already uses the word that.
Which brings us back to where we started – using what sounds best and not worrying about the rest! Now that you know why, don’t you feel better about doing it?
Happy writing!
Sources:
My Literary Quest 
Ah, well… then there is always:
That that is, is. That that is not, is not. But that that is not is not that that is, and that that is is not that that is not. Is it?
I knew you’d whip THAT out!
I found that entire post very useful 🙂
Easy for you to say!
I ALWAYS appreciate these grammar posts–I need the constant re-inforcement. Thank you. 🙂
Heather
Thanks to Alanna and Heather for stopping by! Grammar posts are harder to fit in with my new schedule, but I’ll still do them, just not as often.
Grammar is Back
With That Dreaded THAT!
Which, That or WHO?
I hadn’t a clue
Writing’s such a bitch
When THAT fights with WHICH
Thanks, Jo!
Nice – nothing like a Nancy original!
I’m not saying it’s rational, but using “which” as a restictive modifier grates onmy nerves. It might not be wrong, but I don’t like the way it reads or sounds.
The more I learn the more I realize that a rare few actually follow half of these grammar guidelines. It’s a changing world.
I wish so many people didn’t find it “stupid” to care about how our language works. I’m hardly an expert, but it helps to have at least rudimentary knowledge.
can’t tell you how much THAT has plagued me during editing.
I’m guessing that I have made it even more complicated – sorry! At least this one follows the “leave it if it sounds ok” guideline.
I guess I’ll have to get out my Strunk and White. I need to review the use of which and that.
For your sake I hope they explain it better than I did!
Grammar post is one of the things I am looking forward to reading in your blog.
Sorry I haven’t been doing as many. I’ll keep them coming, just not as often.
I always love clear explanations of grammar. Thanks so much for sharing these and the examples.
I made a diary note the day you posted it, to come back and read. This is something I encounter a lot as an editor and I’ve now printed your post to keep. Thanks.