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Spring 2004 / The Merciless Grammarian Spring 2004 / Training
The Merciless Grammarian spews his wrath on nasty problems of grammar, mechanics, and style.
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Drawing by Nathan Baran O Merciless One, I’ve been told that I’m supposed to keep that and which separate. I’m supposed to use that only to specify things (“Where’s the pen that I lent you?”) and which only to add additional information (“The pen, which I bought last week, has run dry”). Can you please help me keep them straight? Nonessentially yours, Hecuba Quisling Dear Hecuba, You seem to be having considerable problems with pens. Should you acquire one, kindly poke it into the yielding midbelly of whoever told you such blasted nonsense. Even I, who have publicly shamed those careless enough to use lay intransitively, must admit that the two words are often used for the same purpose. Clauses that specify a particular thing, called essential or restrictive clauses, can be introduced with either that or which, viz. The nefarious apparatus that I pawned last Tuesday was an heirloom. or The nefarious apparatus which I pawned last Tuesday was an heirloom.
(As opposed to the many other nefarious apparatus in my collection, some of which are not heirlooms–and yes the plural is apparatus!) One’s preference for one or the other is entirely stylistic, pace Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. My much-abused copy of Webster’s Dictionary of English affirms this point and accuses Strunk and White of “which-hunting.” You may choose whichever sounds best to you, to avoid an infestation of that’s, for example. Clauses that simply add additional information, called nonrestrictive or nonessential clauses (cleverly quipped in the close of your letter), are introduced with which: The poisoned barb, which happened to be my last, missed its mark. Informal speech and the historical record contain numerous instances of the two words used completely interchangeably, however. In awesome majesty, The Merciless One ‹ Spring 2004 / Featured Center
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