When will we use Which and That? What is the difference?

[A_Quariu_s]

I have a problem about Relative Clause. When will we use Which and That. What is the difference? Sometimes in a question I need use that or which but the the options include both of them.

[Esl_Expert]

Hello A_Quariu_s,

As a very general rule of thumb, the word "which" should introduce a non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clause, and that clause will be set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma or a pair of commas:

- The American Declaration of Independence, which was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, is on display in Washington, D.C.

The word "that" can be used to introduce defining (restrictive) relative clauses. The word "that" is sometimes omitted:

- The car (that) I bought last month turned out to be a lemon.
- The second house on the left is the one that Jack built.

This is a pretty reliable guideline in American English, but there will be exceptions.

You might also be interested in looking at these links:
Which or that?
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/clauses.htm

_______________________
“Young men know the rules, but old men know the exceptions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

[Alan]

Hi A_Quariu_s,

Another point to make is that 'that' as a relative pronoun is used in a 'superlative' sentence as in: She claimed that was the best book that she had ever read.

You might also like to look at some material on relatives that I've written for the site:

http://www.english-test.net/lessons/21/index.html

and (2) and (3)

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Word Story: Dictionary

[A_Quariu_s]

Dear Alan Thank you for your answer. I read your article concerning Relative Pronoun but I Did not find any knowledge about my question thus I'll ask my question again with samples that was taken from your article.

"He showed me a photo that upset me."
"He tore up the photo, which upset me."

There was a question that i saw afew weeks ago, i'll adapt my question in this sample.

"He showed me a photo ........ upset me." Please select the correct answer and why?

A-Who
B-Which
C-That
D-Whom
E-Where

According to me there are 2 corrects B and C but that was an official examination question related to language level. How come are they writting 2 correct answer? Or what is my deficient information?

[A_Quariu_s]

ohhh in this question the correct one is 'C' because there is not a comma. If we change the sentence as "He showed me a photo, ........ upset me." so the correct answer will be 'B' because there is a comma after the "photo". Okey Thank you so much dear Esl_Expert