Using "which" and "that" correctly
Summary
This article provides two simple guidelines for choosing between "which" and "that".
Consider the following sentences. Both are acceptable, but their meanings are subtly different:
- The books, which have red covers, are new.
- The books that have red covers are new.
In the first sentence, the words "which have red covers" are adding information about the books. That is, they're telling you more about the books than you'd otherwise have known. (They're red, not some other colour.) All of the books are new.
In the second sentence, the words "that have red covers" are limiting which books we're talking about. This time, only the red books are new.
Now, here's our rule of thumb: Use which (surrounded by commas) if a group of words adds information. Use that if it limits the set of things you're talking about.
Here are two more examples just to make that clear:
- Elephants that have big ears live in Africa.
- Leap years, which have 366 days, contain an extra day in February.
In the first sentence, the words "that have big ears" are limiting the type of elephants that we're talking about. (Indian elephants have small ears.) We thus use that.
In the second sentence, the words "which have 366 days" are adding information. We thus use which surrounded by commas.
