SAT Writing - That vs. Which vs. Who
That and which and who are also words which are often (incorrectly) used interchangeably in spoken English. - A doctor that I knew came to my house
- A doctor who I knew came to my house
- The book that I read was good
- The book which I read was good
However, on the SAT, you must pay attention to the differences between "that" and "which" and "who" because the wrong choice of word is an error that shows up frequently. - That should be used only for restrictive clauses.
- A restrictive clause is a clause that limits the subject (usually to one specific subject, or one specific group)
- Ex: The house that I built is strong.
- That is limiting the subject of this sentence to include only the house That I Built instead of all the houses in the neighborhood or on the block or in the world
- If I built more than one house, that would be wrong because it would not limit the subject, since we still wouldn't know which house the author was talking about.
- Ex: The person that hit me was arrested
- We are talking about a specific person (only one) so that limits "the person" to just the specific person that hit me.
- When you remove a restrictive clause, you change the meaning of the sentence.
- Ex: Pies that contain peanuts can cause allergic reactions
- The restrictive clause is that contain peanuts. If we removed that clause, it would change the meaning of the sentence. We are talking only about specific pies, those that contain peanuts, and if we remove that limitation, then all of a sudden it would seem like every single pie could cause an allergic reaction. That dramatically changes the meaning of the sentence
|
|
