[AnAmericanMother]

I notice you don't get into the use of "which" and "that".

I'm not sure that anybody except Mr. Fowler really understood that one. I write for a living, and I mess it up all the time.

[yarddog]

I find that I use the word “That” way too much.

I once asked a girl to read a paper I had written and correct errors. When she gave the paper back she had marked out a whole bunch of thats in addition to other corrections.

[Lee'sGhost]

“which” is used in re to a choice.

“That” is used in re to a specific.

[wtc911]

I agree. In regard to errors, it is that which bothers me most.

[no gnu taxes]

I notice you don't get into the use of "which" and "that".

I've never felt the need to make a distinction, and neither does this guy, and he is pretty "anal" grammar-wise.

http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/which.html

[Poser]

Here’s my rule of thumb on “which” and “that”: Replace the “which” with a “that” and then remove the “that”

Word Perfect for DOS grammar checker used to call me “vague and pretentious” when I used “which” and “that” too often. I was never able to achieve Ernest Hemingway status until I removed most of them.

[Melas]

Which and that are fairly simple. Which is all inclusive, and that is not. “I have a diamond that is expensive” expresses that my diamond is an expensive diamond while other diamonds may or may not be expensive. If I say, “I have a diamond which is expensive” I’m saying that my diamond is expensive as are all diamonds.

[firebrand]

The British and American usage of “which” and “that” is different, as are other aspects of English. Here, “which” is nonrestrictive and begins a parenthetical statement, usually set off by commas. “That” phrases are restrictive and don’t take commas around them. In England they use “which” more liberally, especially if it refers to something farther toward the beginning of the sentence—in other words, with some text between the noun and the “which,” even if the sense is restrictive.

Clear, right?

I think this difference is usage is what makes it confusing, since most of us read British books as well as American.

[Louis Foxwell]

Best rule for “that:” unless you are describing something do not use “that.” Never say, “I know that I am going home.” You need only say, “I know I am going home.”

[Revolting cat!]

So, are you saying that the Beatles, since they’ve already been mentioned, ought to have sung, instead of “You Can’t Do That”, “You Can’t Do Which”?

[Shqipo]

This whole thread is so hugh and series, I feel compelled to throw in my two cents. I was taught that the use of “which” always come after a comma. Otherwise, use that.

[aruanan]

I notice you don't get into the use of "which" and "that".

Remember this from The Simpsons, "I got to wear the uniform what Dairy Queen give me"?

Is "which" used in something like an apposition? Such as, "The uniform, which was supplied by Dairy Queen, was too tight" or "The uniform that was supplied by Dairy Queen was too tight", at least one difference being that the first is describing two things about the uniform and the second one implies that there was another uniform, one not supplied by Dairy Queen, that was not too tight?

[Revolting cat!]

You say you write for a living. Your angle on the following, please.

This morning’s WSJ, page C12:

“There are a couple of flaws in this strategy.”

“a couple”, while it may contain two or even three of some element members in acceptable everyday usage, IS singular, as indicated by the ‘a’ article. Therefore we ought to write “There is a couple”, no? But this is such a common error nowadays that I expect to hear arguments that such usage is correct. Is it? Double GRRRRRH!

“Mr Funeral Director, there is a bereaved couple stiffly awaiting you in your office”, and not “Mr Funeral Director there are a couple ...” etc! In the strategy above, there are some two or three flaws, but still, there is a single couple of those flaws, dammit! “There are a” is pidgin English in my opinion.

I figure that at least one other person read this piece beside the author, his editor. Hey, may I have the job of editor at the Wall Street Journal?