Re: It's what It's. OH THAT ONE !!

[Solveig Haugland <solveig -at- techwriterstuff -dot- com>]

Hi,

 /kevin is correct. "Which" and "that" are grammatically different, not stylistically different. I'll just provide my own example here as well.

"The lawnmower, which is blue, is in the garage." (there's one lawnmower and by the way, it's blue. It's also in the garage.)

"The lawnmower that is blue is in the garage." (there are a lot of lawnmowers and one of them is blue. That one is in the garage.)

"Which" provides additional information about one thing; "that" narrows down the things you're talking about.

For the Chicagophiles, it's in section 5.42 of my 14th edition.

Solveig
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
solveig -at- techwriterstuff -dot- com
"Tell Me About the Typos When the Software Works."

http://www.techwriterstuff.com
Products expressing the agony and ecstasy of being a techwriter.
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> I don't understand.
> Several e-mails have now been exchanged on the topic of
> "which" versus "that", and none has given an example
> of the actual distinction that I've made all my life,
> and have come to expect from people who speak/write
> decent English:
>
> "... the sky that cannot be touched is blue."
> [All other skies are yellow.]
>
> "... the sky, which cannot be touched, is blue."
> [A significant, perhaps defining in context, attribute of "sky" is
> untouchability.]
>