"That" and "Which"- The English Traveler

Hi everyone! The English Traveler is in. What's going on with you today?


 It's great to see you all! I'm doing very well, thank you for asking! It's 8:05 am in Washington DC, it's cold but there are not many clouds at all in the sky. I have a cup of coffee nearby, and you're here, so I'm happy!


 Yesterday and the day before, we talked about the Chinese New Year and -WH questions (who, what, when, etc.). Today, I propose to continue looking at them for a little bit, then we'll move on to relative pronouns, which look quite similar (that, which, who, whose, whom, etc.). In order to do so, we'll use President Obama's last speech - The State of the Union, which was yesterday. How does that sound?


 Excellent, let's start! As you may know, the State of the Union is an annual speech delivered by the President of the USA, which reports on the condition of the country (economically, socially, etc.) and also outlines the agenda for the President for the following months. But to whom does the President give this speech?
1) A selection of American citizens
2) Congress
3) The Senate


Here you will find a good article with a video about the State of the Union speech delivered by President Obama: Obama Touts Economic Plan in State of the Union Address


Many of you thought 1) because the President is elected by American citizens. However, Congress is the correct answer :) Congress is made up of 'representatives', of people elected by American citizens to represent them. A total of 435 representatives form Congress, and therefore represent the American people.


Now, imagine you had a chance to be a Representative in the American Congress, and that you were present during the State of the Union speech delivered by President Obama. There are many representatives, and everyone can only ask the President one question.
What question would you ask the President?


Very good questions, everyone! I'm going to take a few of your questions, and give answers using a relative pronoun. As a matter of fact, the relative pronoun will be missing ;) so you will have to find it! Your choices will be "that", "which", "who", "whose", "whom". Ready?


First question "Mr. President, what are your plans to increase jobs and reduce the unemployment rate?"


My answer (you know I'm not really the President, so don't take my word for it:), in which you need to find the relative pronoun
"The plan ______ I want to implement will bring a balance in taxation across the American society as a whole."
1) who
2) which
3) that


Good job, everyone! The answer was 3) THAT. 
"The plan that I want to implement will bring balance..."
You cannot use 'which' in this sentence. 'That' and 'Which' are not interchangeable at all, and obey a certain set of rules. Do you want me to explain them?


Second question! "How far have you contributed or worked for the betterment of your country ?"
=> "This question, ____________ has often been asked, is very easy to answer. I feel I have contributed very much."
1) whose
2) which
3) that


Ok, here is the difference between 'that' and 'which', and the reason why they are not interchangeable at all. 
- THAT is used in a restrictive clause. It is used to select a specific item ("the painting that I bought is very nice" => not just any painting, the one that I bought. You cannot take out 'that I bought' without changing the meaning of 'painting'). Notice that no commas are used.
- WHICH is used in a non-restrictive clause. This means that the clause just adds information, and does not show that the item in question is specific. ("The painting, which I bought yesterday, is very nice" => you can take out ', which I bought yesterday', and it will still be the same painting.) Notice that commas are used around the restrictive clause ( , which I bought yesterday, ) to show that this clause adds meaning only.


Here is a good example to show you the difference:
1) "The Picasso that was in the living-room was stolen."
2) "The Picasso, which was in the living-room, was stolen."


In 1), there was a Picasso in the living-room, but there may have been other Picasso paintings in other rooms.
In 2), there was only one Picasso in the entire house, and it was in the living-room.


Here is the answer to the second question:
"This question, WHICH has often been asked, is very easy to answer. I feel I have contributed very much."


See how 'that' and 'which' are used differently? Most of the time, you can see the actual difference in the sentence structure itself => the commas will give you a hint and tell you you need to use 'which' instead of 'that'.


Just to make things clearer, look at these two examples:
1) The Picasso painting that was in the living-room was stolen.
2) The Picasso painting, which was in the living-room, was stolen.


In 1) there was a Picasso in the living-room, but there may have been others in other rooms.
In 2), there was only one Picasso painting, and it was in the living-room.


Third question!
"How can we save the American economy, or keep in good condition?"
=> "All the people ___________ jobs are being threatened have a right to expect a certain amount of security."


1) That
2) Who
3) Whose


Excellent answers on the third question, for which the correct was 'whose'!
Let's practice 'that' and 'which' for a second, to make sure you all understand. Which one would you use in:
"The wallet ________ I found, __________ I gave back to its owner, was full of money."


Very good, everyone! The answer was:
"The wallet THAT I found, WHICH I gave back to its owner, was full of money."


Keep in mind that THAT is used when you want to talk about a specific thing (not just any wallet, but the one that I found) and that WHICH is used with commas to add more information.


Tomorrow, we'll continue our work on relative pronouns while using a specific them linked to the news, as we did today. Stay tuned with the English Traveler at 13:00 GMT, but don't forget the next lesson with the Navigator at 16:00 GMT!
I had a great time with you all today. Have a wonderful day/evening.
See you later, alligators ;)
~E.T.