Which

<< Retour au forum || Aller tout en bas

English only
All your questions about the English language, no French allowed.

Ce sujet est fermé, vous ne pouvez pas poster de réponses

Which
Message de werriy58 posté le 20-04-2005 à 15:04:34 (S | E | F | I)
Hello everybody,
Could you tell us more about "Which?". It is an interrogative adjective or an interrogative pronoum, and about which one? werriy58.

Réponse: Which de vance, postée le 21-04-2005 à 08:51:26 (S | E)
Good morning

Which is both :

1° An interrogative word, when there is a choice.
Which one do you want ?

2° A relative pronoum.

a) Inanimate antecedent
bookGive me the which is on the table

b) The antecedent is a phrase (= ce qui/ce que):
She was wearing a dress, which was very unusual.

Réponse: Which de vance, postée le 21-04-2005 à 16:34:18 (S | E)
Of course it is :

Give me the book which is on the table.

Réponse: Which de werriy58, postée le 21-04-2005 à 19:55:40 (S | E)
Hello vance,
Many thanks for the help. I understand well now.
werriy58

Réponse: Which de ruofei, postée le 22-04-2005 à 04:25:51 (S | E)
Hello werriy58,

To go further into the clarification of ‘which’, because I think the distinction between ‘adjective’ and pronoun’ hasn’t been cleared up yet.

1) ‘which ‘ as an interrogative pronoun is used to ask for identification of a particular person or thing (you believe that the answer will select someone or something from a selection):
Which is the best to do?
Which is your favorite actor?
As you can see, ‘which’ is a subject in itself –subject of ‘is’ in both sentence.

2) ‘which’ as an interrogative adjective is also used in a question but differently: it will always be modifying a noun or pronoun.
Which colour do you like?
In this case, ‘which’ indicates a question about ‘book’ and is no longer a subject in itself. (and can also be named it ‘WH-determiners’)

Compare:
Which book would you like to buy (interrogative adjective)
Which one would you like to buy? (interrogative adjective)
Which would you like to buy? (interrogative pronoun)

Hope this helps!

Réponse: Which de werriy58, postée le 22-04-2005 à 13:49:26 (S | E)
Hello ruofei,
Thank you a lot for your clarification to the "WH" subject.
werriy58

Réponse: Which de traviskidd, postée le 22-04-2005 à 18:47:44 (S | E)
In "perfect" English, the word "which" as a pronoun should only be followed by a comma. Otherwise you should use "that".

Compare:

I see the book that is on the table.
The book, which is on the table, was written by Stephen King.

However, in everyday English, "that" and "which" are interchangeable (in this context, of course).

Réponse: Which de willy, postée le 22-04-2005 à 21:15:26 (S | E)
Hi Traviskidd !

For me the relative clause shouldn't be between commas ; here, this is a defining relative clause, I mean, you need it to understand the sentence.
If you say "the book was written by ...", I still don't know what/which book you're talking about.
If you say "the book that/which is on the table was written by ...", then I know what you mean.
What do you think ?

Réponse: Which de ruofei, postée le 23-04-2005 à 03:00:31 (S | E)
Hello!
In fact, there are 2 types of relative clause: non-restrictive clause that should be put within commas and restrictive clause that shouldn't:
(Travis' quote

The book, which is on the table, was written by Stephen King. (non-restrictive: the clause adds more information about the book but isn't necessary for the understanding of the whole sentence hence the commas)

I see the book that is on the table. (restrictive: without this clause, the sentence would non longer make sense so you don't put any commas.)

-------------------
Edit?par ruofei le 23-04-2005 08:52

Réponse: Which de willy, postée le 23-04-2005 à 12:47:28 (S | E)
Hi !

So, if I say :"the book was written John Clark", you know what I'm talking about ???

Réponse: Which de ruofei, postée le 23-04-2005 à 14:37:39 (S | E)
Hi!
That’s not the way you should be thinking.
I didn’t say non-restrictive clauses are useless, I said they give extra information.
1) The book, which is on the table, was written by S. King.
(i.e The book is on the table. The book was written by S. king: it makes sense)

2) I see the book that is on the table.
** I see the book?(what book?). The restrictive clause ‘that is on the table?is essential to the meaning of the sentence as it identifies the subject of the clause. There could be other books in other places but what we care about here is the one which in on the table. So this clause should NOT be enclosed with commas.

Further examples:
[incorrect] All the teachers, who don’t meet the education authority’s quota, will be fired.
[correct] All the teachers who don’t meet the education authority’s quota, will be fired.
The first example is not correct; leave the clause out and read:
i.e. **All the teachers will be fired.
Of course the sentence is grammatically correct. But it doesn’t make sense > obviously not all the teachers can be fired but only the ones who don’t live up to one’s expectations. This isn't extra information but identification of the subject (no commas).

-------------------
Edit?par ruofei le 25-04-2005 16:34
correction de ma phrase! Merci Werriy58!!

Réponse: Which de werriy58, postée le 25-04-2005 à 15:03:54 (S | E)
Hi,
Congratulations to everybody (Traviskidd, ruofei, willy) to your discuss because it give us more informations about which's use. But ask to ruofei to clarify this sentence : {correct} All the teachers who don't meet the education authority's quote the will be fired. Is not a mistake (the?), it is not (they) will be fired; I don't understand the sense of the please.
I'm very glad for non-restrictive clauses cause it gives an extra information. The book, which is on the table, was written by S. King. With non-restrictive form you can't have any further questions to ask again because the whole sentence is too clear.
Thanks a lot; werriy58

Réponse: Which de ruofei, postée le 25-04-2005 à 16:40:15 (S | E)
Hello Weeriy58!
I've just edited my post; I did make a mistake:
{correct} All the teachers who don't meet the education authority's quota, will be fired.

I'm glad that we helped you understand 'which' better.
Have a nice day

Réponse: Which de traviskidd, postée le 25-04-2005 à 21:00:53 (S | E)
Hi Willy!

You do have a point. I suppose that one would already have to know (by context or other means) which book was meant by "the book".

The two sentences are slightly different, though.

If I say

"The book, which is on the table, was written by Stephen King,"

then I'm giving TWO pieces of information about "the" book (whichever book it is).

But if I say

"The book that is on the table was written by Stephen King,"

then I'm giving ONE piece of information about the book that is on the table (whichever table it is ).

See the difference?

Réponse: Which de werriy58, postée le 26-04-2005 à 13:36:56 (S | E)
Hi Traviskidd,
Thanks a lot for your intervention about the which's topic. But I don't understand very well the meaning of point. What means really your sentence to Willy : You do have a point ? And I don't get really meaning of whichever.
Yours, werriy58

Réponse: Which de traviskidd, postée le 26-04-2005 à 17:53:57 (S | E)
Hi werriy.

A "point" is an argument or a way of thinking. "To have a point" means to have a good point, that is, a valid argument.

I used the affirmative mood ("You do have") because I had just been convinced that his argument had some validity.

I can't really explain the word "whichever" without using French, sorry. But if you know the meanings of "whatever", "whenever", and "wherever" then you can probably figure out the meaning of "whichever".

Réponse: Which de werriy58, postée le 28-04-2005 à 13:58:23 (S | E)
Hi Traviskidd,
Allright. Now I see. Thank you.
werriy

Ce sujet est fermé, vous ne pouvez pas poster de réponse.