Them vs which

The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Asked 3 years, 2 months ago. Active 3 years, 2 months ago. Viewed 42k times. Which one is grammatically correct or better? I have two assignments, One of them is done. I have two assignments, One of which is done. Improve this question. Add a comment.

Search Advanced search…. Members Current visitors. Interface Language. Log in. Install the app. Forums English Only English Only. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things which are Gods. Render therefore unto Caesar, the things that are Caesars; and unto God, the things that are Gods.

Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars: and unto God the things that are Gods. The careful reader may have noticed that in the four examples given above, all published within a span of four decades, each of the authors writes what is essentially the same sentence, but uses that and which in a manner that is different from each of the others.

The midth century was apparently a period of syntactical free love. Then the rules on restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses came along. If you are not a copy editor, or someone who is deeply interested in grammar, you may have forgotten what restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses are. A restrictive clause is a part of a sentence that may not be removed without rendering that sentence incomplete, difficult to understand, or with its meaning substantially changed.

This nonrestrictive clause adds information to the sentence, but it is not imperative to include it. The restrictive clause, however, is more akin to pants; your day will have a decidedly problematic tone if you leave home without them. That underwent a period of decline at the end of the 17th century, then made a comeback several decades later. When it reappeared, that was used for nonrestrictive clauses much less frequently than it had previously been although some writers, such as Thackeray and Tennyson, still used it in this way quite often.

Here, the broken seat is simply a description of the bike in the garage. Do you see the difference? Perhaps a little mnemonic device will help you to remember how to choose between that or which. They are disposable, and so are clauses with which. By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. Ralph Waldo Emerson.