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Academic Writing - Education & CCSC students: Which/That

Resources to support Morling College Counselling, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, and Education students to understand and employ the conventions of academic writing appropriate to graduate and post-graduate levels of study.

Which versus that

'Which' versus 'That'

Be careful not to substitute which for that. The easiest way to distinguish between the usages is that, most times, which will have a comma before it and will be at the beginning of a clause that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use that as part of the main sentence: it begins a clause that holds essential meaning for the sentence.

Sometimes it’s not easy to tell the correct usage but the two usages provide a subtle difference in meaning, for example:

  1. Students present with high-risk behaviour, which is addressed through a therapeutic intervention program.
  2. Students present with high-risk behaviour that is addressed through a therapeutic intervention program.

In the first example, Students present with high-risk behaviour is a self-contained sentence. The clause ...which is addressed through a therapeutic intervention program is a description that elaborates and is not essential for the meaning of the sentence. 

In the second example, ...that is addressed through a therapeutic intervention program is part of the essential meaning of the sentence, a defining clause, according to Tredinnick (2008, p. 73).

More information and examples here - https://www.grammarly.com/blog/which-vs-that/

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Tredinnick, M. (2008). The little green grammar book. Sydney: UNSW Press.

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