Grammar-Quizzes › Clauses › Relative Clauses › Which Clauses
Which Clauses
Modify the preceding noun versus the idea of the entire clause
Referring to just the preceding noun vs. a whole clause
| THAT OR WHICH - PRECEDING NOUN |
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He deleted the picture which upset me. (The picture upset me.) |
Use 
| WHICH - THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE SENTENCE |
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Use 
Note: using which to modify a sentence is considered informal by some people and tends to occur mostly in spoken English.
Also see: That / Which | Who / Whom / That (personal pronouns)
See Comma_comments It / This Reference
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
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The goat was standing on the roof of the house which didn't make sense. |
The hurricane blew the beach sand away, that made the place look unfamiliar and strange. |
| SOLUTION |
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The goat was standing on the roof of the house, which didn't make sense. The goat was standing on the roof of the house which was abandoned. The goat was standing on the roof of the house. That / This didn't make sense. (Use that or this as a determiner. ) |
The hurricane blew the beach sand away, which made the place look unfamiliar and strange. (Use which not that.) |
Practice 1
Saturday Night Out
Decide whether to use ", which", that or which.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or the "Check 1-12" button.