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Teo Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

(comma) that/which [American English]

1u00In 01i00Longman Advanced American Dictionary02i00 (page 219), the definition of the Chang Jiang is as follows:02u02br
02br
01u00the longest river in China, 01font00that02font00 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. It is also called the Yangtze.02u02br
02br
00In Standard British English, the above relative pronoun "that" should be replaced by "which".02br
02br
00What about American English usage?0-
  

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13 Answers
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0 Hi Teo02br
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00I would have used 'which'.0-
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0 01u00the longest river in China, 01font00that02font00 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. It is also called the Yangtze.02br
02br
02u00Is it correct to have a comma after 'China' when '01b00that' 02b00is used? IMO, if 01b00'which' 02b00is used, then a comma
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Teo12cite11u10the longest river in China, 11font10that12font10 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. It is also called the Yangtze.12u12br
12br
10In Standard British English, the above relative pronoun "that" should be replaced by "which".12b
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Kooyeen12cite10It seems that when we have a clause or sentence that "defines" the preceding sentence, we can use who (for people), which (for things), or that (for everything):12br
11b11font10I saw the man 11u10who/that12u10 killed all those people.12br

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0As a (BrE) footnote:02br
02br
001. The Yangtze is the longest river in China, that flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. 02br
02br
00— this non-restrictive use of "that" may be found in older texts, but is not so common these days. It is unpopular with ESL examiners.02br
02br
002. The Yangtze is the longest river in China that fl
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite11u10the longest river in China, 11font10that12font10 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. It is also called the Yangtze.12br
12br
12u10Is it correct to have a comma after 'China' when '11b10that' 12b10is
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0 Hi Yoong Liat02br
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00The comma is not the problem -- the sentence needs the comma because what is written afterwards is non-restrictive ("extra information"). 02br
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00Without the comma, the sentence implies that there are one or more rivers longer than the Yangtze in China, but that those flow in directions other than eastward. In other words,
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0 Thanks, Amy, you're right. I didn't notice the non-restrictive part of the sentence. I also agree that the sentence is awkward.02br
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00Best wishes0-
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0 Hi Amy02br
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00The longest river in China, 01font00that02font00 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea. It is also called the Yangtze.02br
02br
00On second thoughts, if 01b00"that flows ... China Sea" is a non-restrictive clause02b00, then 'which' should be used. The reason is the
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0I am very familiar with Chinese geography. The Chang Jiang is the longest river in China.02br
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00So "01u01font00that02font00 flows eastward from Tibet to the China Sea."02u00 is non-restrictive.0-
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