Including?

Question

I always have trouble explaining the difference between 'such as' and 'including.'

For example, in the following sentence, 'including' sounds better, but I can't tell exactly why that is so. Is there a good way to explain why 'including' is better in this case? Or 'such as' is acceptable as well?

All living things, including humans, would die without air.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

teacherJapanI always have trouble explaining the difference between 'such as' and 'including.'

'such as' is more like 'for example'. It makes no definite claim. It can be used to make a guess.

The prisoners who escaped must have had a way to do it, such as a secret tunnel.

You can't say "including" in the sentence above because that means that the prisoners had to have a secret tunnel to escape. It means they could not have escaped without a secret tunnel.
_______________________

'including' always mentions one member of the set of things you're talking about.

This roof will protect you well against all kinds of weather, including, of course, wind and rain.

This says that if you list weather conditions, wind and rain will definitely be on the list.
_____________________

teacherJapanAll living things, including humans, would die without air.

Humans are definitely living things, so this looks good to me. However, it seems unnecessary to say "including humans" at all because the underlying fact that humans are living things is so obvious.

It would not be wrong to write "such as humans", but again, it seems unnecessary to use any example at all in a general statement. This is more a matter of style than of grammar. It goes a bit against common sense to say, for example,

All sentences, [including / such as] the sentences in a formal essay, should begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

There is no good reason to draw attention to particular sentences when the claim is being made for all sentences.

CJ

Including?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions