Perplexing sentences

Question

1. I ended things, which is when the problems began.

Does the underlined part of the sentence mean 'from that time'? When can I use 'which is when' ?

2. Motorcycles are dangerous, which is why we should wear helmets.

Does the underlined part of the sentence mean 'that's why'?

3. I live in China, which is where the government tries to control population growth.

Can I use the relative pronoun 'where' instead of the underlined part?

GPY · Accepted Answer

Omar Ahmed1. I ended things, which is when the problems began.
Does the underlined part of the sentence mean 'from that time'? When can I use 'which is when'?

"which" refers to an implied noun phrase, such as "the moment when I ended things". You can use "which is when" where such a noun phrase can be readily understood, or, of course, when "which" refers directly to a noun that has been mentioned, as in "I ended things on Tuesday, which is when ...".

"from that time" is grammatically somewhat different. If you substitute "from that time" into your sentence then you will get a comma splice, but broadly the same meaning can be created if the comma splice is fixed; e.g.:

I ended things, and from that time the problems began.

Omar Ahmed2. Motorcycles are dangerous, which is why we should wear helmets.
Does the underlined part of the sentence mean 'that's why'?

If you directly substitute "that's why", you will get a comma splice error. You need to change the punctuation. For example:

Motorcycles are dangerous. That's why we should wear helmets.

Omar Ahmed3. I live in China, which is where the government tries to control population growth.
Can I use the relative pronoun 'where' instead of the underlined part?

"where" and "which is where" both work, but there is a difference in feel. In most ordinary contexts "where" will be the more usual choice.

Perplexing sentences

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