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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
, that -> which ?
In spite of my English limited, I try to ask a question at this stie.
1. Of course we are all fictions, [that] make us feel tenderness for each other rather than contempt.
2. To be or not to be, [that] is the question.
My bad sense of grammar recommends for me to change [that] above into [which]. According to What I have been taught, a comma before that must be avoided. I want to know I am wrong to feel this way.
1. Of course we are all fictions, [that] make us feel tenderness for each other rather than contempt.
2. To be or not to be, [that] is the question.
My bad sense of grammar recommends for me to change [that] above into [which]. According to What I have been taught, a comma before that must be avoided. I want to know I am wrong to feel this way.
Top answer
I presume that both of these are quotations from literary sources. I am not familiar with the first, but the second is of course from Shakespeare's Hamlet. If the first quotation is also from an old source, I can tell you that both sentences simply reflect the punctuation used in those times.
- I presume that both of these are quotations from literary sources.
- I am not familiar with the first, but the second is of course from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
- If the first quotation is also from an old source, I can tell you that both sentences simply reflect the punctuation used in those times.
- Punctuation guidelines have changes immensely over the years.
- As for the Shakespeare quote, it has also been punctuated like this: To be, or not to be—that is the question To be, or not to be: that is the question To be, or not to be, that is the Question (first Folio) To be, or not to be, I there's the point (first Quarto)
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2 Answers
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I presume that both of these are quotations from literary sources. I am not familiar with the first, but the second is of course from Shakespeare's Hamlet. If the first quotation is also from an old source, I can tell you that both sentences simply reflect the punctuation used in those times. Punctuation guidelines have changes immensely over the years.
As for the Shakespeare quote, it
As for the Shakespeare quote, it
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Anonymous1. Of course we are all fictions, [that] make us feel tenderness for each other rather than contempt.2. To be or not to be, [that] is the question.In (2), "that" is a demonstrative pronoun, not a relative pronoun. It would not make sense to change it to "which".
(1) seems to have been misquoted. The original seems to be "Of course, we are al
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