The difference between "which" and "that"

" He was the most eloquent speaker that I ever heard " , ( that is better than which ) because the superlative adjective ' the most ' used in the first clause.

After the words, all, same, any, none, nothing, only, as, ( use that )

These two words can be confusing. Here's a good rule of thumb:

Use "that" whenever the identity "that" is replacing is known to the speaker. Examples:

I will read the book that is written by my favorite author. (not: "which is written..")
All that I can see from here is beautiful.
She didn't even apologize, and that is why I am angry. (not: "apologize, which is w

The man who was crossing the street was stuck by a car that Mr.smith was driving

Some people adhere to a rule that says in effect use "that" for restrictive relative clauses and "which" for non-restrictive relative clauses. A good discussion of this topic can be found [url="http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/062.html"]here[/url].

My own personal belief is that this rule has been rel

The relative pronoun "which can introduce both restrictive and non restrictive relative clauses, as you will read in any fairly good grammar.

"The house which I bought last year has three bedrooms." (restrictive)
"The house, which I bought last year, has three bedrooms." (non-restrictive)

On the other hand, you will probably not find "that" as the introductory pronoun of

I know which /that is the better car. .....in this sentece which has to be used - which or that? as speaker knows what hes talking about

This thread confuses several different uses of the two words in its discussions. In your case:

I know which is the better car-- the speaker knows but has not revealed the information.
I know that is the better car -- this 'that' is not a relative pronoun; it is a demonstrative pointing to the better car, so the information has been revealed. The same sentence ca

0but don t we know which here.isn t it obvious we are talking about the car...so which is known by the speaker.0-

good advice thanks

It is very easy to remember the difference between "which" and "that". If the information you want to communicate is essential use "that" otherwise use which.