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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Using 'in which' in a sentence

I have noticed that 'X which' where X can take any preposition confuses me. Is this similar to 'which' or that'. For example:

The house in which evil is born makes for a striking sight.

You could also right this sentence as...

The house where evil is born makes for a striking sight.

So which is correct in this example, to use 'where' or 'in which'.

Another example:

The rapidity at which they talk confuses my dwindling mind.

This could also be written as:

The rapidity of their speech confuses my dwindling mind

or

The rapidity of their speech confuses me.

And many other variations.

So is there any rule to use 'X which' where X is any preposition, i.e.'inside which' ' for which' 'before which' 'to which' 'through which'

This kind of grammar confuses me.

Any help?
  

Top answer

the house in which evil is born => evil is born in this house the club of which I am a member => I am a member of this club the club to which I belong => I belong to this club the restaurant at which I eat => I eat at this restaurant a cause for which he is prepared to die => he is prepared to die for this cause ... and so forth "where" may be an acceptable substitute for location-related prepositions + which, as in your example. "the rapidity at which they talk" seems dubious to me; it would require that you talk "at rapidity", whereas I think it should be "with rapidity".

— GPY

  • the house in which evil is born => evil is born in this house the club of which I am a member => I am a member of this club the club to which I belong => I belong to this club the restaurant at which I eat => I eat at this restaurant a cause for which he is prepared to die => he is prepared to die for this cause ...
  • and so forth "where" may be an acceptable substitute for location-related prepositions + which, as in your example.
  • "the rapidity at which they talk" seems dubious to me; it would require that you talk "at rapidity", whereas I think it should be "with rapidity".
  • "the rapidity of their speech" is different grammar and is not directly comparable.
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5 Answers
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the house in which evil is born => evil is born in this house
the club of which I am a member => I am a member of this club
the club to which I belong => I belong to this club
the restaurant at which I eat => I eat at this restaurant
a cause for which he is prepared to die => he is prepared to die for
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I do not hear this kind of English in everyday speak. Is it the old English of Shakespeare? Would it be better to say 'I belong to this club' rather than 'the club to which I belong'?

Does this kind of English have a purpose?

Sorry, Swedish is my native tongue.

Thank you for your reply.
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Anonymous'I belong to this club' rather than 'the club to which I belong'?
Of course the first is casual, or conversational; and the second is formal.

This doesn't mean that in formal writing you should necessarily replace the first with the second.

It just means that you're correct in thinking that the second doesn't belong in casual speech.
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In terms of grammar, could you dissect the sentence 'the club to which I belong'. How does 'which' relate to the rest of the sentence?

To use 'which' the sentence is non restrictive?
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And what is the rest of the sentence?Emotion: thinking - A.

(Clauses are non-restrictive.)
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