"which is why" OR "which means"

Question

I'm preparing a lesson on non-defining relative clauses to give a comment (explanation / consequnce) on the main clause of a sentence. In some cases it seems to be correct to use either which is why* or *which means to start the relative clause:

My dog has long hair, which means she needs grooming regularly.
which is why

But in other cases only which is why seems to be correct:

I have locked my keys in my car, which is why you saw me breaking the window.

I've tested many sentences (what sounds right to me, as a native english speaker), but have failed to find a rule, yet feel that there should be one. Can anyone help?

Thank you!

Regards · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Richard from PiraIn some cases it seems to be correct to use either which is why* or *which means to start the relative clause.

The phrases in question have different meanings:

Which is why -- for this reason; therefore; hence.

Which means -- that is; namely; in other words.

Take your sentence as an example:

I'd locked my keys in my car, which is why / which means you saw me breaking the window.

Let's see if the following sentence still makes sense:

I'd locked my keys in my car; therefore (which is why), you saw me breaking the law. v

Now let's move on to this sentence:

I'd locked my keys in my car, that is (which means), you saw me breaking the law. X

Just use other words to check if your sentence is still meaningful and reasonable.

If both work for you, choose the one that fits your intended meaning better.

Regards

CalifJim · Answer

which means (that) ... ~ which has as a consequence (that) ...

That the dog needs grooming regularly is a consequence of the fact that the dog has long hair.

On the other hand, that you saw me breaking the window is not a consequence of the fact that I locked my keys in the car, so which means (that) won't work.

But you can have:

I locked my keys in the car, which means I had to break the window.

Here, my having to break the window is a consequence of the fact that I locked my keys in the car.
_______________

which is why is more ambiguous. It can refer to a consequence (like which means does) or to a more general explanation of the association of circumstances.

I locked my keys in the car, which is why you saw me breaking the window.
I locked my keys in the car. This explains the fact that you saw me breaking the window.

CJ

Richard from Pira · Answer

Regards (sorry I could not find your name) and CalifJim. Many thanks for your quick replies. I found Jim's pointer to testing consequence beyond association of circumstances invaluable!

Richard.

Doriscornago · Answer

This has been answered in detail here: https://www.englishforums.com/blog/which-means-how-to-use-it/

"which is why" OR "which means"

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