Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

aussieviking65

Member Since

March 20, 2004

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

0

Bio

Latest Comments

“Proper” Diction?

  • March 20, 2004, 4:39pm

Fowler's is always a good guide, especially for general English. For writing for a publication, using one of the recognised style guides is even better.
For which and that, a general rule (not always correct but almost) is that "that" defines and "which" describes. As Sarah wrote, if you state that you have a watch, and add the information that it runs slow, you would use "which" with a comma. Another example is "This is the house that Jack built". "This is a house, which Jack built."