An explanation from Sahil's notes, if this helps you understand the usage. Take a close look at the underlined sentences:
1) Use of that and which: Most often than not, in GMAT, which would be preceded by a comma in the sentence.
e.g. Get me the book, which is mine. Which is used to qualify the book i.e. which is mine. There may be many books in the room, but I want my book.
‘Which’ should always refer to a noun. E.g. Get me the book, which is mine. So, ‘which’ here refers to the noun ‘book’.
Which should apply to things
e.g. Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion in 1992, which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
A) which is 14 percent more than the previous year
B) which is 14 percent higher than it was the previous year
C) 14 percent higher than the previous year's figure
D) an amount that is 14 percent more than the previous year was
E) an amount that is 14 percent higher than the previous year's figure
B is incorrect, because which should refer to a specific noun in the preceding clause. That noun does not exist ( Rise of sales). So, it is replaced by an amount that is 14 percent higher …
So, E is the correct answer (Similar to the UFO example in princeton)
That is a restrictive clause while which is a non restrictive clause.
that and which
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punit.kaur.mba
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Hi anju,
Could you please give another example?. What is the underlined portion in the sentence that needs to be corrected? the options given do not match with the underlined portion.
Could you please give another example?. What is the underlined portion in the sentence that needs to be corrected? the options given do not match with the underlined portion.
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anju
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Sry if i confused you, underlined portion is for you to take a special note of.
I have underlined the portion that is referred by "which is...". where as which should actually referr to noun which and hence usage of which is not proper. Lemme think of an example and I will post it soon...
As per my understanding which should always referr to a noun and when a phrase followed by which is removed, the meaning of the sentence should not change.
I have underlined the portion that is referred by "which is...". where as which should actually referr to noun which and hence usage of which is not proper. Lemme think of an example and I will post it soon...
As per my understanding which should always referr to a noun and when a phrase followed by which is removed, the meaning of the sentence should not change.
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punit.kaur.mba
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Hey anju,
No problem. Actually I tried re-reading your question as well as your explaination.
I understand the general statement but I don't understand how one can use this example to explain that vs which:
According to you,
which should refer to a specific noun in the preceding clause. - I agree
That noun does not exist ( Rise of sales) . So, it is replaced by an amount that is 14 percent higher … ----- I do not agree
Reason is:
My explaination - from what I understand , the sentence doesn't convey that "which" should correspond to "Rise in Sales". Instead it corresponds to the final number that the Sales rose to . However, the construction of the sentence is ambiguous... since we cannot make out what "which" is referring to. To add that clarity in the sentence, we need to use a specific noun and that is "amount".
Now, according to what you said in theory, if we added a noun "amount", we could use "that"/"which" interchangeably??
So the corrected sentence could be either
1) Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion in 1992, an amount which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
2) Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion in 1992, an amount that is 14 percent more than the previous year's figure and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
Anju, i'll wait for another 2 examples of yours which clearly show the usage of "that vs which". Because I am confused here
I am wondering if this example has anything to do with differentiating the usage of that versus which and instead a simple pronoun reference problem.
Please correct me if i am wrong!
No problem. Actually I tried re-reading your question as well as your explaination.
I understand the general statement but I don't understand how one can use this example to explain that vs which:
According to you,
which should refer to a specific noun in the preceding clause. - I agree
That noun does not exist ( Rise of sales) . So, it is replaced by an amount that is 14 percent higher … ----- I do not agree
Reason is:
My explaination - from what I understand , the sentence doesn't convey that "which" should correspond to "Rise in Sales". Instead it corresponds to the final number that the Sales rose to . However, the construction of the sentence is ambiguous... since we cannot make out what "which" is referring to. To add that clarity in the sentence, we need to use a specific noun and that is "amount".
Now, according to what you said in theory, if we added a noun "amount", we could use "that"/"which" interchangeably??
So the corrected sentence could be either
1) Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion in 1992, an amount which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
2) Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion in 1992, an amount that is 14 percent more than the previous year's figure and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
Anju, i'll wait for another 2 examples of yours which clearly show the usage of "that vs which". Because I am confused here
I am wondering if this example has anything to do with differentiating the usage of that versus which and instead a simple pronoun reference problem.
Please correct me if i am wrong!
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punit.kaur.mba
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ok... i think its still not clear to me. If which has to be preceeded by a comma, in the original sentence it does. Also it refers to to the sales figure (the number).. which is a noun.Whats wrong with it??
I think i am completely confused here
I think i am completely confused here
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anju
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Do let me know if this help:
In original sentence "...1992, which is..." though which is preceeded by comma, comma is preceded by 1992. In this sentence it seems that which is 14 % more.... pharase is modifying 1992, whereas in actual which is 14% more should modify the rise in sales.
Again to your question, which is not modifying $167 billion.
Try answering this: what is 14%more than the previous year... rise in sales or $167 billion.
Answer is rise in sales is 14% more than the previous year. You will not answer $167 billion is 14% more than the previous year ..... $167 billion of what?? -- doesn't make any sense
As promised an example of which is: this is from 1000 SC
Analysts blamed May’s sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, colder and wetter than was usual in some regions, which slowed sales of barbecue grills and lawn furniture.
(A) colder and wetter than was usual in some regions, which slowed
(B) which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing
(C) since it was colder and wetter than usually in some regions, which slowed
(D) being colder and wetter than usually in some regions, slowing
(E) having been colder and wetter than was usual in some regions and slowed
Here OA is B. Reasons:
1)colder and wetter is describing weather(noun) and hence which is required.
2) If you remove the phrase "which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions" from the original sentence, the meaning does not change.
3) colder and wetter refers to weather as a whole.
Remember: which referrs to the whole set and that referrs to the subset, so use that when you have to restrict to a subset.
I hope this helps in clarifying your doubts.
In original sentence "...1992, which is..." though which is preceeded by comma, comma is preceded by 1992. In this sentence it seems that which is 14 % more.... pharase is modifying 1992, whereas in actual which is 14% more should modify the rise in sales.
Again to your question, which is not modifying $167 billion.
Try answering this: what is 14%more than the previous year... rise in sales or $167 billion.
Answer is rise in sales is 14% more than the previous year. You will not answer $167 billion is 14% more than the previous year ..... $167 billion of what?? -- doesn't make any sense
As promised an example of which is: this is from 1000 SC
Analysts blamed May’s sluggish retail sales on unexciting merchandise as well as the weather, colder and wetter than was usual in some regions, which slowed sales of barbecue grills and lawn furniture.
(A) colder and wetter than was usual in some regions, which slowed
(B) which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions, slowing
(C) since it was colder and wetter than usually in some regions, which slowed
(D) being colder and wetter than usually in some regions, slowing
(E) having been colder and wetter than was usual in some regions and slowed
Here OA is B. Reasons:
1)colder and wetter is describing weather(noun) and hence which is required.
2) If you remove the phrase "which was colder and wetter than usual in some regions" from the original sentence, the meaning does not change.
3) colder and wetter refers to weather as a whole.
Remember: which referrs to the whole set and that referrs to the subset, so use that when you have to restrict to a subset.
I hope this helps in clarifying your doubts.
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punit.kaur.mba
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Thanks for the example anju. Your explaination was excellent.
However, there is one question that I have, I need to be sure that I got it right---->
Suppose I changed the sentence(removed the year) to :
Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion, which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
Now this sentence is similar to the example that you gave. which here correctly refers to $167 ( i.e, current yrs sales[noun] that is 14% greater than last yrs sales).
So usage of which should be right....isn't it?
However, there is one question that I have, I need to be sure that I got it right---->
Suppose I changed the sentence(removed the year) to :
Sales of United States manufactured goods to non-industrialized countries rose to $167 billion, which is 14 percent more than the previous year and largely offsets weak demand from Europe and Japan.
Now this sentence is similar to the example that you gave. which here correctly refers to $167 ( i.e, current yrs sales[noun] that is 14% greater than last yrs sales).
So usage of which should be right....isn't it?
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punit.kaur.mba
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Also tried answering your questions: (unfortunately my answer differs)
Try answering this: what is 14%more than the previous year... rise in sales or $167 billion.
My answer:
$167 billion (current yrs sales) is 14% higher than the sales in the previous yr.
Note: The original sentence says that that the current yr sales $167 billion is 14% higher than the last yr sales.
Therefore "which" in the given sentence is not intending to refer to rise in sales, but the actual sales figure , which is 14% greater than the previous yrs figure.
Sales ($167 billion) is 14% more than the previous yrs sales.
Your answer:
Answer is rise in sales is 14% more than the previous year. --> I dont agree with this...
rise in sales is 14%. Period
Current yr sales ($167 billion) is more than previous yr sales.
This is what i understand by reading the given sentence.
Not sure where this discussion is leading to!
Try answering this: what is 14%more than the previous year... rise in sales or $167 billion.
My answer:
$167 billion (current yrs sales) is 14% higher than the sales in the previous yr.
Note: The original sentence says that that the current yr sales $167 billion is 14% higher than the last yr sales.
Therefore "which" in the given sentence is not intending to refer to rise in sales, but the actual sales figure , which is 14% greater than the previous yrs figure.
Sales ($167 billion) is 14% more than the previous yrs sales.
Your answer:
Answer is rise in sales is 14% more than the previous year. --> I dont agree with this...
rise in sales is 14%. Period
Current yr sales ($167 billion) is more than previous yr sales.
This is what i understand by reading the given sentence.
Not sure where this discussion is leading to!
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rey.fernandez
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I'll digress from the SC examples that have been posted and try to get back to the original question: the difference between "that" and "which."
Consider a row of seven houses, some blue and some white. Let's say that this is how the houses are arranged:
blue, blue, white, white, blue, white, blue
Suppose I say, "My house is the third house, which is white." I'm referring to the third house in the row of houses. Oh, and by the way, that house happens to be white. This is called a nonrestrictive clause because the fact that the house is white is a parenthetical fact about the house. Notice the use of commas to set off this clause. It shows that this is not an essential piece of information. Similar to comments above, removing the clause does not alter the meaning.
Now suppose I say, "My house is the third house that is white." Now I'm referring to the sixth house because among the white houses, the third one is in the sixth position. There is no comma here because "that is white" is a restrictive clause: it contains essential information to modify "house" and to make it clear to which house I'm referring.
Consider a row of seven houses, some blue and some white. Let's say that this is how the houses are arranged:
blue, blue, white, white, blue, white, blue
Suppose I say, "My house is the third house, which is white." I'm referring to the third house in the row of houses. Oh, and by the way, that house happens to be white. This is called a nonrestrictive clause because the fact that the house is white is a parenthetical fact about the house. Notice the use of commas to set off this clause. It shows that this is not an essential piece of information. Similar to comments above, removing the clause does not alter the meaning.
Now suppose I say, "My house is the third house that is white." Now I'm referring to the sixth house because among the white houses, the third one is in the sixth position. There is no comma here because "that is white" is a restrictive clause: it contains essential information to modify "house" and to make it clear to which house I'm referring.
Rey Fernandez
Instructor
Manhattan GMAT
Instructor
Manhattan GMAT
