I was looking on Amazon right now for grammar books. One can never know too many grammar rules.
Well, while I was looking at “Eats, Shoots and Leaves,” I saw in the recommended box another book “Woe Is I.”
In it, I found a valuable lesson all writers could learn from (even me and you!). It’s the difference between “that” and “which.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve crossed one out only to replace it with the other, and still not know which word was correct.
This, my dear readers, solves everything. And it comes in a cute poem form!
“Commas, which cut out the fat,
Go with which, never with that.”
What does this mean in simplistic terms? Well, I had to do a little extra digging in the pages provided on Amazon. But lo and behold, I found the meaning.
The golden rule is: If you can remove the clause contained in the comma and keep the meaning of the sentence, use which. If there isn’t a comma, then usually there is no clause or unnecessary information, you use that.
Simple, no?
-
jeneveuxmouriretoutseule liked this
-
superfriend liked this
-
dmitryisaddicted answered:
I have the parody version of the first book mentioned. I love it. Also, very good tip! I’ll be sure to remember it when editing.
-
cayleighstickler posted this
