原文:http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA4MDYyMTcxOA==&mid=206061624&idx=1&sn=745a8cf6da0b428177963806a699b5cc&chksm=161d99c1216a10d7bb04a7484570854cbd5ff448a0ac15c37da1db3d9f8136052eeb5c73c2e2#rd
“任何试图在一小时之内讲清楚that 和 which用法的人都是在自找苦吃。” Zinsser在这里用两分钟的时间,快刀斩乱麻, 给我们一些that, which实际写作中的启示。如果你对 “从句” “限定性” 这种语法jargon不感冒,或许这两分钟会让你找到你的Aha moment.
Anyone who tries to explain “that” and “which” in less than an hour is asking for trouble. Fowler, in his Modern English Usage, takes 25 columns of type. I’m going for two minutes, perhaps the world record. Here (I hope) is much of what you need to bear in mind:
Always use “that” unless it makes your meaning ambiguous. Notice that in carefully edited magazines, such as The New Yorker, “that” is by far the predominant usage. I mention this because it is still widely believed—a residue from school and college—that “which” is more correct, more acceptable, more literary. It’s not. In most situations, “that” is what you would naturally say and therefore what you should write.
Here's the deal: You use that before a restrictive clause and which before everything else.
If your sentence needs a comma to achieve its precise meaning, it probably needs “which.”“Which” serves a particular identifying function, different from “that.”
简单来说, here’s the rule of thumb: Use which (surrounded by commas) if a group of words adds information. Use that if it limits the set of things you're talking about.
A high proportion of “which” usages narrowly describe, or identify, or locate, or explain, or otherwise qualify the phrase that preceded the comma:
That’s all I’m going to say that I think you initially need to know to write good nonfiction, which is a form that requires exact marshaling of information.
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