which

which

1. For the choice between that and which, see that ³. It is especially important that which, not that, should be used in so-called non-restrictive clauses giving additional rather than essential information: A new edition of the book, which has taken ten years to write, will be published this week. (Note that in this role, which is usually preceded by a comma.)

2. The use of which to introduce a clause that is grammatically a relative one but in fact adds new information or leads on to a new point has been recorded for several centuries but has become especially common in the last fifty years or so:

• He does Mr Rabinowitz's teeth which is super —Nigel Williams, 1985

• Head office may look at the figures and decide to close again, which defeats the whole point —tourist website, BrE 2003 [OEC]

• (starting a new sentence) It was as though Hungary was not another place but another time, and therefore inaccessible. Which of course was not so —Penelope Lively, 1987.

3. Use of which with a personal antecedent is now archaic only, and is familiar mainly from the Prayer Book:

• O God, which art author of peace, and lover of concord —Book of Common Prayer, 1548–9 (modern spelling).

4. When a which-clause is followed by another which-clause joined by and or but, the second which must have the same grammatical status as the first. In the following example the first which is the subject of its clause, whereas the second is the object of the verb (found): In contrast Peake's use of elevated language has a childlike quality, which is appropriate given that the protagonist, Titus, is a boy, and which I found endearing.