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Abstract
The use of that and which in adjectival restrictive clauses has long been defined by teachers of
grammar and composition: that and which are interchangeable in such clauses. However, some of the
most distinguished grarnmarians and theoreticians of English usage claim that that and which should
not be used interchangeably. No less experts than W.H. Fowler, Theodore Bemstein, and Fredrick
Crews, in stark contrast to the accepted classroom decorum for these words, recornmend strongly that
that be used exclusively for restrictive clauses and which for nonrestrictive ones. This debate, largely
ignoreed in the texts and referencebooks used for instruction, is reviewed, analyzed, and assessed in
this article.
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