I'm writing an essay on witchcraft for my grade 11 history class. I have the sentence "Witchcraft is a topic [which/that] has interested many people throughout history". I initially wrote "which", but when I reread it, I thought "that" sounded better. Can anyone tell me which one is grammatically correct?
Your rereading guess was correct--"that" is correct in that context.
If you're using American English, this is the distinction between that and which:
--Use "that" in a restrictive modifier. Or, in other words, when whatever phrase you're that-ifying is crucial.
--Use "which" when the info you're adding is just extra. So, the non-restrictive sense.
In the future, to test to see if you have the right one, just delete the phrase you're that-ifying (the technical term is 'complimentizing).
"Witchcraft is a topic has interested many people throughout history" sounds weird, so you need the 'that'.
But, you could alternatively write the sentence like, "Witchcraft, which has interested many people throughout history, is blah blah blah." And because "Witchcraft is blah blah blah" works as a sentence, it's non restrictive, hence the which, etc.
That's aren't offset by commas. Which'es (no pun intended) are.
Note: Applies to American English only
I don't fangirl. I fandragon.
Have you thanked a teacher lately? You should. Their bladder control alone is legend.
