Grandma Girl here, I'm in Yant Fog Fog, Your Friendly Guide to the English

language.

We talk about writing, history, rules, and other cool stuff.

Since last week I mentioned using commas for which clauses,

I thought it would be good to talk about the difference between which

and that this week.

And after that, we'll talk about fun words for walking like

traips and sache. To understand the difference between which and that, first you need to understand the difference

between a restrictive element and a non-restrictive element, because the simple rule is to use that with a restrictive element and which with a non-restrictive element.

So a restrictive element is just part of a sentence you can't get rid of because it specifically restricts

the noun. Here's an example. The cupcakes that have sprinkles are still in the

fridge. The words that have sprinkles restrict the kind of

cupcake we're talking about. Without those words, the meaning of the sentence

would change. Without them, we'd be saying that all the cupcakes are still in the fridge, not just

the ones with sprinkles. And restrictive elements are not surrounded by commas.

Here's another example. Cupcakes that are decorated for the

4th of July are on sale. We can't get rid of the words that are decorated for the

4th of July because then we'd be saying all cupcakes are on sale not just the special ones

So that means the phrase is restrictive and here's one more example

Cupcakes that have strawberries give me hives. I can't get rid of the words that have strawberries, because then I'd be saying all cupcakes give me hives, not just the ones with strawberries, which isn't true.

I can eat all kinds of cupcakes, just not those that have strawberries.

On the other hand, a non-restrictive element is something that can be left out

...