English Quiz - relative pronouns - who, that or which?

Question

For our learners of English here is a short article on when to use 'who', 'that' or 'which' and a short quiz to go with it.

It's not always easy to know which one of the above one should use but there are some fairly straightforward rules that will help.

If you take the quiz do let us know how you get on or if you have any questions.

Thanks Kiwi! :) - rac1, Mar 17, 2014

I would take it...except that I am learning Spanish not English. :) - actorgirl, Mar 17, 2014

lol all good, although sometimes even native speakers learn something from quizzes like this jeje ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 18, 2014

I'd do it, but I can't access it. Sorry. I wish I could. It would be interesting to see whether I know it all like I should. - Ghosthawk, Mar 18, 2014

typo Kiwi 1st question - This car, which I have never likeD much, is very uneconomical. - ian-hill, Mar 19, 2014

Glad to see that you could access it in the end Ghosthawk. :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 20, 2014

Yep, thanks for helping me out :) - Ghosthawk, Mar 20, 2014

Thanks a lot for offering us this quiz. - joygogo, Mar 23, 2014

De nada :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 23, 2014

Thanks again Kiwi ,I love these. - ray76, Mar 26, 2014

Great stuff, do let us know how you get on Ray :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 26, 2014

Answer 1

Hola, Kiwi-Girl. I would like to give it a try, but when I clicked the button of "Start quiz", it just stayed at the same page, not taking me to the quiz. - joygogo

It seems to be working for others Joy so perhaps you could try another browser?

Let me know if that helps

Thanks, Kiwi-Girl. I can log in now. - joygogo, Mar 25, 2014

Yay :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 26, 2014

Answer 2

Hola, Kiwi-Girl,

I took the quiz and there are two questions I would like to ask.

(1). The answers you give us to one of the eleven questions are as follows.

(A) My work colleagues, who were all overworked, had the day off.

(B) My work colleagues, that were all overworked, had the day off.

But I don't think Sentence (B) is correct because there shouldn't be a comma in front of "that".

(2). Another question is as follows.

(A) Who has the key which fits this door?

(B) Who has the key that fits this door?

You said both of the sentences are correct--"Actually ‘that’ is the best choice for introducing restrictive clauses but ‘which’ may also be accepted."

If the above explanation is absolutely correct, then Sentence(A) of the following two sentences should be acceptable, or the explanation you give for the following sentences, "Although you may hear people say ‘which’ informally in sentences like this, it is not in fact grammatically correct. ’That’ is the correct pronoun to use when introducing restrictive or essential clauses", would contradict the above. If I misunderstand your meaning, please excuse me.

(A) Who ate the cake which I brought to work today?

(B) Who ate the cake that I brought to work today?

Which is alwys preceded by a comma amiga IMO - and that makes the following clause non-defining. - ian-hill, Mar 25, 2014

So you are correct IMO "Who has the key that fits this door?" is correct. :) - ian-hill, Mar 25, 2014

thanks Joy, see note below :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 26, 2014

Answer 3

Typo Kiwi

1st question - This car, which I have never liked (d is missing) much, is very uneconomical.

Thanks Ian I'll fix it up. :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 20, 2014

Answer 4

joygogo Hola, Kiwi-Girl,

I took the quiz and there are two questions I would like to ask.

Thank you so much for picking up on those Joy, you were quite right so I have removed the comma (I must have been on auto pilot when I typed that and not realized) and I've made the explanations match up regarding 'which' and essential clauses.

I have also added a few more questions to the quiz if anyone fancies doing it or redoing it.

Answer 5

Just a little bump in case any one is brave enough to have a go

Another rule Kiwi - which is always preceded by a comma. ( it is a non-defining relative clause pronoun) - ian-hill, Mar 19, 2014

Thanks Ian you're quite right, I didn't add that though as it does t really help much when it comes to choosing the right word but perhaps I should add it as an extra note :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 20, 2014

Hola, Kiwi-Girl. I would like to give it a try, but when I clicked the button of "Start quiz", it just stayed at the same page, not taking me to the quiz. - joygogo, Mar 23, 2014

@ Joy See suggestion below, I hope it helps :) - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 23, 2014

Answer 6

Hola! I took that quiz twice, even though I already speak English. I got one wrong the first time around, and scored 100% the second time. It's nice to know that I could use a little work in that area of English. Gracias!

Well done :). Thanks for participating. - Kiwi-Girl, Mar 20, 2014