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ESL forum > Ask for help > Please Help

Please Help

Shereen Shawky

Please Help

Q) The house, _______ was built in 1694, was sold for over a million pounds.

a. that

b. which

c. who

d. where

The answer is which/ that? and why?

31 Aug 2016

jfaraujo

The answer is which because the relative clause is non defining and you cannot use that with non defining relative clauses.

31 Aug 2016

Shereen Shawky

Thank you :))

31 Aug 2016

rodrigopaulo

Thank you :)) ²²²²²

31 Aug 2016

cunliffe

Interesting! If there was no comma, you could use �that �. Funny language!

1 Sep 2016

Gi2gi

To me it seems that the sentence is a defining relative clause...�

�

I would not hesitate to use the �that � in the sentence but the comma is killing me :)

�

This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built :)))

�

Funny people- those test compilers/ grammarians.

�

1 Sep 2016

yanogator

No, Giorgi, it is a non-defining clause. It is just telling us something about the house.

Defining relative clause:

The house that we just drove past was sold for over a million pounds.

The house that you see in this photograph was sold for over a million pounds.

Non-defining relative clause:

This property was once part of a huge estate. Much of the surrounding land has been sold over the years. The house, which was once owned by our friend Bruce, was sold for over a million pounds.

The commas in Shereen �s example let us know which kind of clause it is.

Bruce

1 Sep 2016

Gi2gi

Agreed! I wonder how could one differentiate between the many relative clauses in this nursery rhyme

�

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_the_House_That_Jack_Built

1 Sep 2016

yanogator

Those are all defining relative clauses, because they specify which house, malt, rat, etc. That is why they use "that" and don �t have commas.

Bruce

2 Sep 2016