Relative pronouns help us add more information about a noun in a sentence, and they can be used in essential and nonessential clauses. You use "that" when the extra information is essential, meaning it is necessary to understand which noun you're talking about. For example, in the sentence "The bike that is red is mine," the clause "that is red" is essential because it tells us which bike. On the other hand, you use "which" for nonessential clauses, where the extra information is nice to know but not needed to understand the sentence. For instance, "My bike, which is red, is new" tells us about the bike, but even without that part, we still know it's about the bike.
The relative pronoun that is used with an essential clause, and the relative pronoun which is used with a nonessential clause. In 3-5 sentences, explain when to use each pronoun and the difference between the two types of relative clauses. (Make it a 7th grader wrote it)
5 answers
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Relative pronouns help add information about nouns in sentences. You use "that" for essential clauses, which are necessary for understanding what you're talking about, like "The bike that is red is mine." In this case, the red bike is essential to identify which bike. You use "which" for nonessential clauses, where the information is extra and not needed, like "My bike, which is red, is new." Here, we still understand the sentence without the extra detail.
Make it 3 sentences
You use "that" for essential clauses, which give necessary information to identify a noun, like in "The bike that is red is mine." In this sentence, the clause tells us exactly which bike to refer to. You use "which" for nonessential clauses, where the extra information is nice to know but not needed, as in "My bike, which is red, is new."