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relative pronoun that is used with an essential clause, and the relative pronoun which is used with a nonessential clause so In 3–5 sentences, explain when to use each pronoun and the difference between the two types of relative clauses.
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Answered by GPT-4o mini
Relative pronouns are used to connect clauses and provide more information about a noun. "That" is used in essential (or restrictive) clauses, which are critical to the meaning of the sentence; they specify exactly which noun is being referred to without which the sentence would lose its intended meaning. For example, in the sentence "The book that I borrowed was fascinating," the phrase "that I borrowed" is essential to identify which book is being discussed.

On the other hand, "which" is used in nonessential (or non-restrictive) clauses, which add extra information that can be omitted without changing the overall meaning of the sentence. For example, in "The book, which I borrowed last week, was fascinating," the phrase "which I borrowed last week" provides additional details but is not necessary for identifying the book. In summary, use "that" when the information is essential and "which" when it is supplementary.