Thought it time I
introduced the 'dawg'. This is Zudnik:
He was a wolfdog, a
hybrid. His mother was a malamute; the father was a wolf. Few people
think hybridization of canines is a good idea. I agree. Zudnik came
to us as a gift, and we had no heart for putting him down. We dealt
with him. Loving, ferocious, gentle, vicious, he spent ten good years
with us. He was a beast, but he was my beast.
DAWG SEZ 3:
The use of that or
which often bamboozles the sleepin' dog. Seems normal to say
'This is the fellow that stole my car,' or 'it's the kind of weather
that I like.' That is what we say,
but which is what we
write.
Why?
Go figure. Some think it's because words like who and
which hark back to
Latin pronouns, and so folks have the notion that those words are
more refined, more literary. Others suggest that the clause begun
with which is rare in
speech, but more common in the written word.
So
what's the difference? Fairly straightforward. Use that
if what follows is limiting or defining. Our first example is just
such a construction. Use which
when the following clause can be left out like a parenthetical
remark: 'The Columbia River, which is controlled by several dams,
flows into the Pacific.'
Do
what comes naturally (what'd ya expect from a dog?). Would you say
'This is the hombre which copped my ride.' I think not. You might
write 'The Columbia River, which is controlled ...'; but you'd say
'The river that's controlled by dams is the Columbia.'
Arf
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