English: when do you use the word "Which"?

Question

Hi, I'm Brandon, I've been studying English during this year ; I'm confused with the word "which", I'd like you give me some suggestions to use better this word.

When do you use "Which"?
Do you use it only for questions?

Please, write correctly, because I've seen many people writing with spelling mistakes ; If I've written with bad spelling, or I've had mistakes, please tell me ; if you know Spanish answers me in this language. If you want know me, visit my profile. Don't answer only for winning points, answer to help the people who need it.

I live in Spain...greetings.

Answer 1

1. What particular one or ones: Which of these is yours?
2. The one or ones previously mentioned or implied, specifically:
1. Used as a relative pronoun in a clause that provides additional information about the antecedent: my house, which is small and old.
2. Used as a relative pronoun preceded by that or a preposition in a clause that defines or restricts the antecedent: that which he needed; the subject on which she spoke.
3. Used instead of that as a relative pronoun in a clause that defines or restricts the antecedent: The movie which was shown later was better.
3. Any of the things, events, or people designated or implied; whichever: Choose which you like best.
4. A thing or circumstance that: He left early, which was wise.

Read the example sentences, they might help more than the actual definitions!

Good Luck in Learning English.

Answer 2

"which" is most often used as an interrogative (question word) when one is presenting a choice.
It is used to modify a noun in an aposition ( a short phrase that better explains the previously mentioned noun)
i.e. This dog, which is a pitbull, is dangerous to children.
The information in the aposition (the words between the commas) is commonly able to be removed without changing the overall meaning of the sentence.
It is also used as a subordinate conjunction (a word used to introduce a subordinate clause.
If what I explain after this point is hard to grasp don't worry, most native speakers couldn't explain it to you
An insubordinate clause is a phrase with a subject and a verb however due to how it is constructed can't be considered a sentence due to its inability to be used alone. It is often called a "dependent clause" because it cant be used as a sentence unless it is used with a subordinate clause or an "independent clause" an independent clause is a subject and a verb that can stand alone. Any regular sentence you can create that has a subject and a verb that you could say alone without additional context is an independent clause.

"which" can introduce a dependent clause
i.e. You can either fly to Austrailia or Jamaca, which I would've done.

Once you get into the more complex construction of the language you can use "which" to correct other linguistic errors such as moving prepostions from the ends of sentences, for example.

"That is the direction I came from." correct it by reconstructing it and throwing in a "which"
"That is the direction from which I came" is the new correct version. It is correct despite the fact that, I'd say at least 75% of English speakers would use the first sentence.

extra information: when you use one of those dependent clauses I mentioned earlier you must use an independent clause to make it a valid sentence. Once you do this you've created a complex sentence
English sentences are classified based on the combination and number of dependent and independent clauses the sentence has. Think of it as words make clauses and clauses are used to make sentences

1 independent clause= simple sentence
2 independent clauses= compound sentence (the two clauses must be joined with one of the coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for(when it means because), yet, or so)
1 independent clause and 1 dependent clause=complex sentence (you used one of these in your question:
"If you want know me, visit my profile."
If you want know me= dependent
visit my profile.= independent

Once you get into advanced sentence construction you can combine theses three types

e-mail me if you have more English questions as I'm pretty proficient at it. [e-mail]

Answer 3

Hi Brandon, Hola!
The word "which" is used as follows:
1) To differentiate between two or more things or ideas:
"You can have an apple or an orange. Which would you prefer?" "Which one would you pick?"
"I don't know which way to go".

2) Referring to something in the first part of the phrase:
"I saw a great film yesterday, one scene of which will stay with me forever" This is very old fashioned though and not used that often now.

"I saw you walking to work today, which is amazing because you usually go by car!"

As you can see the word is not only used for questions, but for plain statements as well.
If I think of any more uses for it - I'll let you know.

Buena Suerte

Janet

Answer 4

Hola' "Which can be used either as a question as in making a choice; "Which way should I go," or to show a reason or a choice already made, such as; "This is the book which is used in this class." A couple minor corrections in your question. In the third paragraph, first line you should drop the ing from writing and use write. In the second line of the third paragraph, use answer instead of answers. Best of luck to you Brandon and Dios te bingiga. (probably spelled wrong in spanish)

Answer 5

Hi!
As for your mistakes, I've noticed some:
1. "I'd like you TO give me..."
2. "if you know Spanish answerS me in this language". You should say "answer me" instead
3. "If you want TO know me..."

As for "which", it is not used only in questions. Since people have already given you the theoretical explanations and examples, I'll give you a couple of examples only:
1. I've been to Madrid, which is the capital city of Spain.
2. I've got two bags here. Which one is yours?

Suerte!

Answer 6

"Which" has two uses:

In a question form, it suggest an inquiry regarding a finite number of choices. For example, "Which knife should I use to cut the tomatoes?"

The second use is to introduce a dependent clause, and in that instance, its use needs to be distinguished from the word "that."

The choice depends on the necessity of the clause to differentiate the word or clause that it modifies. In the sentence "What would you like to do with the food that has was leftover?", the correct use was "that" because the clause is necessary for the sentence to make sense. In contrast, "What would you like to do with the food, which was delicious?", the word "which" indicates almost a parenthetic statement, one that adds to the sentence, but is not necessary for it to make sense.

I hope this proves to be helpful, which would please me.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

Answer 7

"Which" has two main functions:

1. It is a relative pronoun, which corresponds to "que" in Spanish. "That" can be used instead of "which". In longer sentences particularly, where there is more than one relative pronoun, we tend to alternate between "which" and "that".

"The Italian landscapes that Lawrence describes are suffused with light, which gives the reader a vivid impression of vitality."

2. It is an interrogative pronoun, which corresponds to "Cuál ...?" or "Qué ...?" in Spanish.

"Which language would you most like to study?"

Answer 8

Yes, we only use it for questions for example - Which one do you want? Although there is the homophone Witch, a mythological female spell caster often accompanied by a familiar - aka a black cat. Aka is short for also known as.

Answer 9

which do you prefer.. chocolate or vanilla ice-cream?

in this instance it is to show a difference/choice between two or more things.. and is used within a question like,

which school did you go to?...

or
can be used as a reference

i went to the local school which is on the High street.

or indeed it can be used to add information.

i like chocolate ice-cream, which is really cold.

i know its confusing and i hope i have been of some help.

good luck
emma x

Answer 10

You use the word "Which" when asking for someone's preference to something. For example - Which colour do you like the most? Pink or Blue?

Which car shall we use today? Mine or yours?

I hope this helps!