That and Which, Coming and Going

THAT AND WHICH, COMING AND GOING

Kevin Crittenden

A book which you may find of interest in learning English is “Handbook of Technical Writing” by Brusaw, Alred, and Oliu.  This book contains many of the “rules” of correct English usage such as the difference between “who” and “whom.”   Below is a discussion of the usage of “going” versus “coming” and “that” vs. “which.”  (vs. is short for versus).

From:   http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/8337-a.html

what is the difference between 'that' and 'which?' Sometimes sentences can be used with 'that' or without it. And othertimes you need to use 'that'? Why?

'that' is restrictive. The information it heads is required:

A suitcase that doesn't have a handle is useless.

If we omit the underlined portion, the sentence is strange:

A suitcase is useless. 

'which' is non-restrictive. The information it heads is not required:

A suitcase without a handle, which is old and ugly, is useless.

Place a comma (,) before and after the non-restrictive clause to show that the information isn't necessary.

'that' is often omitted when it functions as a conjunction: when it introduces a clause:

I like the book that you bought.

I like the book you bought. (OK. 'that' is not required)

'you bought' is a clause: it has a subject ('you') and a verb ('bought'). Let's now look a sentence wherein 'that' heads a clause. That is, 'that' functions as the subject:

A suitcase that doesn't have a handle is useless.

A suitcase doesn't have a handle is useless. (Ungrammatical. 'that' is required)

'doesn't have a handle' is not a clause. It lacks a subject. In fact 'that' functions as the subject, so 'that' can't be omitted.

Let's now change the sentence so that we have both 'that' and a subject:

A suitcase that you gave me is useless.

A suitcase you gave me is useless. (OK)

'you gave me' has a subject ('you'), so 'that' can be omitted.

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What is the difference between going and coming?

Going and coming  from http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/132523-proper-use-coming-going.html

Generally come is used when the direction is towards where the speaker is, was or will be at a relevant point in time, go when the direction is away from the speaker. Examples:

a. Come here. (Towards me)

b. Go towards the window. (Not towards me)

c. Please come to my house this evening. (I will be at home)

d. Please go to my house this evening. (I will not be there, but I want you to check that I locked the door.)

e. I am going to Fred’s party this evening. (Clearly away from the speaker)

f. Will you come with me? (Come with + a person = accompany. If you come with me, by the time you get to Fred’s party I will logically be there!)

g. Are you coming to school tomorrow? (I am speaking to you on the telephone from school, or: we are both at school.).)

h. Are you coming to school tomorrow? (Are you accompanying me?)

i. Are you going to school tomorrow? (I am speaking from a place other than school.)

One important point here is that sometimes there is no ‘correct’ answer. The choice between come and go depends on how the speaker views the situation at the moment of speaking. In [f,] for example, the speaker could easily have chosen go.

Incidentally, bring (towards the speaker and take (away from the speaker) are used in a similar way.