|
|
| |
Topic: Where vs Which |
27 June 2002 |
On Tuesday, we discussed how to use an adjective clause and learned that we use
the pronoun referent 'where' to refer to a place. However, the rule doesn't always apply.
There are some restrictions to this usage. Where can be used only when it functions as
an adverb of place in the adjective's place. To present you with a clearer picture,
let's have a look at the following sentences and decide which one is correct and what is
wrong with the other two.
The room where has poor acoustics is not good to be a conference room.
The room where we rent has poor acoustics.
The room where the conference was held had poor acoustics.
The first sentence is wrong because the relative pronoun where
is the subject of the adjective clause. The sentence is made up of two ideas:
The room is not good to be a conference room.
The room has poor acoustics.
The correct version of this sentence would be
The room which/ that has poor acoustics is not good to be a conference room.
The second sentence is also wrong because where
is the object of the adjective clause. We can break the sentence down into
The room has poor acoustics.
We rent the room.
The correct version of this sentence would be
The room which/that we rent has poor acoustics.
The last sentence is the correct one because the relative
pronoun refers to an adverb of place in the adjective clause. This sentence also comes from two ideas:
The room had poor acoustics.
The conference was held in the room.
"In the room" is an adverb phrase telling place.
It is neither a subject or object of the adjective clause. We can also use in which to
connect the two clauses and the sentence would read
The room in which the conference was held had poor acoustics.
To summarize, we use the relative pronoun where only when it is
an adverb of place in the adjective clause. |
|
Exercise: Where vs Which |
| Directions : Decide which of the following sentences are correct. |
 1. The town where I was born is a very small town in the North of Thailand. |
| 2. The hospital which specializes in plastic surgeries is being sued by many clients. |
| 3. You can find some aspirin in the study where is next to the main bedroom. |
| 4. The police still blocked off everyone from the building, which collapsed the week before. |
| 5. This is the place where I went to school. |
| 6. Let's go to the club where Linda works. |
| 7. The hotel which we stay is near the station. |
| 8. The house where I will buy must have a big garden. |
|
Answers |
| |
|
|
