Which, That and Who
The words 'which', 'who' and 'that' are grammar villains - they are often the
cause of grammar errors. Most commonly, this stems from confusion over
whether to use a comma before 'which' or 'who'. Unfortunately, the rules are not
simple. They are explained in more detail in the following lessons:
Which, who and that.
(A lesson providing an overview of which, that and who)
Commas before which and who.
(A lesson focusing on when to use commas with which and who)
No commas before
which and who.
(A lesson focusing on when not to use commas with which and who)
Select the correct version:
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THAT = WHICH (WITHOUT A COMMA)
Here is a quick summary of when to use a comma with which (and who):
Comma After. If the clause (shown in bold below) is required to identify
whatever it follows (car in this example), then there are no commas.
 The car which I drove on Tuesday has been sold. 
The car, which I drove on Tuesday, has been sold. 
Use That If You Want. If you think the word 'that' sounds better than
'which', then use 'that' (provided there are no commas).
The car that I drove on Tuesday has been sold.
No Comma After. If the clause is just additional information,
because whatever it follows has already been identified (John's red Mustang in
this example), then use commas.
John's red Mustang,
which I drove on Tuesday, has been sold.
GRAMMAR CHECKERS WON'T HELP ON THIS ONE
Grammar checkers do not understand what has been written. They perform a 'mathematical' grammar check on
writing. This is
why they are rubbish at determining whether there should be a comma before which
or who. Many checkers encourage you to use 'that', and if you don't, they
offer you the with-comma version. This relies on your knowledge or instinct to get it
right. It may also cramp your style as it does not offer the non-comma
version.
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Common grammar errors
