0

My new computer, that I bought last week, has already broken down.

My teacher told me ‘that’ is wrong; it should be ‘which’ as it is an object. However, I don't understand why I can't use ‘that I bought’.

Can anyone explain why?

ColleenV
  • 11,971
  • 13
  • 47
  • 85
marie josey
  • 19
  • 1
  • 2
    I'd say your teacher is being a bit pedantic. Lots of native speakers would treat *which* and *that* as equivalent / interchangeable in your cited context. Which position isn't necessarily affected by whether *that / which I bought last week* is set off by commas or not (those commas are optional, and should only be included in the written version if they reflect noticeable pauses in speech). We can safely assume the speaker isn't singling out that new computer (as opposed to a different new computer that he bought three weeks ago! :) – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '22 at 14:40

1 Answers1

2

It probably should be "which" but not because it's an object.

This is a non-restrictive relative clause. It describes your computer, it doesn't identify it. I know it is a non-restrictive clause, partly from the meaning (unless you have two new computers, but only one was bought last week), and partly from the use of a comma.

So your new computer is already fully identified by the phrase "my new computer", and the relative clause describes this computer.

Compare that with

My shirt that I bought last week....

Here the relative clause identifies the particular shirt that I am talking about (not my old shirts, but the one I bought last week).

When a relative clause is used to describe you should use a comma, and use the word "which". A simple rule for learners is: if you use a comma, use "which", no comma then use "that".

That is the "rule", but unlike some rules, this one is often broken by native speakers, and there are differences of dialect too.

Mari-Lou A
  • 27,037
  • 13
  • 72
  • 125
James K
  • 217,650
  • 16
  • 258
  • 452