Improving the Sentence Clause: Which I Borrowed

The original sentence is: "The fiction and non fictional book, that I borrowed, was interesting." We need to find the best replacement for the bolded part, "that I borrowed", to make the sentence grammatically correct and clear.

Understanding Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns connect a dependent clause (a clause that cannot stand alone) to an independent clause (a clause that can stand alone). They often refer to a noun or pronoun mentioned just before them. Common relative pronouns include who, whom, whose, which, and that.

Choosing the Right Relative Pronoun

The choice of relative pronoun depends on whether it refers to a person or a thing, and its function within the dependent clause (subject, object, possessive).

• Who/Whom: Used for people.
• Whose: Used to show possession for people, animals, or things.
• Which: Used for things or animals. It can be used in both restrictive (essential) and non-restrictive (non-essential) clauses.
• That: Used for people, animals, or things. It is typically used in restrictive clauses.

Analyzing the Sentence Structure

In the sentence "The fiction and non fictional book, that I borrowed, was interesting," the word "book" is the noun the clause refers to. Since "book" is a thing, we should use either "which" or "that".

Crucially, the clause "that I borrowed" is set off by commas. This indicates that the clause is non-restrictive. Non-restrictive clauses provide extra information but are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you remove a non-restrictive clause, the main sentence still makes sense.

• Main idea: "The fiction and non fictional book was interesting." This makes sense on its own.
• Extra info: ", that I borrowed," tells us specifically which book, but it's presented as additional detail.

Evaluating the Options

• 1. whom I borrowed: Incorrect. "Whom" is used for people, and "book" is a thing.
• 2. what I borrowed: Incorrect. "What" is used to introduce a noun clause (e.g., "I know what you did"), not typically as a relative pronoun directly after a noun like "book".
• 3. whose I borrowed: Incorrect. "Whose" shows possession. You didn't borrow the possession *of* the book; you borrowed the book itself.
• 4. which I borrowed: Correct. "Which" is the appropriate relative pronoun for things in non-restrictive clauses (clauses set off by commas). It fits perfectly here: "The fiction and non fictional book, which I borrowed, was interesting."

Rule Summary for 'That' vs. 'Which'

A simple guideline is:

• Use that in restrictive clauses (no commas needed). Example: "The book that I read was good." (This specifies *which* book).
• Use which in non-restrictive clauses (set off by commas). Example: "The book, which I read last week, was good." (This adds extra info about a specific book).

Since the original sentence uses commas, "which" is the most suitable choice to replace "that" and create a grammatically standard non-restrictive clause.

Based on the analysis, replacing "that I borrowed" with "which I borrowed" creates the most appropriate and grammatically standard sentence, especially given the use of commas.