tut comments on Blackmail, Nukes and the Prisoner's Dilemma - Less Wrong

20 Post author: Stuart_Armstrong 10 March 2010 02:58PM

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Comment author: arundelo 13 March 2010 04:41:57PM 3 points [-]

The rule is that nonrestrictive relative clauses are separated by a comma, while restrictive relative clauses are not.

And that that is used only in restrictive clauses. Geoff Pullum describes this as "overwhelmingly complied with by everyone".

Example:

The banana, which is my favorite fruit, is yellow.

*The banana, that is my favorite fruit, is yellow.

Comment author: FAWS 13 March 2010 04:54:10PM 0 points [-]

And that that is used only in restrictive clauses. Geoff Pullum describes this as "overwhelmingly complied with by everyone".

Ah, I thought that was the case and couldn't think of any counter examples, but I wasn't completely sure and since the clause that started this sub-thread used which and I definitely knew the reverse was not true I didn't mention it.