which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

[Ju]

which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

1. I'm buying the watch, which has red designs.
2. I'm buying watches, which have red designs.
3. I'm buying the watch that has red designs.
4. I'm buying watches that have red designs.

I'm practicing the usage of "which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have".

A. Are the above sentences correct?
B. Is it true that "which" must be preceded by a comma?

 

[Phaedrus]

Re: which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

Sentence (2) implies that (the speaker thinks that) all watches have red designs.

If you remove the comma, it won't have that implication. The sentence will mean the same thing as (4).

That is, "I'm buying watches which have red designs" means the same thing as "I'm buying watches that have red designs."

Everyone who believes that "which" can introduce only nonrestrictive relative clauses (set off by a comma) is wrong. It's a common misconception.

 

[Ju]

Re: which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

Sentence (2) implies that (the speaker thinks that) all watches have red designs.

If you remove the comma, it won't have that implication. The sentence will mean the same thing as (4).

That is, "I'm buying watches which have red designs" means the same thing as "I'm buying watches that have red designs."

Everyone who believes that "which" can introduce only nonrestrictive relative clauses (set off by a comma) is wrong. It's a common misconception.

That is, "I'm buying watch which has red designs" means the same thing as "I'm buying watch that has red designs."

Am I right?

 

[Phaedrus]

Re: which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

That is, "[strike]I'm buying watch which has red designs[/strike]" means the same thing as "[strike]I'm buying watch that has red designs[/strike]."

Am I right?

Both of your new examples are ungrammatical. "Watch" is a count noun.

If you used "a" or "the" before "watch," then they would be grammatical and equivalent in meaning.

 

[Ju]

Re: which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

Both of your new examples are ungrammatical. "Watch" is a count noun.

If you used "a" or "the" before "watch," then they would be grammatical and equivalent in meaning.

Let me try again.

"I'm buying a watch which has red designs" means the same thing as "I'm buying a watch that has red designs."

Am I right?

 

[Phaedrus]

Re: which has", "which have", "that has" and "that have"

Yes, Ju.