rahul031092 wrote:
I am generally confused when I see "of which", "in which" or "for which" instead of the plain and simple "which" as a relative clause.
For example:
Researchers have announced that the magnetic fields emitted by one manufacturer’s security surveillance system, of which type there are 200,000 worldwide, can interfere with pacemakers and that this interaction can bring on missed or irregular heartbeats, nausea, breathlessness, dizziness, and even fainting.
In this example, why can't we use a simple "which" in place of "of which"? And in general what rules govern the usage of:
1. Of which
2. In which
3. For which
4. In that [INCORRECT]
I am new to the forum, and would like to see an expert reply on this topic, as I tend to struggle when I see the above usage.
We use
whose with both people and things, but
of which is more common with things:
The house,
the garden of which sloped down to the beach, was enormous.
The house,
whose gardens sloped down to the beach, was enormous.
Note that "
of which" is often somewhat formal in tone.
1. The things
of which we rarely speak.
2. In the meeting, we discussed three topics, the details
of which are shown below.
3. The play,
whose style is rigidly formal, is typical of the period. =The play, the style
of which is rigidly formal, is typical of the period.
"
in which" means "
where", but sometimes the "where" is used colloquially, not to mean a place.
This is the city I grew up
in.
This is the city
in which I grew up.
With relative clauses of place and time, we can use where and when instead of preposition + which.
Tuesday is the day
when (or:
on which) I go to the fitness club.
The school
where (or:
at which) I first studied English is in Thasos.
WATCH OUT!We use whom, not who, after prepositions and phrases like most of, all of:That's the man to who I sold my car. [INCORRECT]
Several people came, most of who I hadn't met before. [INCORRECT]
That's the man
to whom I sold my car. [CORRECT]
Several people came,
most of whom I hadn't met before. [CORRECT]
We can't use that after prepositions or in non-defining clauses:My father, that has recently retired, spends all day reading the newspaper. [INCORRECT]
This is the house in that I grew up. [INCORRECT]
My father,
who has recently retired, spends all day reading the newspaper. [CORRECT]
This is the house
in which I grew up. [CORRECT]
This is the house
that I grew up
in. [CORRECT]