In the sentence ‘Safe drinking water is a challenge for people that live in the developing world ’, that could be replaced with which.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The task presents the sentence: “Safe drinking water is a challenge for people that live in the developing world ”, that could be replaced with which. The options are:
Option 1: True
Option 2: False

Option 1 analysis (True): This would claim that the relative pronoun “that” in the clause “people that live in the developing world” can be swapped with “which” without changing the grammatical status or meaning. In English, “which” is typically used for nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses and is usually preceded by a comma. Here, the clause “that live in the developing world” is restrictive because it specifies which people are being talked about. Therefore, saying it could be replaced with “which” would be misleading, as it would either require adding a comma and shifting punctuation or would alter the style of the clause. This reasoning makes the statement false in standard grammar practice.

Option 2 analysis (False): The more accurate claim is that substituting “that” with “which” is not appropriate in this sentence as written, because the clause identifies a specific group of people. In strict terms, for restrictive clauses describing essential information about the noun, “that” or “who” would be conventional, while “which” would be reserved for nonrestrictive, nonessential clauses and typically paired with a comma. Since the sentence uses a restrictive sense (people who live in the developing world), replacing with “which” would be incorrect or would require re-punctuation to reflect a nonrestrictive usage. This makes the statement that it could be replaced with “which” incorrect, aligning with the given answer which marks False as the correct choice.

Additional nuance: If one rewrites with “who” (e.g., “people who live in the developing world”), that would be a common and arguably clearer alternative, but the question centers on replacing with “which.” Because the standard use of “which” in nonrestrictive clauses would demand a comma and a different meaning, the replacement is not appropriate in the original restrictive context. Thus, the claim in Option 1 is flawed, and Option 2 correctly identifies the issue.

In summary, the statement in Option 1 asserts a permissible replacement that conflicts with typical restrictive-clause usage, while Option 2 correctly flags the inappropriateness of replacing with “which” in this sentence as written.

ME Mod4 Intake 2A - 14 Apr 2025 - 4 Jul 2025 Activity 4.5B - Reduced Relative Clauses Review Quiz

In the sentence ‘Safe drinking water is a challenge for people that live in the developing world ’, that could be replaced with which.

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