Grammar review: practical exercises-2 (that/which)

To continue with our grammar-review program, today I suggest an exercise to give you the opportunity to practise the two relative pronouns which and that
http://sanchezbenedito.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/cuando-se-usa-that-y-cuando-which.html

EXERCISE

Fill in the gaps with that or which as adequate. In some cases, you'll find that both are possible:

1.- He has hundreds of books, most of ..........are unread.
2.- A computer and a few CDs was all .........was taken in the robbery.
3.- We were told that we would be held responsible for anything ........went wrong.
4.- We didn't like the hotel at .......... we stayed to last summer.
5.- He kept me waiting for two hours, ..........annoyed me intensely.
6.- The cheque ...........he was given by the buyers was returned by the bank.
7.- The thought of going home to his family was all ........kept him happy while he was working abroad.
8.- The biggest event next year will be the Olympic Games, .........will be held in July.
9.- This is the bridge from .........he jumped.
10.- That's a tradition ...........goes back to the 17th century.
11.- There was little ..........interested me at the exhibition.
12.- Take that lift over there; it's the only one ........ works.

KEY

1.- which; 2.- that; 3.- that (which is also possible, but not common); 4.- which (though the hotel we stayed at is much more common); 5.- which; 6.- that/relative omitted (which is also possible, but not common); 7.- that; 8.- which; 9.- which (this is the bridge he jumped from is more colloquial); 10.- that/which; 11.- that; 12.- that (which is also possible, but quite uncommon).

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¿Cuándo se usa that y cuándo which?

That y which son pronombres relativos y significan ambos 'que'. Hay, por tanto, muchos casos en los que es indiferente usar uno u otro, aunque which siempre tiene un estilo más formal que that, que es más coloquial:
That's the house that/which I like - Esa es la casa que me gusta
This is the contract that/which we have to sign - Este es el contrato que tenemos que firmar.

Sin embargo, no siempre that y which son intercambiables. Hay que tener en cuenta lo siguiente:

that puede referirse a personas, cosas o animales:

The man that I saw - el hombre que vi
The dress that you're wearing - el vestido que llevas puesto
The cat that I like - el gato que me gusta

mientras que which sólo puede referirse a cosas o a animales, pero no a personas:

The dress which you're wearing
The cat which I like

son posibles, pero no así: *The man which I saw.

Por otra parte, which puede ir precedido de preposición, pero no así that. 'El país de donde su mujer procede' puede decirse:

The country from which his wife comes 
The country his wife comes from
pero no *the country from that his wife comes.

En las oraciones de relativo defining, aunque which es posible, that o el relativo cero, es decir el relativo omitido, son mucho más frecuentes:

The dress (that)  I like best - el vestido que más me gusta

son mucho más frecuentes que The dress which I like best.

y, en algunos casos, como:

The best dog (that) we've ever had - el mejor perro que hemos tenido nunca
The first car (that) I bought - el primer coche que compré
That's all that happened - eso es todo lo que ocurrió

la alternativa con which suena algo extraña a los oídos.

En las oraciones de relativo non-defining ocurre justamente lo contrario: lo normal es encontrar which en lugar de that:

The biggest event that year was the Pope's visit, which took place in November - el mayor acontecimiento de ese año fue la visita del Papa, que tuvo lugar en noviembre

aunque se encuentran algunos ejemplos con that en lenguaje muy coloquial:

The meeting, that we never wanted anyway, finished without an agreement - la reunión, que de todas maneras nunca quisimos, terminó sin acuerdo.

Debe tenerse también en cuenta que si el antecedente es toda una oración, se usa which y no that:

He bought me a beautiful present, which was very kind of him - me compró un precioso regalo, lo que fue muy amable por su parte.

Por último, cuando el antecedente son personas y cosas, suele usarse that y no which:

Tell us everything you know about the books and the authors that interested you the most - díganos todo lo que sepa sobre los libros y autores que más le interesaron.  

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