GRAMMATICALLY
CORRECT
that the newspapers—all the newspapers—should be saved, and incidentally, they happen to be on the coffee table. If this sentence read simply as The newspapers should be saved, it would be missing some information (the location of the papers), but would still fully identify what needed to be saved. In case B, which is restrictive, the implication is that only certain papers are to be saved. That is, it's okay to get rid of the ones on the floor, the kitchen table, the magazine rack, etc.—but be sure to save those on the coffee table. Here, saying just The newspapers should be saved would not convey the full information necessary to identify the subject. Other examples are presented below. She cut him a slice of cake, which he promptly devoured. He chose the slice of cake that was the bigger of the two. They got as far as Fort Simpson, which is west of Yellowknife. The town that they settled in is Fort Simpson. I decided to buy the brand that cost less. I decided to buy the no-name brand, which cost less. Let's start off by discussing the issues that seem to be the most urgent. Let's start off by discussing item two, which seems to be the most urgent.
How critical is it to use which and that correctly? In most cases, an error will probably not confuse your reader. Keep your writing style simple, and avoid words which are obscure or pretentious. They went to watch the Stanley Cup parade, that was wending its way downtown.
Although the above sentences are incorrect, it would take a very nteral-minded reader to interpret the first to mean that one should eschew all words when writing, and the second to mean that the town was filled with various Stanley Cup parades of which one happened to be heading downtown. In both these cases, the context is sufficiently clear to make the error forgivable. However, consider the next examples: After assessing the inventory, they decided that the prints which were heavily water-damaged were probably not worth restoring.
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