| Chapter 6: Descriptions |

| 6.5. Which and who

A description can not only talk about things in terms of themselves, but also in terms of their relationships to the rest of the world. For instance,

> an open container on the table
> a woman inside a lighted room
> an animal carried by a man
> a woman taller than Mark
> something worn by somebody

are all valid descriptions. These are really abbreviations, having missed out the words "which is" or "who is", as appropriate:

> an open container which is on the table
> a woman who is inside a lighted room
> an animal which is carried by a man
> a woman who is taller than Mark
> something which is worn by somebody

and indeed those are also valid descriptions. The other sentence verbs can all be used here, too. So for instance:

> a man who does not wear anything
> something which supports something

And sometimes we should spell out "who is" regardless:

> a man who is not Sherlock Holmes

Since these clauses can be attached to the end of any valid description, descriptions can grow longer still:

> something worn by a woman who is in a dark room

Pedants who flinch when "which" is used to introduce a restrictive clause are welcome to use "that" instead.

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