About relative pronoun

"My brother and I are driving from Stockholm, Sweden to the south of Norway. (We’re part Swedish, part Norwegian, so we live in Sweden, but our family has a summer house in Norway that my grandfather built.)"

In the part "our family has a summer house in Norway that my grandfather built." Is it ok to replace "that" with "which"? Any difference? Thank you.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Mamapolo2016 · F

That sentence is a bit tricky. Almost any English speaker would understand your meaning, but as it is structured it implies your grandfather built Norway. (As he may have done, for all I know.)

You could switch it around a little. For example: “The family’s summer house, built by my grandfather, is in Norway.”

corta24 · 41-45, M

@Mamapolo2016 Thank you!

SomeMichGuy · M

@Mamapolo2016 ...or

"but my grandfather built a summer house--a house now used by the whole family--in Norway."

corta24 · 41-45, M

@SomeMichGuy Thank you!

ninalanyon · 61-69, T

@Mamapolo2016 It could also be fixed by making the in Norway part a parenthetical remark by surrounding it with commas:

We’re part Swedish, part Norwegian, so we live in Sweden, but our family has a summer house, in Norway, that my grandfather built.)

Mamapolo2016 · F

@ninalanyon Yes, it certainly could!