Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

In the following sentence, can "as" be replaced by "which"? If so, is there no difference between the two, in this case? Do we call ‘as’ in the example as relative pronoun, or just pronoun?

There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.

(Harry Potter book 1)

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

If you wish to replace the "as" with "which" then you need to reconstruct the sentence.

There was a lot more to magic than waving your wand and saying a few funny words, which Harry quickly found out.

The "thing" which Harry found out is represented by all the words that come before it. Placing which in the middle of the sentence has the effect of ending it prematurely.

There was a lot more to magic, which Harry quickly found out. It was not just waving your wand and saying a few funny words.

share|improve this answer
I'm not sure I buy this. I don't find any problem with: "There was a lot more to magic, which Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words" (although I'd consider using dashes in place of commas). Mind you, I'm not saying that your first restructuring wouldn't be an improvement, but I wouldn't regard it as "needed." If the sentence can be written as-is with "as", then I'd think it can be written that way with "which", too. – J.R. Nov 16 '12 at 9:45
up vote 0 down vote

Yes, you can replace 'as' with 'which'. I think 'as' or 'which' are acting as interrogative pronouns ie. what did Harry find out? That there was alot more to magic. I could be corrected on this.

share|improve this answer
In this sentence it might work, but this is not always the case as it sometimes is used to mean because as well. – Jim Nov 16 '12 at 6:18
Yes Jim, fair point. Is there a rule to describe when 'as' can be used instead of 'which'? – Pete855217 Nov 16 '12 at 6:34
I doubt that there's a rule. It works in this sentence because of the semantics. They're not normally synonymous, e.g., "He was as quiet which a mouse"; "Which a rule, X is bad"; "Which I was saying"; "Which it's raining, the game was called"; "Which for me, I'm outta here". They're not synonymous in this sentence either, but they both work. – Bill Franke Nov 16 '12 at 7:07

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.