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I cannot find a grammar rule telling me when I should use which/that+verb and when gerund in subordinate sentences. Practically, for instance, consider these two sentences:

a) An approach that accounts for the nature of the problem

b) An approach accounting for the nature of the problem

Are they both grammatically correct? Is there any rule at all to determine which construction I should use?

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  • I don't think there's a difference, but you should pick whatever seems clearer and sounds better. In some cases using "that" will avoid ambiguity or "garden path" sentences (e.g. "A book burning...").
    – Stuart F
    Commented Aug 24, 2022 at 20:33

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Both are fine, but (b) is more formal. BBC explains

Both are perfectly correct and sound perfectly natural in this example, so use either or both. Generally speaking, the participial clause, starting with -ing or -ed, is more characteristic of written English, as it allows us to say the same thing as a relative clause, starting with who, which or that, but with fewer words.

They are a type of reduced relative clauses.

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  • Well, not quite the same; there are tenses in relative clauses, but not in participials or infinitives. That's why they're called "non-finite". Also, the subject of reduced clauses are frequently absent and have to be retrieved, which imposes extra parsing burdens on readers. Or addressees, which is why they're avoided in real speech, because they're annoying.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Aug 24, 2022 at 20:22
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    Thank you a lot for the reference, it was very helpful! @John Lawler I need it for written English, I agree that it's not the best when speaking. But this is also what BBC says about the topic.
    – Alex
    Commented Aug 24, 2022 at 20:28

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