Is it correct to say "You which know the secret of my heart"? If yes, what is the difference from "You who know .... " ?
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2 Answers
No, it's not correct to say "you which know". Your second sentence, "you who know", is OK, but clumsy.
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Thank you very much for your help. How could I express the sentence : "You WHO know the secrets of my heart, give me a shining smile, one more time" in a better way? It's a song... Thanks! May 30, 2013 at 13:50
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In a song, it's OK. But nobody talks like that. Normally relative clauses do not modify pronouns -- relative clauses are to identify nouns, and pronouns are for nouns that are already identified. May 30, 2013 at 13:55
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Adding which makes "You which know the secret of my heart" a sentence fragment.
This would be the proper way of writing it:
You, which know the secret of my heart, verb blah blah.
Note the added commas. Also, using "which" instead of "who" is archaic. That's probably a quote from the King James Bible.
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Hello, RonJohn. I'd be as happy using 'You who know the secret of my heart ....' as 'You, who know the secret of my heart, ....' The commaed version is clearly non-restrictive, the commaless version arguably restrictive (you, a subset of those people who know the secret of my heart, ....) But a flowery, archaic example. // The 'which' for 'who' would be unacceptable in modern writing not aiming at a historical flavour. Your penultimate sentence answers the question. Can you add a link to an (attributed) supporting reference covering the change (or at least a couple of examples)? Mar 31 at 11:48