Learn English – Usage of “that”, “where” and “which”

thatwherewhich-that

I'm Turkish. Is the sentence below correct?

Information:

  • There is an exception. It is used or defined in the module.
  • And my field specifies this information.

Sentence:

This field specifies the module that the exception is defined or used.

Is using that okay there, or should I use where or which instead?

Best Answer

The final clause defines the module you're talking about, so "that" is the proper word to introduce such a so-called restrictive clause. But there's a problem with your sentence. Since "that" refers to "module," you should be able to replace the former with the latter:

the module the exception is defined

But as your first bullet point shows, this doesn't make sense since you're missing the preposition "in."

You may say

This field specifies the module that the exception is defined or used in.

This is slightly awkward because the preposition is stranded far from its object, the module. So you could rephrase

This field specifies the module in which the exception is defined or used.

Or, if you're willing to personify the module as an actor on its own, taking on the characteristics of the programmer, you could say

This field specifies the module that defines or uses the exception.