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Is It Correct to Say “For Which”?

Phrases like “for which” are very common in English speech and writing, but their logic can be difficult to understand and generalize. 

It is correct to say “for which” in more formal and generally written contexts as a substitute for the more colloquial “which ___ for.” The phrase “for which” usually relates to a purpose, use, or reason for something, and you shouldn’t confuse it with similar relative phrases with different meanings, such as “in which” or “of which.”

Trying to make sense of this grammar can feel a lot like going down a rabbit hole, but don’t worry — we will keep it simple and make sure you understand how to use the phrase “for which” in your writing and speech.

What Does “For Which” Mean?

The relative phrase “for which” is a formal way of saying “which ___ for” or “that ___ for” and usually indicates a purpose, use, or reason.

Consider these examples.

  1. The meeting for which Alison had spent so much time preparing was canceled.
  2. He was rude to his grandmother, for which his father scolded him.
  3. The novel for which Jane Austen is best known is Pride and Prejudice.
  4. We had a delicious bottle of wine, for which my date paid.
  5. You have done excellent work on this project, for which I am grateful.
  6. The grand exhibition, for which a new hall was built, was a great success.

“For which” can have a confusing range of meanings in different contexts, but it often expresses a purpose or reason. These meanings come from the preposition “for,” which we often use to indicate a purpose or reason (source).

You can spot this meaning in some of our examples by asking the questions,  “why?” “for what?”  “for what reason?” or “for what purpose?”

  • For what was Alison preparing? She was preparing for the meeting.
  • Why did his father scold him? Because he was rude to his grandmother.
  • For what is Jane Austen known? She is known for her novels.
  • For what reason am I grateful? Because you have done excellent work on this project.
  • For what purpose was a new hall built? It was built for the grand exhibition.

However, the preposition “for” can also have other meanings, including an indication of duration, to introduce a person receiving something, or to show an exchange (source). Therefore, we pay for an item, such as a bottle of wine, as in example 4 above.

When Can You Use “For Which”?

You can use “for which” in any sentence where you would usually say “which ___ for.” They have exactly the same meaning, but “for which” is more formal in tone, and some people consider it more grammatically accurate.

In each of the example sentences that we used above, we can split up the phrase “for which” into “which ___ for”:

  1. He was rude to his grandmother, which his father scolded him for.
  2. The novel which Jane Austen is best known for is Pride and Prejudice.
  3. We had a delicious bottle o\f wine, which my date paid for.
  4. You have done excellent work on this project, which I am grateful for.
  5. The grand exhibition, which they built a new hall for, was a great success.

The meaning of the sentences stays exactly the same in each case, but you may have noticed that the sentence’s tone has become more informal and colloquial, closer to what you might say in conversation with a friend.

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Is It Grammatically Correct to Say “For Which”?

It is grammatically correct to say “for which,” although this use is quite formal and often reserved for written language. In conversation and informal contexts, many people use the informal “which ___ for” form instead.

The main reason we say “for which” rather than “which ___ for” is that for many years, English grammar conventions dictated that ending a sentence with a preposition was incorrect, referring to this as “dangling the preposition” (source).

Some would consider it grammatically incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition, such as “for.” Still, most teachers and grammarians recognize this as a matter of style more than grammar (source). You may have noticed that using “which __ for” instead of “for which” can often result in a sentence ending with “for”:

  1. He was rude to his grandmother, which his father scolded him for.
  2. We had a delicious bottle of wine, which my date paid for.
  3. You have done excellent work on this project, which I am grateful for.

Many people consider it more accurate to move the “dangling” preposition away from the end of the sentence to a place immediately before its object. This sounds complicated, but we will discuss it further in the next section.

In more recent times, there has been a lot of debate about the convention that you should not end a sentence with a preposition. Many have pointed out that this rule actually came from Latin, and they no longer think it’s necessary to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition (source).

What this means in practice is it’s your choice whether to end your sentence on a preposition or use “for which” to avoid doing so. Context and the style you are trying to create should determine your choice in writing or speech.

To learn more about ending sentences on a preposition, read “Do You End a Question With For?

In What Context Can You Use “For Which”?

Because the rules of grammar have changed, it’s not really necessary to use “for which” in any context. Most people consider it correct to use “which ___ for.” However, it is sometimes preferable to use “for which” in more formal contexts.

When you’re deciding which form to use, think about the context and decide how formal it is. Contexts in which you might prefer to use “for which” rather than “which ___ for” include legal briefs or published academic papers (source).

Consider these examples:

  1. The plaintiff was injured badly in the accident which your client was responsible for.
  2. The plaintiff was injured badly in the accident for which your client was responsible.

You can see that the first example sounds more casual. Since this is a statement that you’d probably find in a legal letter, the second example is a better choice for this context.

When Not to Use “For Which”?

It is often better to avoid using “for which” in conversation or casual writing, such as a text message. And remember not to confuse “for which” with similar-sounding relative phrases that have different meanings.

In more casual contexts, “for which” often sounds awkward and overly formal, and it might be better to use the less formal “which ___ for.” Let’s consider an example from earlier in this article.

You have done excellent work on this project, for which I am grateful.

If your boss said this sentence to you in the office corridor, you might think it sounded pretty strange, and you wouldn’t be wrong. In the context of a conversation between two people who know each other quite well, this use of “for which” sounds awkward and stilted.

Instead, this version sounds much more natural:

  • You have done excellent work on this project, which I am grateful for.

It is also very easy to confuse “for which” with other relative phrases that sound similar, such as “in which,” “of which,” or “from which.” 

These phrases may not sound very different from each other, but, in fact, the different pronouns in each phrase carry very different meanings.

For example:

  1. Cassandra loves movies in which the hero and heroine fall in love.
  2. This is the judgment to which I was referring, Your Honor.
  3. The vehicle with which he hit the woman was impounded by police.

The preposition in each sentence dictates which relative phrase is the correct one to use.

Other relative phrases contain different relative pronouns: for example, “with what” or “to whom.” To learn more about relative pronouns, read “What or Which: Differences and Usage.”

What Can You Use Instead of “For Which”?

You can almost always substitute “which ___ for” in place of “for which,” but, in some cases, there are other ways to rephrase your sentence and avoid using “for which.”

Let’s go back to the examples we discussed earlier. In each case, there is an alternative we can use instead of “for which.”

  1. They canceled the meeting that Alison had spent so much time preparing for.
  2. He was rude to his grandmother, so his father scolded him.
  3. The novel Jane Austen is best known for is Pride and Prejudice.
  4. You have done excellent work on this project, and I am grateful.

As you can see, there is no hard and fast rule for what word or phrase you can use to replace “for which.” Just make sure that you haven’t changed the meaning of the sentence.

How Do You Use “For Which”?

We use “for which” in the same way as “which ___ for,” but we rearrange the sentence to move the preposition “for” away from the end of the sentence and immediately before its object. “For which” introduces the relative clause in a sentence.

Let’s break down one of our examples to explain.

  • We had a delicious bottle of wine, which my date paid for.

“We” is the subject of the first half of the sentence because we are doing the verb — we are having a bottle of wine. The object of the first half of the sentence is the bottle of wine.

The word “which” is a pronoun — that is, a word that replaces a noun in the sentence. In this sentence, the word “which” replaces the bottle of wine.

The word “for” is a preposition, which indicates a relationship or position. To determine the object of the preposition “for,” we ask what the preposition refers to (source). In this case, the preposition “for” refers to the bottle of wine. My date paid for the bottle of wine.

Because we used the pronoun “which” to replace the bottle of wine, “which” therefore becomes the object of the preposition “for.” Moving the preposition to a position directly before its object results in this sentence:

  • We had a delicious bottle of wine, for which my date paid.

Now you can see how we get from the more natural-sounding “which ___ for”  to the more formal and sometimes more clunky “for which.”

Using “For Which” in a Full Sentence

The relative phrase “for which” has no meaning on its own, so it is incorrect to use “for which” as a standalone phrase. You must always use it as part of a full sentence.

“Which” is a pronoun that replaces a noun, and “for” is a preposition that indicates a relationship between objects, people, and places. Both of these words need other parts of speech like verbs and nouns to give them meaning.

When we use the relative phrase “for which” in a full sentence, we place it immediately before the relative clause that it introduces. Consider the example we discussed above:

We had a delicious bottle of wine, for which my date paid.

The underlined second half of the sentence is a relative clause, which provides additional information about a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun (source). 

Consider these additional examples:

  1. He was rude to his grandmother, for which his father scolded him.
  2. You have done excellent work on this project, for which I am grateful.

In each case, the relative phrase “for which” introduces the additional information. Remember that the relative clause does not have to fall at the end of the sentence. Consider the other sentences that we discussed earlier:

  1. They canceled the meeting for which Alison had spent so much time preparing.
  2. The novel for which Jane Austen is best known is Pride and Prejudice.
  3. The grand exhibition, for which a new hall was built, was a great success.

In these examples, the relative clause sits in the middle of the sentence. But the relative phrase “for which” still appears immediately before the relative clause in order to introduce it.

We will discuss the grammar of relative clauses and relative phrases in more detail in the next section.

Now that you’ve read through the explanations of the relative phrase “for which” above, you should have a good understanding of how to use this phrase in sentences and speech. But to help you generalize this knowledge, it will be helpful for you to understand some of the grammatical theory that governs how we use “for which.”

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Relative Phrases and Relative Clauses

As we have mentioned, “for which” is a relative phrase that introduces a relative clause in a sentence. A relative clause cannot stand alone but provides further information about the subject of the sentence.

Let’s go back to some of the examples we discussed earlier, in which we underlined the part of the sentence that “for which” introduces.

  1. He was rude to his grandmother, for which his father scolded him.
  2. You have done excellent work on this project, for which I am grateful.
  3. They canceled the meeting for which Alison had spent so much time preparing.
  4. The grand exhibition, for which a new hall was built, was a great success.

A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone as a full sentence. A relative pronoun, such as “which,” “who,” or “when,” introduces a relative clause (source).

Some of these relative clauses are nonrestrictive, which means they simply add extra information, and the sentence will still make sense without that information (source):

  1. The grand exhibition, for which a new hall was built, was a great success.
  2. The grand exhibition was a great success.

Others are restrictive, meaning the relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence:

  1. The novel for which Jane Austen is best known is Pride and Prejudice.
  2. The novel is Pride and Prejudice.

Although this sentence is grammatically correct, without its relative clause, it loses all the meaning of the original.

“For which” is a phrase because it is a group of words without a subject and a verb (source). Because it contains a relative pronoun and is part of a relative clause, we would call this group of words a relative phrase. This article was written for strategiesforparents.com.

Grammarians also sometimes call phrases like “for which” prepositional phrases because they contain prepositions. To read more about prepositional phrases, read “In Time vs. On Time: Choosing the Right Preposition for Time.”

Final Thoughts

The relative phrase “for which” means the same thing as the less formal “which ___ for” and usually relates to a purpose, use, or reason for something. You would generally use it in formal contexts, and you must always use it as part of a full sentence.

Fully understanding all the mechanics of grammar behind the phrase “for which” might seem like it requires a doctorate degree, but if you remember some simple rules, you will get it right!