Hi there boys and girls or ladies and gentlemen

I have sometimes problems with understanding the meanning of which-phrases such as

"for which", "in which", "to which", "after which" etc.

There are loads of them out there and I found out that these which phrases can sometimes

be substituted with one words synonyms.

can someone explain to me what they mean in terms of synonyms.

The ones I have major problems with are:
across which
after which

against which

along which

amid which

among which

around which

as which

at which

by which

for which

in which

into which

of which

off which

on which

onto which

to which

under which

upon which

I would appreciate if you could help me guys since I couldn't find anything on the Internet.

yao_mingCan someone explain to me what they mean in terms of synonyms?
If I may say, you are going about this in the wrong way. There are no synonyms for such combinations. Here's how it works. One sentence replaces two sentences. Note that 'which' replaces a word, and the prepositional phrase is moved.

This is the train. I have been waiting for this train.

This is the train [for which I have been waiting.] 'which' replaces 'train'.

The lake is very deep. I swam across this lake.

The lake [across which I swam] is very deep. 'which' replaces 'lake'.

The tree is very old. Henry hid the treasure under this tree.

The tree [under which Henry hid the treasure] is very old. 'which' replaces 'tree'.

Mexico is the country. Professor Andersen traveled to this country recently.

Mexico is the country [to which Professer Andersen traveled recently.] 'which' replaces 'country'.

This is the key. Mom opened the door with this key.

This is the key with which Mom opened the door.

Check out 'relative clauses' on the internet.


All of them are prepositions followed by the relative pronoun 'which'. The pronoun 'which' is the object of the preposition; 'which' shows what thing (or things) is meant and introduces relative clause.

For example:

against which: It was his idea against which (the idea) we strongly opposed .
along which: We walk along the road which (the road) was winding through the high hills.

Greatness needs no introduction! CJ, you did it again.Emotion: clap

this really helped me to learn these word combinations from different angle.
Do you perhaps know any book or online worksheets where I can learn these phrases?

This would be terrific and allow me to go deep on it as I believe it will improve my written English


Thanks for your help
As I said above, check out 'relative clauses' on the internet.

Site Hint: Check out our list of pronunciation videos.