What's the difference between b and c?

I am just traumatized that not one multiple choice begins with "that".

This test is bad, none of the answers sound natural. Even if B is technically grammatically correct, doesnt matter. It sounds unlike anything a native speaker would say. I would say: Tell me, exactly what made you change your mind about marriage? Or Just tell me the exact reason why you changed your mind about marriage. Or Tell me the exact reason you changed your mind about marriage. Or Tell me, what made you change your mind about marriage?

Agree with the other commenter that C isn’t grammatically correct. “What” typically starts a question, but you’re not asking a question here. You’re telling someone to give you information. B is technically correct but sounds strange to me. No one would probably ever say it like that. I was looking for an answer to start with “why”. For example, to rewrite B, “Just tell me the reason **why** you changed your mind about marriage.”

C is not grammatically correct. In c, you would want the "what" to be "that."

Because "the reason which" is valid, "the reason what" isn't.

This is a relative clause and "which" is the relative pronoun that begins the clause. "What" has been historically used as a relative pronoun as well, but it's not standard to do so today. You might hear the usage in C in certain dialects. Personally, I would use "that", but it's not given as an option.

It's a grammar test. It's not made to sound natural, but to find the correct grammar use.

C is grammatically incorrect because it creates redundancy. Just tell me ~~the exact reason~~ what made you come here in the middle of the night. Just tell me the exact reason ~~what made~~ **why** you **came** here in the middle of the night.

None are good. B is the closest to acceptable. Native speakers would say “tell me why you did that.” B is “tell me the reason which made you do that,” and C is “tell me the reason what made you do that.” These are both clunky, with far too many words. C uses *what* in a way that hasn’t been common since the 19th century or so. It’s not acceptable today. B’s questionable use of *which* is at least comprehensible to modern ears. It’s still not good.

In B, "which" is a relative pronoun that agrees with "reason." In C, "what" is not a relative pronoun in standard English.

It seems like in both instances the question words (which/what) should be switched for "that". Which in option B would only make sense if at least two reasons for changing one's mind had already been shared, and even then it wouldn't sound very natural. Option C might be used by some English speakers in some dialects, but would not be used in any standard English I can think of. (it conjures for me some character with a working class background from Are You Being Served or something).

B sounds natural to me, the rest don't

That’s a relative clause question. If you see ‘the reason’ look for why/ for which/ that or nothing since you can omit on condition that the relative clause has BOTH SUBJECT and OBJECT. If not, then look for which/ that if the subject of the clause is missing or nothing if the object is missing since you can also omit in defining relative clauses.

As far as I learned, B is the most "technically correct" answer, while "that" would be, while more common and natural in the current day, less "proper". C with "what" is just wrong, though. Or possibly extremely archaic, or faux-archaic? It *sounds* archaic, at least, as another said. But it's not right today.

Option B sounds the most natural to me, the “which” pronoun is the best to put between the two clauses.

Sometimes tests are designed in such a way that you have to pick out the *least* wrong choice. A, C, D, and E are all obviously incorrect; B is awkwardly structured but not actually wrong.

People are missing the point. The only answer that's grammatically correct is B, so there's your answer. We know it doesn't sound great, and there are better alternatives, but that's the whole point of a multiple choice question: you only get those answers. They are not testing what sounds better, they are testing if you know your grammar. Pure grammar. You can't rely on what you've heard before because no one says it like this. They want you to analyze this sentence and think critically why one of them is technically right, even though it might sound off.

Well, B is the only one that works in English; C is nearly right: is it significant that "what" has been underlined? It would be ok with "that".

Rhis is one of those cases where if you were learning in the wrong place the dialect will make you get it wrong. C is very much incorrect by any "rule book" of english, but there are certains where the regional dialect will still use it.

I think in some languages like Spanish, the word for "what" and "that" is the same in many cases. Maybe that is where some of the confusion is. I would use the word "that" here instead of "which", but "what" definitely is wrong here. This sentence is phrased as a command, not a question. The word "what" is for questions.

I read C in Hagrid's voice for some reason. Honestly, none of these sound right to my American ears.

To me, “which” refers to one of several distinct and mutually exclusive options. Because the question specifies “exact” reason, I think this is a trigger for which. You can also read the answer B as: Just tell me the exact reason — (reason) which made you change your mind about marriage. In this case “which” is replacing reason, and not the start of a question.

i spent enough time online with natives to feel icky about those answers. but i’ve been through school and know what they’re trying to do so uh, well i guess that’s that. idk if op is in the same country as me but my education system focus more on grammar than anything else imo. “that”, as i was taught, is a substitute for other words like “what”, “why”, “which”, “how”, etc. and an easy almost-always-correct way to do this phrase thingy (sr i forgot the correct word). so they’re not putting “that” in the test unless it’s the wrong answer (most of the time). i’ve encountered weird stuffs all the time, although frankly im probably wrong about how weird they are half the time. like how i was so certain arcane is super duper well-known just to then find out my friends and family doesn’t know it at all.

I think it sounds so unnatural because it's redundant. In the structure 'The reason....you [did x]' "the reason" already fulfils the role of 'impetus for action'. So saying 'the reason which made you' is like saying the same thing twice. You could swap it, but not have both

They both sound normal to me. And I am an English speaker...

All of these are based on what should follow after "the reason". We normally say "the reason why"... something.

"Which" is like asking you to choose between certain reasons. "What" leaves the question open ended Without some additional punctuation C feels weird though.

I don’t like any of these answers.

Is the answer B?

“Which” implies there are a finite (not infinite, countable) number of possible answers

In actual speech, I'd say just use "that" instead of "which" since it sounds more natural that way

This sentence sounds like it was translated from Japanese or a similar language. I know many older languages (especially in Asia) have grammatical rules to indicate specificity or urgency. When translated literally into English, words like "just" and "exact" in awkward places are the result. I'm imagining an anime character dramatically yelling this. "Just tell me the EXACT reason which made you change your mind about marriage?!" "Ah, so you want to know it? You want to know THE EXACT REASON which caused my mind to change? I will just tell you now."

My intuition tells me it’s C. The question is broad, and B is very specific. C is the best answer out of all.

Either is quite correct but c is definitely folksy

'Just' as a starter signifies that the convo is looking for one (1) singular answer, the 'exact' adds emphasis to the rushed nature of 'Just' that reflects with 'which' to link into the topic 'marriage' The key points of this sentence is to finish how the structure of the sentence is going so Just - 'the' - exact - reason you reconsidered - marriage (a very sudden thing that is hugely underestimated by lots, which ties into the alarmed nature of the question itself)

B isn’t grammatically correct. It should be “that,” not “which.” None of the answers are right.

B

All of the answers are bad. B is the least bad, in that it's technically correct, but doesn't sound natural.

Took me a moment to figure out what was being asked. I didn't realize, at first, that it was a fill in the blank question. I thought it was asking you to pick a reason explaining something, but I couldn't figure out the context where all of these might be valid options.

I feel like it's "the exact reason which made ..." in the same sense that "the exact reason that made ..." would work if it were in the options

I think it's B If you wants to choose C , it should be like that: Till me the exact reason: C.why did you come here in the middle of the night.

B is the least grammatically offensive option

That is usually used.

There's no period or comma after after "reason", so it has to follow as a contenuois thought, and because after the "---" there's *is* a period. "What" turns it into a question for sure, but "which" doesnt. "Just tell me the exact reason which made you change your mind. Vs "Just tell me the exact reason. What made you change your mind?" or "Just tell me the exact reason, what made you change your mind?" Now if *I* was speaking, I would phrase it "just tell me the exact reason "that* made you change your mind." "Which" sounds weird here. But that could be a dialect thing?

It’s reason which. You don’t say reason what. But you can say reason why.

"That" would work infinitely better but the statement is trying to ask for context to a direct action, in this case "changing your mind." You never ask this kind of thing in regards to something that is hypothetical or hasn't happened. C is iffy because it's too wordy, asking for a reason and then finishing the statement by asking "what" is janky. Meanwhile B is bringing up the action. This problem is kinda tricky and explaining it feels too complicated.

c would work if there was a colon after the original text as in Just tell me the exact reason: what made you…

"Which" is a relative pronoun, which in standard English is used to relate the first clause to the second clause. In some dialects, especially in some parts of England, "what" can also be used a relative pronoun, but it's not "technically" grammatically correct, and would sound odd to most listeners.

B is relative clause and c is noun clause. Since it ends with noun it should be described by relative clause which function as an adjective to the noun reason. Noun clause as it name suggests, it functions like a noun.

Actually, B isn't correct either. You have two kinds of *direct* relative clauses in English: -predicative r.c. add information that is fundamental to the meaning of the whole sentence. The sentence wouldn't make sense without it. It can have "that" as a relative pronoun, but it can also be omitted. e.g. "He is the guy (that) taught me how to swim" -attributive r.c. add information that is not fundamental and works as an adjective within the sentence. Its relative pronoun can be which or who, preceded by a comma. e.g. "I think that the new bag, which is pretty big and quite comfortable, will appeal to our young public" In this case, the clause is predicative, since it is essential to the meaning of the sentence and is not merely working as an adjective for the noun "reason". So "which" will not be grammatically acceptable, and that is why it sounds weird or "mechanic" to many people here. The only acceptable construction of this sentence with the use of "which" is if you constructed an indirect relative clause, with a preposition followed by "who/which": "...reason for which..." So no correct answer here!

The difference, is that you're indicating one selection from a group. It's not super obvious, but that's the construction: "There are many possible reasons. Which one made you change your mind?" The use of "what" in this structure is becoming more common in very lazy, informal speech. Saying things like "what one do you want?" is grammatically just nonsense, but unfortunately becoming common in vernacular.

Why isn’t it “that made you change your mind” NO ONE talks like that EDIT: spelling error

B has to be correct for the sole fact that C starts with “what” and not “that”

They’re both odd so the difference really doesn’t matter. You need the word “why” or “that” not “which” or “what”. “Which” I suppose you could argue is technically correct, but it certainly doesn’t sound correct and people don’t talk like that. We would say “why” or “that” or leave it out altogether: Just tell me the exact reason that made you… Just tell me the exact reason why you… (you can’t say “made”: “why made you” is wrong) Just tell me the exact reason you… (you also can’t say “made” here, either) They’re likely looking for the answer to be B, but just know, that’s not a natural thing to say at all. Instead, use one of the sentences above. Those sound much more natural.

I agree with the top comment, what should be used in that sentence is probably "that" (if it's followed by the verb "made" in the options b and c) and it's nowhere to be found in the options so it's the tester's fault.

B is a relative clause. It adds information about a noun in the main sentence. In this case ‘reason’, although no native speakers would use ‘which’ as a relative pronoun in this case - as other posters have said. C is a nominal relative clause - there is no noun to add information about (what = ‘the thing which’). So, it can stand alone as a subject question: What (subject) made you come here in the middle of the night? Example answers - Your email made me come here …

It should probably be “that” instead of “what” or “which”

Makes some sense to be asking "which reason", because evidently there was one but we don't know which. Still, it doesn't sound all that natural

A is the closest

None of these are correct. All but D would be correct if they had “that” instead of the other conjunctions. D would need a subject in order for it to have “that.”

If you just isolate the phrase so that it is standalone… "What made you change your mind about marriage?" "What made you come here in the middle of the night?" You may notice that in the first phrase, "What" works better in my opinion. - - - Edited out below So "Which" in the given text is just used to connect the bits together. I think the question (in the picture) is dumb…

I think it would’ve been better if it said, “Just tell me the exact reason OF WHICH…”

I can only speculate what the author was thinking. Push the sentence together. "Just tell me the exact reason which made you change your mind about marriage." Now you can rearrange the wording to say: "... tell me which exact reason made you..." This sounds a smidge better to me than: "... tell me what exact reason..." At the end of the day, though, I'd want to punch a hole in the wall when asked these kinds of subjective questions because they're abject subjectivity is infuriating to a technically oriented brain.

F) None of the above!

It frightens me to know English learners are being given these bad tests

“Which” means they’re asking for the answer amongst two stated causes “What” is more general than that It has to be “what” as it does not state multiple possible causes.

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