Where vs. in which

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, could you please tell me the difference between the following two sentences, both seem OK to me:

[i]There were many situations in which they had make tough decisions.

There were many situations where they had to make tough decisions.[/i]

Thanks in advance,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Worker at a building site[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Hi

I was taught that (generally) ‘in which’ is used when you mean some specific cases, whereas ‘where’ is more abstract.

3

Hi Torsten,

‘Where’ to me has a strong sense of literal place/ position as in: The place where I lived, The town where you find art treasures. ‘In which’ tends to be more specific, more precise and is used both literally and figuratively as in: The forest in which we are standing, The difficulties in which you find yourself, The box in which you keep the documents …

Alan