I am not quite sure what the following sentence really means:
When he was alone, he drank gin rather than wine, which he preferred.
A. He preferred wine. B. He preferred drinking gin rather than wine.
In other words, does "which" stand for "wine" that immediately precedes it, or the whole sentence preceding it, as in, "He broke the vase, which pissed his father off?"
Thank you very much!
BTW, here is the context:
Gabriel J. Utterson, a London lawyer, had a rugged face that never was lit by a smile. An unemotional bachelor, he was reserved and brief in his speech. He was tall, slender, dusty, and dreary, yet somehow lovable. At a gathering of friends, and when the wine suited his taste, something highly human shone from his eyes— something that never found its way into his talk but showed in his after-dinner face and, more often and clearly, in his actions. He was austere with himself. When he was alone, he drank gin rather than wine, which he preferred. Although he enjoyed theater, he hadn’t gone to a theater for twenty years.
Top answer
I think the context implies that he prefers gin, but the sentence is poorly written. It would be better as: When he was alone, he drank gin, which he preferred over wine.
— Philip
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I think the context implies that he prefers gin, but the sentence is poorly written. It would be better as: When he was alone, he drank gin, which he preferred over wine.