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Jane is back in May, by____ the new house should be finished.

A. which B. that C. whom D. when

"when" is the answer, and I know its grammar.

My question is whether or not "which" works and why.

relative question: Stephen Hawking believes that the earth is unlikely to be the only planet ____ life has developed gradually

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    Which alone does not work, but you could say, "Jane is back in May, by which time the new house should be finished."
    – Canadian Yankee
    Commented May 1, 2018 at 13:43

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I wouldn't use when in the given example. Some options:

Jane is back in May, by when the new house should be finished.
Jane is back in May, by then the new house should be finished.
Jane is back in May, by/at which time the new house should be finished.

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Well, I'm not a native English speaker, but how about "until" instead of by? Here's an example: "I am to report to Govt. on the 17th May, until when I can publish nothing." from "The Beast in the Mosquito: The Correspondence of Ronald Ross and Patrick Manson". Considering it is a published book (which must have been edited and proofread before publishing, I think), it should constiute a valid example. Seeing that crossed out 'by' above, I feel the need to suggest this aternative. However, if "by" is irreplaceable, I'd say "by when".

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