Word Confusion: Who ‘Dat??

Posted May 2, 2012 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

This word confusion — that vs who — is a pet peeve of mine. “Everyone” insists on using that for people, etc. Why? That seems so disrespectful. Dehumanizing.

Relative pronouns are used to introduce a relative clause, (a type of dependent clause) which may be restrictive or non-restrictive. Such a clause modifies a word, phrase, or idea in the main clause.

The easy part is the relative pronoun can be a subject, an object, or a possessive pronoun in either restrictive or non-restrictive clauses. Yep, there’re two types of relative clauses.

It’s relative because it relates to the word its relative clause modifies.

The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

If the relative clause is removed . . .

The person is my teacher.

Legend:

Bold indicates the relative pronoun
Italic indicates the relative clause
Bold & italic indicates the subject being modified by the relative pronoun

Since the person is my teacher doesn’t really tell you much of anything, that makes the who phoned me last night a restrictive clause. It demonstrates how important this relative clause is in explaining the main clause.

My Preference in the Who ‘Dat?? Controversy

Who is used only when referring to people (yeah, I think animals are people, too) while that can be used for people, things, and animals.

I have a strong personal preference toward using who in any situation that involves people or animals while reserving that for things — or people or animals for whom I have no respect. It’s a useful consideration when creating your characters, whether they’re meant to be viewed as “bad” or “good”.

That	Who
People that sell used cars . . . Yeah, some used car salespeople are the scum of the earth.	People who sell used cars . . . I suppose a case could be made that anyone who sells used cars isn’t necessarily a good person, but they are people.
Dogs that growl . . . eek . . .	Dogs who growl . . . Aww, they’re so protective.
Policemen that investigate theft . . . He isn’t going to investigate too thoroughly or care.	Policemen who investigate theft . . . I feel as though this cop cares about my loss.

That

Who

People that sell used cars . . .

Yeah, some used car salespeople are the scum of the earth.

People who sell used cars . . .

I suppose a case could be made that anyone who sells used cars isn’t necessarily a good person, but they are people.

Dogs that growl . . .

eek . . .

Dogs who growl . . .

Aww, they’re so protective.

Policemen that investigate theft . . .

He isn’t going to investigate too thoroughly or care.

Policemen who investigate theft . . .

I feel as though this cop cares about my loss.

Yeah, it’s perception. And this is my perception on that versus who. It’s a personal choice between being respectful (in my opinion) and being easy.

Other “Who” Posts

To avoid confusions, there are other posts that explore the who versus . . . question, including:

“Who versus Whom“
“Who’s versus Whose“
“Whoever vs Whosoever vs Whomever vs Whosever“

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

If you found this post on “Who ‘Dat??” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

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Refers to People
Part of Grammar:
Rule: Relative pronouns introduce relative adjectival clauses. Read up on the dissection of “Who versus Whom” for clarity on this confusion.
Who	Subject or object pronoun for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door.
Whose	Possessive for people, animals, and things	Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
Whom	Object pronoun for people Colloquially, who is generally used	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference.
Refers to Things
There’s a good post, “Which is That?“, on when to use that or which.
That	Subject or object pronoun for people, animals, and things in defining relative clauses which could also use who or which.	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen. Technically, you can also say: I told you about the woman that lives next door. This version is softer, gentler: I told you about the woman who lives next door.
Which	Subject or object pronoun for animals and things. It can also refer to a whole sentence.	Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? He couldn’t read which surprised me.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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