by Jennie Ruby
Why do so many people use that or which to refer to human beings rather than using the word who? My personal theory is that people are afraid to use who, in case it should have been whom. Be that as it may, the right word to refer to a person or people is who/whom, not that/which. Look at this sentence, for example:
*The teenage students, half of which were not paying attention, did not ask any questions of the professor.*
When I first read this sentence I wondered half of what? Then I realized the writer meant half of the students! The sentence should have read:
The sleepy students, half of whom were not paying attention, did not ask any questions of the professor.
Here is another example:
*The people that were gathered there cheered as the limo zoomed by.*
It should be:
The people who were gathered there cheered as the limo zoomed by.
Watch out for this encroaching dehumanization in our language, and use who/whom for people. Worried about getting who/whom wrong? Try this quick check: is the word who/whom the subject of any verb in the sentence? If so, use who. If not, use whom:
I asked him who could go to the meeting in my place. (who is the subject of the verb could go)
I wondered whom I could choose for that onerous distinction. (whom is not the subject of any verb)
One more thing to watch for: if the word who/whom follows any form of the verb to be (is, was, were, are, was being, were being, will be), it should also be who:
That is who?
The winner will be who?
About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Essentials of Access 2000" and "Editing with MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 7" to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.
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