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Diotima Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

animals who live...

I just would like to check with you this sentence:

"Animals who live on a farm" was the topic discussion in a session at school. I had the impression it was entirely correct but I kept quiet because I did not want to upset or be disrespectful towards my colleague.
Could you please comment and or provide suggestions for a correct rephrasing of the whole sentence?

Thank you!
  

Top answer

diotima I had the impression it was entirely correct but I kept quiet This means that your colleague thought is was wrong? diotima Animals who live on a farm I find that natural enough in casual conversation, but we normally reserve 'who' for persons or favoured particular animals, so I would correct it to 'Animals that live on a farm'. Of course, the topic expressed by a native would be simply 'Farm animals' or 'Domesticated animals'.

— Mister Micawber

  • diotima I had the impression it was entirely correct but I kept quiet This means that your colleague thought is was wrong?
  • diotima Animals who live on a farm I find that natural enough in casual conversation, but we normally reserve 'who' for persons or favoured particular animals, so I would correct it to 'Animals that live on a farm'.
  • Of course, the topic expressed by a native would be simply 'Farm animals' or 'Domesticated animals'.
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4 Answers
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diotimaI had the impression it was entirely correct but I kept quiet
This means that your colleague thought is was wrong?
diotimaAnimals who live on a farm
I find that natural enough in casual conversation, but we normally reserve 'who' for persons or favoured particular animals, so I would correct it to 'Animals that live o
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Sorry, I skipped a "not" in my post! I meant "I had the impression it was not entirely correct".
As regards my doubts I was thinking exactly about using "that" rather than "who" . Does it make a little or no difference?
May I ask you also why we say "on a farm" and not "in a farm"?

Thank you for your help!
d.
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diotimaDoes it make a little or no difference?
No, it is uncommon to use 'who' there and would probably be marked wrong by a teacher.
diotimaMay I ask you also why we say "on a farm" and not "in a farm"?
Because a farm is conceptually a 2-dimensional spread, I suppose, not a 3-dimensional box.
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Thank you for your help Emotion: rose
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