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Englishfun Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

"he" or "him"; "that" or "who"?

1) It is he who teaches English.

2) It is him who teaches English.

3) It is he that teaches English.

4) It is him that teaches English.

5) It is the teacher who teaches English.

6) It is the teacher that teaches English.

Are all of them acceptable? If so, are there any differences among them? If not, which of them are acceptable? Why?

Thanks in advance!
  

Top answer

The meaning is the same and I myself would like to accept them all. At least nobody can say any of them is ungrammatical. As for the choice between 'who' and 'that', however, 'who' is more idiomatic and more common.

— Paco2004

  • The meaning is the same and I myself would like to accept them all.
  • At least nobody can say any of them is ungrammatical.
  • As for the choice between 'who' and 'that', however, 'who' is more idiomatic and more common.
  • As for the choice between 'he' and 'him', most of native speakers will choose 'him'.
  • paco
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7 Answers
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The meaning is the same and I myself would like to accept them all. At least nobody can say any of them is ungrammatical. As for the choice between 'who' and 'that', however, 'who' is more idiomatic and more common. As for the choice between 'he' and 'him', most of native speakers will choose 'him'.

paco
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In my opinion these are all just meaningless theoretical exercises. Nobody I know actually speaks that way (except to make fun of English teachers, perhaps).
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Thanks so much, Paco.
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I agree with CalifJim: those sentences sound very artificial.

Sextus
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Maybe we could make a case for 5 and 6:


"Who's that over there?"

"It's the teacher who/that teaches English."
MrP
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Thank you, Sextus and MrP.
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