Which pronoun to use?

Grammarian-bot

When we have a human as a subject of the sentence and there is a subordinate clause, which pronoun should we use.

1. The people who were here today will come back tomorrow.

2. The people, that were here today, will come back tomorrow.

Both who and that are relative pronouns but which one of the two is more appropriate.

Either who or that is fine, but don't use commas in either case.

The people [who / that] were here today will come back tomorrow.

CJ

Goodman


For people, [who] is more proper. However, there are times [that] is permissible as well; depending on the context.

Both are accepted, but the 1st is more common.

What does " more proper" mean above?

True about the more common:

Why not use comma. I think "[who/that] wre here today" is a restrictive clause and it requires comma.

GB

My belief is to use [who] instead of [that] when a species talks about one of its own species. I like to take a philosophical stance when choosing some words for the English language. [Who] implies that I'm speaking about people of my species. If I'm talking about a person (a being that is not human), then I would use [that]. The difference comes upon the philosophical idea of what a person is.

<If I'm talking about a person (a being that is not human), then I would use [that]. >

??? Could you please give me an example of a person who is not human?

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Quick definitions (person)

noun: a human being (Example: "There was to

Grammarian-botWhy not use comma. I think "[who/that] wre here today" is a restrictive clause and it requires comma.

GB

It's the other way around - the restrictive clauses do NOT get commas. The non-restrictive ones (that could be lifted entirely out of the sentence and still make it understandable) are the ones that are set off with commas.

Milky

Goodman


For people, [who] is more proper. However, there are times [that] is permissible as well; depending on the context.

Both are accepted, but the 1st is more common.

What does " more proper" mean above?

True about the more common:

<I think we all know what "proper" means and therefore I skipped the explanation.>

Humour me. What do you mean by "proper" when referring to English usage?

<If I may ask this question, would you say it's grammatically wrong to use "that" instead of "who" with reference to the human spicies?> species

I wasn't being humorous. Proper was referred to as being socially commonly acceptable, as in proper manners and behavior.

Is there something improper about my using “proper” in my post that I should know about?