In an earlier post, I noted that one should never use the word “that” when referring to a human referent, and one of my readers was quick to point out that this is not entirely correct. So, I wanted to add a brief post to clarify.
The whole question of “who” versus “that” as a relative pronoun with a human referent is quite a gray area. My reader pointed out that before the 15th century, “that” was the only option. He is not wrong; I do, in fact, recall that Geoffrey Chaucer, for example, (14th century English poet, author, philosopher, etc.) did indeed use “that” instead of “who” in his writing. However, as time progressed and the use of “who” crept into our language, it gradually became more acceptably “correct” to use “who” rather than “that.” Therefore, I suppose it is more conventional wisdom to use “who” with a human referent rather than a hard and fast rule (my use of the word never was probably too strong!). However, I do maintain that it stills seems more correct (and more humanizing) today to use “who.” Judging by a brief google search on “grammar who versus that,” I found there a lot of smart folks who agree with me.
Thanks for leaving comments!
I heartily agree with your assessment that “who” is appropriate when referring to humans. (I even use it when speaking of pets because they’re so often considered members of the family, but a non-pet person might disagree). The use of “that” for humans must be deeply ingrained in the human psyche, however, because the major of English speakers seem to use “that” in speech; and since most people write as they speak, the use of “that” is, I suppose, understandable. Sigh.
Lol… I l know! In my editing, I’ve often noticed a preference for “that” when referring to humans as well. It sounds odd to me but obviously sounds quite normal to others, which is understandable if that’s the usage they’ve grown up with. Growing up in Pennsylvania, just across that state alone there are so many variations on word preference/usage that it’s always been something I’ve been fascinated with (e.g., soda = pop and bag = sack in Pittsburgh, whereas we prefer soda and bag in the greater Wilkes-Barre area).
By the way, I’m a big fan of the written “sigh.”
Thanks for the comment!