Is it “That's the family that is moving in…” or “That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving...





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I know that 'who' refers to people and 'that' refers to things. But what about when the thing IS people, such as a family? Would I say, "That's the family that is moving in next door soon.", or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in next door soon."?










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  • 2





    Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

    – BillJ
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:13











  • Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:59













  • Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 20:06













  • The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

    – Nigel J
    Mar 15 '18 at 22:10




















2















I know that 'who' refers to people and 'that' refers to things. But what about when the thing IS people, such as a family? Would I say, "That's the family that is moving in next door soon.", or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in next door soon."?










share|improve this question
















bumped to the homepage by Community 11 mins ago


This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.











  • 2





    Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

    – BillJ
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:13











  • Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:59













  • Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 20:06













  • The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

    – Nigel J
    Mar 15 '18 at 22:10
















2












2








2


1






I know that 'who' refers to people and 'that' refers to things. But what about when the thing IS people, such as a family? Would I say, "That's the family that is moving in next door soon.", or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in next door soon."?










share|improve this question
















I know that 'who' refers to people and 'that' refers to things. But what about when the thing IS people, such as a family? Would I say, "That's the family that is moving in next door soon.", or "That's (they're?) the family who is (are?) moving in next door soon."?







relative-clauses relative-pronouns collective-nouns who who-that






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edited Mar 15 '18 at 20:09









sumelic

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asked Mar 15 '18 at 19:10









KathyPKathyP

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bumped to the homepage by Community 11 mins ago


This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.







bumped to the homepage by Community 11 mins ago


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  • 2





    Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

    – BillJ
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:13











  • Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:59













  • Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 20:06













  • The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

    – Nigel J
    Mar 15 '18 at 22:10
















  • 2





    Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

    – BillJ
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:13











  • Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 19:59













  • Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

    – sumelic
    Mar 15 '18 at 20:06













  • The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

    – Nigel J
    Mar 15 '18 at 22:10










2




2





Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

– BillJ
Mar 15 '18 at 19:13





Anaphoric "that" can refer to anything.

– BillJ
Mar 15 '18 at 19:13













Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

– sumelic
Mar 15 '18 at 19:59







Related: Which is correct: “staff that may have this information” or “staff who may have this information”?

– sumelic
Mar 15 '18 at 19:59















Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

– sumelic
Mar 15 '18 at 20:06







Also related: Should you use “who” or “that” when talking about multiple people doing something? (ignore the accepted answer), What is the correct relative pronoun for “government”?

– sumelic
Mar 15 '18 at 20:06















The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

– Nigel J
Mar 15 '18 at 22:10







The fact (noted in the answer to the duplicate) that many people think 'that' refers to things, means that many people actually think it is wrong/rude to use 'that' in relation to people. Which will affect its common usage among English speakers. Which needs to be noted. Yes, the 'educated', the 'literate', section of the populace will know what is 'right', but that does not change the concept among the general populace. And concept is everything where language is concerned.

– Nigel J
Mar 15 '18 at 22:10












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You can substitute "that" for "who" in relative clauses when the clause is identifying. If the clause is non-identifying, then "that" is not permissible.






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    You can substitute "that" for "who" in relative clauses when the clause is identifying. If the clause is non-identifying, then "that" is not permissible.






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      You can substitute "that" for "who" in relative clauses when the clause is identifying. If the clause is non-identifying, then "that" is not permissible.






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        You can substitute "that" for "who" in relative clauses when the clause is identifying. If the clause is non-identifying, then "that" is not permissible.






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        You can substitute "that" for "who" in relative clauses when the clause is identifying. If the clause is non-identifying, then "that" is not permissible.







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        answered Mar 15 '18 at 19:22









        jpyvrjpyvr

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