Who or That for People?
Both who and that can refer to persons (someone who/that cares, people who/that work here, kids who/that like to read). Who is preferred in formal usage, such as academic writing.
![Graphic titled "'Who' vs. 'That.'” The left panel shows the title in red and green bursting out of the background in pop-art style. The right panel has the following text. Both “who” and “that” can refer to people. (Correct: I know someone who can help. Correct: I know someone that can help.) “Who” is preferred in formal usage. (Correct: We interviewed the scientists who worked on this project. Correct: We interviewed the scientists that worked on this project. [less formal])](https://editorsmanual.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/who-vs-that-media-1024x576.webp)
Here are some examples of sentences that are perfectly grammatically with both who and that. Either pronoun can introduce a relative clause referring to a person.
- I’m looking for someone who/that can work with wood.
- How can I contact the doctor who/that is treating me?
- The player who/that has the most tokens wins the game.
Also, both these pronouns—who and that (and even which)—can refer to collective nouns for groups of people. Which and that are in fact more often used than who to refer to groups.
- The jury who/that convicted her clearly believed there was sufficient evidence.
- The team who/that won the final had to forfeit the prize.
- Their team, who/which won the cup last season, failed even to qualify this year.
However, in formal writing, who is preferred over that to refer to persons.
- More formal: We need someone who understands horses.
Less formal: We need someone that understand horses. - More formal: Who is the reporter who asked this question?
Less formal: Who’s the reporter that asked this question? - More formal: Students who have already applied need not reapply.
Less formal: Students that have already applied need not reapply.
Thus, using who or that in such sentences is a matter of register (formality) rather than grammar.
Although that can refer to people, groups, and things, who cannot be used to refer to things.
- The parcel
who/that arrived today contained a brick.
That for people: Additional guidance
Grammar and usage authorities generally agree that the pronoun that can refer to both people and things. Dictionaries (like Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and Cambridge) define the word that as a relative pronoun that can refer to people, animals, and inanimate objects.
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage as well states that that refers to persons and things, providing examples from both earlier and current literature. Likewise, the Cambridge Grammar of English notes that the pronoun that can replace who and whom in a wide range of informal styles.
Given the preference for who over that in formal styles, it is not surprising that some style manuals, like the AP Stylebook and APA Publication Manual, recommend using who instead of that to refer to people. Others however, like the Chicago Manual of Style and MLA Handbook, state that both who and that can be used for people.
When that cannot replace who
The pronoun that can replace who (or whom) only in restrictive clauses. (A restrictive clause is one that is essential to identify the person or thing being referred to and is not enclosed in commas.)
- Someone who/that likes challenges would love this job.
- Students who/that have already replied may ignore this email.
- People who/that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
But that cannot replace who or whom in nonrestrictive clauses. (A nonrestrictive clause provides an optional description and is set off using commas.) Always use who instead of that to refer to a person in a nonrestrictive clause (one that is enclosed in commas).
- Rita, who/
thatloves to swim, lives on a boat. - My manager, who/
thatunderstands software but not people, thinks I work because I like working. - Farley, who/
thatlives in a glass house, can never take a shower.
Examples from published content
The following examples from news publications and academic journals show how that is often used to refer to people in all but the most formal writing, especially in place of whom.
Sociologists and philosophers of science, in turn, are acquiring a more intimate understanding of the scientists that they study.
— “Mind the Gap,” Nature 462, 825–826 (2009)As a reporter, you can only really get a sense of how things are going from the politicians you meet and the voters that you speak to.
— “Election ‘Roller Coaster’ Gains Speed in Greater Manchester,” BBC News (Apr. 16, 2015)That, the lobbyists contend, would hurt the employees that Congress wants to help.
— “Enron’s Many Strands,” New York Times (Feb. 9, 2002)
And here are more examples from literature that show how that can be used to refer to people.
A man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others.
— Francis Bacon, “Of Envy,” Essays (1597)I grant I am a woman, but, withal / A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife.
— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (1599)Some of the best people that ever lived have been as destitute as I am.
— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847)I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die.
— Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)Very nice sort of place, Oxford, I should think, for people that like that sort of place.
— George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903)I knew that fear was invented by someone that had never had the fear.
— William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (1930)Blessed be those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Nobody said when.
— Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)