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which/who

 
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gusthuber



Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:55 am    Post subject: which/who Reply with quote
There are some children who / which live in the neighbourhood.


Are both okay?
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rice07



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 385
PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
There are some children who / which live in the neighbourhood.


Are both okay?


Yes, both are correct.

But you should note that there are some grammar rules for using RP 'which' to refer to the antecedent regarding 'human being'.

Rp 'which can be used in that case you raised because one of the rules for that(=there are some grammar rules for using RP 'which' to refer to the antecedent regarding 'human being) is:

When referring to the antecedent that is/are a baby(child)/babies(children) whose gender(s) is/are not known, RP 'which can therefore be used.

Examples:

1. This is the baby which needs inoculation.

2. His mother had ten children, of which he was the oldest.

Hope that helps.
rice
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Mary W. Ng



Joined: 26 Jun 2006
Posts: 261
PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:11 pm    Post subject: which/who Reply with quote
I'm sorry to say that I have to disagree with rice07's answer.

Question:

There are some children who / which live in the neighbourhood.

Are both okay?

Answer:

Only one sentence is okay: "There are some children who live in the neighbourhood." "Who" is used to refer to people. "Which" is used for referring to things or infants of unknown gender.

Hence, I would say the example sentence should read "His mother had ten children, of whom he was the oldest."
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lotus



Joined: 25 Jan 2004
Posts: 862
PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I would definitely agree. "Who" is the correct answer.


--lotus
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