Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[tisogai]

Albert Einstein is one of the greatest scientists who ever lived.

Albert Einstein is the greatest scientist that ever lived.

Both of WHO and THAT can be used for these two setences??

Thank you!

[mescalero]

tisogai:

Since you are referring to a person, you should really use "who" not "that" in your sentence. However, even native speakers often forget this rule so you may hear people use "that," even though it is technically incorrect.

Best,
_________________
- Mike

Open English World
http://www.openenglishworld.com

[Jintii]

Yes, either WHO or THAT is correct.

WHO is for people. WHICH is for things. THAT is for both people and things.

You can find a lot of explanations of this on websites. Here's one from ENGLISH GRAMMAR: EXPLANATIONS AND EXERCISES, 2nd edition, by Mary Ansell (2000) (http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch19.html)

b. That
When used as a relative pronoun, that can refer to either persons or things....
e.g. The people that were here yesterday will return in a month.
The newspaper that was on the steps belongs to our neighbor.

and

e. Comparison of the use of That, Which and Who

Relative Pronoun ..................Type of Antecedent
that.........................................persons or things
which.......................................things only
who/whom/whose.....................persons only

For instance, the following sentences:

The boy whom we saw is her brother.
The hat which you are wearing is rather large.

could be rewritten:

The boy that we saw is her brother.
The hat that you are wearing is rather large.

[tisogai]

Thanks so much, Jintii.

I thought I had learned that there're some cases only "that" can be used even for people.

For example,

He is the greatest pianist that has ever lived.

He is the very best man that can carry out this project.

In these cases only "that" is correct because of "the ....est and the best" according to some textbooks. Isn't that always true?

Thanks.