Who of us / Which of us - the same meaning?

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HappyHippo - 28 Feb 2004 00:43 GMT

I was tought to use 'who' for persons and 'which' or 'that' for animals and
things.

The man who ate his bread.
The dog which (that) ate his dog food.
The cheese which (that) smelled.

But I have also read sentences like:

Which of us has never...

The person which...

Is this more flexible than I thought?
Or have I misunderstood something?

Thanks for your help.

Hardy from Germany

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Adrian Bailey - 28 Feb 2004 01:51 GMT

> I was tought to use 'who' for persons and 'which' or 'that' for animals and
> things.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> Which of us has never...

This is standard.

> The person which...

This is not standard: "the person who" is preferred.

> Is this more flexible than I thought?
> Or have I misunderstood something?

Only that it's slightly more complicated than you learned.

Adrian

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Mxsmanic - 28 Feb 2004 06:40 GMT

> Which of us has never...
>
> The person which...

In the first case, "one" is being omitted in informal speech ("Which one
of us has never ...").

In the second case, the construction is informal; "who" would be used in
formal speech.

> Is this more flexible than I thought?

People don't follow the rules as well as they used to.

> Or have I misunderstood something?

See above.

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / February 2004

Who of us / Which of us - the same meaning?