Who? That? Which?

Hi. My name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, we're going to talk about three commonly confused

words in English. They are "who", "that", and "which". Okay? I've written some information

on the board that I hope will help you. Let's have a look.

So, the point to remember is when we use "who", we should use it to refer to people. All right?

That's how you should be using the word "who". We're going to look at some examples in sentences

as well, but remember for now, "who" is used to refer to people. "That" is used to refer

usually to things and sometimes to people. You would not be wrong when you use it to

refer to people, but it is preferable, it is better to use "who" to refer to people.

And "which" is used only for things. All right? So, to review, "who" is used for people, "that"

is used for people or things, but preferably for things, and "which" is used only for things.

All right? So, let's look at some examples. "I know someone who can help you." Right?

"I know someone who", so a person who can help you. With a person, we can only say...

We should say "who". "The woman who called didn't leave a message." "The woman who called

didn't leave a message." Again, because it's a person, we are using "who". "The house that

she lives in is huge." What does "huge" mean? "Huge" means very large, very big. "The house

that", all right? Because it's a thing, we're using "that". "I like the piano that costs

$800." "I like the piano that costs $800." So, again, we're talking about a thing, so

we're using "that". Another one, "Where's the cell phone that was on the table?" or

"Where's the cell phone which was on the table?" Because it's a thing, we could use "that"

or "which", right? Another example, "The clothes which he bought were quite expensive." "The

clothes which he bought were quite expensive." Again, we're talking about things, clothes,

so we use the word "which", all right? In a moment, we're going to do a little quiz

to see how well you've understood this. Okay, so are you ready for a little quiz on "who",

"that", or "which"? Let's get started. So, what would we say? "The musician who", "The

musician that", or "The musician which"? What would we say? You should say, "The musician

who". We could also say, "The musician that", but as I mentioned, it's probably clearer

in your mind if you tell yourself that when I'm talking about a person, I'm going to use

"who". You'll always be right that way, okay? The next one, "The table", what should we

say? "The table", here we have a choice. You could say, "The table that is in the room",

or "The table which is in the room". Next one, "The teacher _____", what do we say?

"The teacher who", again, we're talking about a person. "The book _____", what do we say?

"The book that is on the table", "The book which is on the table". "The computer", what

do we say? Again, "that" or "which". "The doctor", what do we say there? Because it's

a person, we're going to say "who". "The doctor who treated you" is very good. "The doctor

who treated you" is very good, alright? Next one, "The shops _____", what do we say? It's

not a person. "The shops that are on the street are very good", or "The shops which are on

the street are very good". Last one, "The manager _____", what do we say? "The manager

who", because once again, we are talking about a person. Okay? If you would like to do some

more practice on these commonly confused words, "who", "that", and "which", please visit

our website, www.engvid.com, and there you'll find a quiz on this and many other subjects

in English. Thanks for watching. Bye for now.