Can "THAT" refer to a person?

Question

Hi there,

Im not GMATNinja, but this is my understanding of the "who" vs "that" debate.

As a general rule, "who" refers to people, and "that" can refer to things and people.

Ex. 
"There are people  who  wear blue swimsuits at the beach"
or
"There are people  that  wear blue swimsuits at the beach"

- In this second example "that" and "who" are both grammatically correct, and I would not confidently make a decision based on the who vs that. If there are any other aspects of the sentence which you could use to logically reason why one is more correct than the other I would do this. If referring to a person and this is the only decision point, pick who.

Hope this helps!

padwals · Answer

Only  who  or  whom  can be used to refer to  people .

GMATNinja · Answer

Thanks ZucchiniGMAT for jumping in! And Genoa2000 , I think you've answered your own question by referencing that OG question! There are very few black and white rules that we can apply consistently on the GMAT. And right when we think we've come up with a "rule" based past questions, the GMAT tends to break that rule. And then it laughs at us.

So if we have an official answer in which "that" is used for people ("an individual", in this case), then we know that we can't safely eliminate an option just because it uses "that" for people. I hope that helps a bit!

vv65 · Answer

There may be official questions in which "that" is used for people, but the question about lie detectors is not one of them.
In this particular question, "that" refers to "emotional reactions" (not to an "an individual")
"... lying produces emotional reactions ... that ... create unconscious physiological responses."

gentvenus · Answer

Yes that can be used for people and things

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  Genoa2000 ,  that  refers to  emotional reactions .

The easiest way to find this is: If  that  had referred to  individual  (single), then the correct verb would have been  creates  (and  not   create ).

Anshul1223333 · Answer

Hi,

On the usage of 'that' v/s 'who'.

can 'that' refer to a member of committee or board etc.

or 'who' is the apt usage?

for e.g, - The board has at least one member that holds a leadership position.

vv65 · Answer

'Who' may be better than 'that', but this is a GMAT preference. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, and your sentence is fine too, perhaps even in the GMAT.

This is what Merriam-Webster says on the topic:
'The notion that that should not be used to refer to persons is without foundation; such use is entirely standard.'
https://www.merriam-webster.com/diction ... learn-more

Posted from my mobile device

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Might be worth going through Official Questions to get a sense of what is preferable. If you are sensitive to this issue, chances are better you'll choose the correct THAT/WHO in the SC.

Anshul1223333 · Answer

vv65

That was quite insightful! Thanks a lot!

Can "THAT" refer to a person?

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