Anyone who or anyone that? (2025)

Concerning the use of the words who or that, which sentence below is better?

Anyone who doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

Anyone that doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

My guess is the first sentence. Additionally, I'm curious if the word 'while' should be replaced with 'when.'

Thanks!

I agree with you.

Anyone is a person, so who is correct.

I think while is better, although when would be fine. While gives the sense of during a period of time, while when has more of the sense of at a moment in time, although that's really not the case. While just seems to put more emphasis on duration.

MasterBlaster said:

Concerning the use of the words who or that, which sentence below is better?

Anyone who doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

Anyone that doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

My guess is the first sentence.

Thanks!

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Neither is inherently better, MB. Somewhere along the way, you've been misled by an old wives tale. Both are in use and both are fully grammatical. Using 'that' to refer to a person is really really common; that person/that lady/that man/ that boy/ that senator/ that man's wife/ that woman's husband/that ...

THE SOCIAL LIFE OF PRESCRIPTIVISM

So, the gripers. You have people who believe that there's a correct way of speaking and writing, and who impose that belief on others. For them, what they are doing is fighting for the truth, tradition, and the Natural Order of Language. While lots of them may have some interest in language and its inner workings, for most, language is simply a material/symbolic system that gets roped into social Othering.

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004327.html

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Both are in use and both are fully grammatical. Using 'that' to refer to a person is really really common; that person/that lady/that man/ that boy/ that senator/ that man's wife/ that woman's husband/that ...

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This is a different use of the word that than in the sentences presented.

That being said, it is true that that as in "anyone that doesn't wear..." is used, and often, but is not grammatically equally correct as "anyone who ...."

misled by an old wives tale

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An old wives tale is a story or belief based on folklore or traditional lore, and differs substantially from a rule of grammar.

The quotation cited is irrelevant, mean-spirited, dismissive and inappropriate.

BellaDancer said:

This is a different use of the word that than in the sentences presented.

That being said, it is true that that as in "anyone that doesn't wear..." is used, and often, but is not grammatically equally correct as "anyone who ...."

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Hello, BellaDancer.

I understand that that that that you've remarked upon is a different grammatical that. Nevertheless, the reasoning behind the prescription against using that as a relative pronoun referring to people is the same, is it not?

If you could explain why that that "is not grammatically equally correct as "anyone who", I'm sure it would be helpful.

the reasoning behind the prescription against using that as a relative pronoun referring to people is the same, is it not?

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that man in the corner
who man in the corner

The uses are not the same. The organic development of language does not mean that because "it's me" has come into common usage, "me am going to the store" becomes acceptable.

Moderator note:

May I remind everyone of the topic of this thread?

Anyone who or anyone that?
Concerning the use of the words who or that, which sentence below is better?

Anyone who doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

Anyone that doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

My guess is the first sentence. Additionally, I'm curious if the word 'while' should be replaced with 'when.'

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Other topics (like "old wives' tale") belong in other threads.

Thank you.

Nunty

MasterBlaster said:

Concerning the use of the words who or that, which sentence below is better?

Anyone who doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

Anyone that doesn't wear fall protection while working aloft is DAFT.

Click to expand...

Hi MasterBlaster,

Which of the two is "better" is really a matter of style, register, and above all, context.

Native speakers will understand the two sentences, and take them as identical in meaning. In formal writing, in which there is an expectation by the reader for adherence to established norms for—pardon the circular logic—formal register grammar, who will be expected. In colloquial settings, whether written or spoken,
it's your choice.

A strict grammarian may tell you that there is no choice, that one is right and the other wrong. That's one viewpoint. I don't share it. Just as I don't wear a necktie when I swim in the river in front of my house, I don't play in symphony concerts in my bathing suit. There are many settings that are open to almost any costume.

There's no need to get caught up in the squabbles among functionalists, descriptivists, prescriptivists, and the stultifying proscriptivists. Just pick the term that fits comfortably into your context, and let your ear for appropriate style help guide you.

Google Scholar - Articles and patents

"the people that" Results 1 - 10 of about 78,000

"the people who" Results 1 - 10 of about 1,110,000.

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Google Scholar - Legal opinions and journals

"the people that" Results 1 - 10 of about 14,000

"the people who" Results 1 - 10 of about 66,700.

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I'm quite sure that corpus studies would point to 'who' used more frequently in all registers but that doesn't mean that 'that' is excluded from any of the registers. A suggestion that all those who write in the more formal registers must abide by some "established norms" suggests a removal of the very essence of what those registers stand for, academic freedom.

These results illustrate that relying on generalities is a poor substitute for science.