Who & That, What & Which, and Wrong & Incorrect?

These are words that teachers, politicians, authors, even news people have trouble using correctly. So I thought I'd present a refresher.

"Who" refers to people. "What" and "that" refer to things. Period.

"Wrong" refers to ethical and moral judgments, as in do the right thing and not the wrong thing. "Incorrect" refers to accuracy, as in correct the the classes papers and correcting behavior.

Go ahead, test your friends ... or your teacher.

Say "I support politicians that take a non-partisan approach to governing." And ask what is grammatically incorrect with that statement. See how many say "nothing" or ask "Is this a trick question?" versus how many nail it with "Politicians are people (technically) so "who" should be used in place of "that" as in "I support politicians who take a non-partisan approach to governing".

While you're at it, ask them "What's wrong about that statement?" If they reply "Well, they should be partisan." or "Well, nothing is wrong." then they just don't get it. If they nail it, as noted above, saying "I  too support politicians who take a non-partisan approach to governing and, furthermore, I believe that is the only right way to govern." then they totally get it!

If you have very little time or prefer not to involve politics in your test, say "What tribe are they?" and ask what if anything is wrong with that question. If s/he responds that "which" should replace "what" to make it correct, then s/he gets it. If s/he responds by saying "It's wrong to use what in that instance; you should use 'Which tribe are they?" then, well, s/he is not a lost cause.

That's that!

By Steven J. Reichenstein