A person is a who, not a that or a which. This is a big one for me. I'm not sure why, but it drives me nuts, and nobody seems to get it right. Let's demonstrate.
My sister is the person that gave me a cookie.
By using "that," I have effectively dehumanized my sister. While in theory that's entertaining, it doesn't make for a very good sentence. The correct sentence would be:
My sister is the person who gave me a cookie.
Sounds less stupid, right? Here's an example with "which."
The space cowboy, which was named Maurice, also went by many other names.
I don't know why you'd even try to say that. It sounds dumb. Of course, the correct sentence is:
The space cowboy, who was named Maurice, also went by many other names.
Although "space cowboy" isn't a proper noun, it still refers to a person, and people are whos.
See how easy that was?
Woooo wooooo!
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