Who is a relative pronoun for human beings. For things other than human beings, that and which are the proper relative pronouns.
The goods were produced by firms who had independent contracts with the Government.Firms are not human beings; the sentence should be:
The goods were produced by firms that had independent contracts with the Government.Of course, using who in place of that is a common mistake.
Even terrific writers get it wrong on occasion:
In order to elicit private financing, the Mexican Government granted concessions to companies who would build and operate the system of toll roads.Grupo Mexicano De Desarrollo v. Alliance Bond Fund, 527 U.S. 308, 310 (1999) (Scalia, J.) (emphasis added).
2 comments:
You mean to make a valid point but your examples undermine it.
A company (assuming incorporation) is a "legal person" so it may be appropriate to use "who", especially in a legal document.
And a "firm" is a partnership of individuals so a collective noun and we can see the people hiding in it. So "who" may work here too?
You make a good point, Stephens.
I just posted a response.
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