_Who_, in the first of
the preceding examples, relates to an antecedent of the mas. gend. third
pers. sing.; in the second, the antecedent is of the fem. gend.; in the
third, it is of the second pers.; and in the fourth, it is of the first
pers. plur. num.; and, yet, the relative is in the same form in each
example. Hence you perceive, that the relative has no peculiar _form_ to
denote its gend. pers. and num., but it always agrees with its
antecedent _in sense_. Thus, when I say, The _man who_ writes, _who_ is
mas. gend. and sing.; but when I say, The _ladies who_ write, _who_ is
feminine, and plural. In order to ascertain the gend. pers. and num. of
the relative, you must always look at its antecedent.
WHO, WHICH, and THAT.
_Who_ is applied to _persons, which_ to _things_ and _brutes_; as, "He
is a _friend who_ is faithful in adversity; The _bird which_ sung so
sweetly, is flown; This is the _tree which_ produces no fruit."
_That_ is often used as a relative, to prevent the too frequent
repetition of _who_ and _which_. It is applied both to persons and
things; as, "_He that_ acts wisely, deserves praise; Modesty is a
_quality that_ highly adorns a woman.
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