which/who

[vkhu]

This is a line in a video game. I changed the last bit because it's irrelevant
"If I were a betting man, which of course I'm not, I would go for it."

Why is the connector "which" used here? Isn't it supposed to be "who" as it replaces the "betting man" part?

[bhaisahab]

This is a line in a video game. I changed the last bit because it's irrelevant
"If I were a betting man, which of course I'm not, I would go for it."

Why is the connector "which" used here? Isn't it supposed to be "who" as it replaces the "betting man" part?

No, "which" is correct.

[5jj]

Here "betting man" means something like"the sort of man who regularly bets".

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****Hello, Vkhu:

I know how confusing this can be. Sometimes, "which" is a relative pronoun that refers to the whole preceding idea.

Some writing teachers do not recommend this use of "which," but it is quite common. In your sentence, "which" refers

to "If I were a betting man." Thus you could also write it this way:

If I were a betting man (of course, I am not a betting man), I would go for it.

*****

Look at this sentence from the 1988 edition of L.G. Alexander's Longman English Grammar (page 23):

"She married Joe, which surprised everyone."

(a) "which" does NOT refer to "Joe." It refers to the fact of her marrying Joe.

(i) Mr. Alexander explains that another way of saying this is:

"She married Joe, and this surprised everyone." (P.S. "This" = the fact of her marrying Joe.)


HAVE A NICE DAY!