The boy who/that was wearing the blue coat

[LewisJian]

The boy who/that was wearing the blue coat was the one who broke the window.

Hi, the above is a sentence from a grammar book here. Do both who and that fit in the context and sound equally right? Thanks,

 

[Rover_KE]

What does the grammar book say is right?

 

[LewisJian]

What does the grammar book say is right?

They are both right, the grammar book says, but I think only who is right.

 

[Rover_KE]

They are both OK. Does the book tell you that 'who/that was' can be omitted?

'The boy wearing the blue coat was the one who broke the window.'

 

[LewisJian]

They are both OK. Does the book tell you that 'who/that was' can be omitted?

'The boy wearing the blue coat was the one who broke the window.'

Sure. Btw, in formal written English, is "that" still proper in this case?

 

[Matthew Wai]

'That' is correct because the relative clause is restrictive.

 

[PaulMatthews]

The boy who/that was wearing the blue coat ...

Either is grammatically correct, though with personal antecedents some people prefer to use "who" when the relative pronoun is subject, as it is here, and "that" elsewhere.

 

[jutfrank]

The grammar book is right. Both 'who' and 'that' are fine in BrE.

This is correct, but potentially misleading. They are both fine in all varieties of standard English.

 

[jutfrank]

Thank you, but I think you do actually know enough. The differences between say, the standard versions of the varieties that you mention, consist majorly in vocabulary and pronunciation. There are relatively very few differences in grammar.