The one that they said..?

[ZeFrenchRobin]

Hello everybody,
Can you give me your thoughts on the following sentence:

"Could it be? Could I be the one that they said was lost at sea?

My question being, is the use of that instead of whose/who/another pronoun correct? As a French I feel like this sentence makes sense but wanted to hear from actual English speakers.
Thanks!

 

[Rover_KE]

Bienvenu au forum.:-D

Can you give me your thoughts on the following sentence:

"Could it be? Could I be the one that they said was lost at sea?

My question being, is the use of "that" instead of "who" correct? As a native French-speaker I feel like this sentence makes sense but wanted to hear from actual English speakers.
Thanks!

Yes, it is. You can also omit "that"/"who" without changing the meaning:

Could I be the one they said was lost at sea?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello everybody.

Can you give me your thoughts on the following sentences?

"Could it be? Could I be the one that they said was lost at sea?

My question being, is the use of "that" instead of "whose/who/another pronoun" correct? As a French speaker, I feel like this sentence makes sense but wanted to hear from actual English speakers.
Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

You will hear the sentence with "that" rather than "who" from native speakers. However, "who" would be marginally better given that the speaker is referring to themselves (a person).

Note that it's also possible without "that".

(Cross-posted)

 

[teechar]

is the use of that instead of whose/who/another pronoun correct? As a French speaker I feel

Note also:
1- "Whose" cannot be substituted for "that" or "who" in that sentence, but "whom" can.
2- We don't use "a French" on its own to refer to a person.
3- In future, you don't need to write a post to thank someone. Just click Like/Thank.

 

[SoothingDave]

In the past, we would have said "As a Frenchman/Frenchwoman," but there isn't any good gender-neutral alternative.

 

[teechar]

A French person.

 

[jutfrank]

1- "Whose" cannot be substituted for "that" or "who" in that sentence, but "whom" can.

You can't use whom since it's the subject of the verb was.

 

[teechar]

You can't use whom since it's the subject of the verb was.

"In indirect questions with who, whom and what, the wh-word may be the subject or the object of the reported clause".
Source: The Cambridge Dictionary.

 

[jutfrank]

"In indirect questions with who, whom and what, the wh-word may be the subject or the object of the reported clause".
Source: The Cambridge Dictionary.

Right, but in the sentence in question the pronoun that is a subject, so it can't be replaced by whom.