"Which" for person

[Unregistered]

Hello everyone,

Can someone please help me with this grammar point.

"There are 3 Erics here. Which one are you talking about?"

Under relative clauses, we use "which" for things and not people. But why do we use 'which' here. I don't think we can use 'who' one are you talking about. We can use "who" are you talking about. Or, is this sentence wrong?

 

[Tdol]

The question is correct. You'll see different grammatical terms used to describe which in your example- some call it a determiner, others an adjective.

 

[mmasny]

Hello everyone,

Can someone please help me with this grammar point.

"There are 3 Erics here. Which one are you talking about?"

Under relative clauses, we use "which" for things and not people. But why do we use 'which' here. I don't think we can use 'who' one are you talking about. We can use "who" are you talking about. Or, is this sentence wrong?

'Which' is completely correct, because it's related to 'one', which is not a person necessarily. I think Who are you talking about? is less likely to be heard in this context. It's because 'who' does not indicate that you want to hear one of the Erics' names; it sounds like there was no relation between the former sentence and what you were saying now.
I am not a teacher.