pronouns, who+that
Proper diction requires an understanding of words that are commonly confused.
"I always thought I'd be that girl that lives with no regrets. I have regrets." - Courtney Love
Courtney has used an incorrect relative pronoun.
In the noun phrase "girl that lives with no regrets," the relative pronoun "that" refers to "girl." This is incorrect because "that" should be used to refer only to animals and things. The subjective relative pronoun "who" should be used to refer to a person.
This version of Courtney's statement corrects the pronoun error:
"I always thought I'd be that girl who lives with no regrets."
Note: In the first instance of "that," the word is a demonstrative adjective modifying "girl."
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