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I've been watching the movie "King Arthur", and I heard Arthur asking "Which is X?"

Is it correct to say "Which is Jay?" instead of "Who is Jay?"?

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2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

"Which is Jay" and "Who is Jay" mean completely different things.

[Of the people over there], which [one] is Jay?

vs.

Who is [this] Jay [you speak of]?

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Just to understand this, what you really are saying is that the two are correct depending on the resulting answer you were looking for? – Billeeb Dec 3 '10 at 19:15
@Billeeb: yes. When used as a question word, it's correct to use "which" even if you're asking about a person. – Marthaª Dec 3 '10 at 19:50
up vote 3 down vote

Isn't the King's English always correct, by definition?

Of course, Arthur, had he existed, would not have been speaking English but British -- the P-Celtic language Brythonic -- so we can blame the translator if necessary.

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