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I'm wondering if there's any difference, be it semantically, grammatically and so on, between phrases like:

I hate people telling me what to do. / I hate people who tell me what to do.

They're just a bunch of guys having too much free time / They're just a bunch of guys who have too much free time.

I have a soft spot for girls wearing skirts. / I have a soft spot for girls who wear skirts.

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people telling ...

puts the accent on the verb you want to underline.

people who tell ...

puts the accent on the people.

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    Yes. I hate people telling me what to do = I hate being told what to do. // I hate people who tell me what to do = I hate those people who tell me what to do.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 9:37
  • The two other sentences aren't charged with enought feeling to have a very different meaning but I would say as follow: guys having too much free time = "it's ok, they have too much free time after hard work" // guys who have too much free time = "those guys have really too much free time, they are wasting their youth !". I can't find special difference on the last sentence
    – Yohann V.
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 10:20
  • So how does one break down the other sentences in this way and are they all equally correct?
    – Bebop B.
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 10:27
  • On the last one I would say (with exaggeration): for girls wearing skirts = "for girls who have some skirts" // for girls who wear skirts = "for girls who nearly only wear skirts" (associated maybe with negative class bias...)
    – Yohann V.
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 10:45

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