Would one say “…a vendor who…” or “…a vendor that…”? [duplicate]

Question

What is the correct way to form a relative clause after the word "vendor" in the following sentence?

Our machines are serviced by a third party vendor who checks the machine during regular service.
Our machines are serviced by a third party vendor that checks the machine during regular service.

It couldn't be "whom" because "whom" cannot be used as the subject of a relative clause. I am not sure if that was a typo; in any case, I have edited your title to replace "whom" with "who", as in the body of the text. — herisson, Feb 21 '18 at 21:25

Colin Fine · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-21 21:27:19Z

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Both are fine. The one with that is perhaps a little more informal.

answered Feb 21 '18 at 21:27

Colin Fine

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Can you support this answer with a citation or any slightly more detailed explanation? As you know, one-liners aren't considered to be high-quality Stack Exchange posts. – herisson Feb 21 '18 at 21:29
I'm tired of simplistic and duplicate answers to duplicate questions. 'Excellent answer. +1 – Colin Fine Oct 17 '15 at 23:21' at one duplicate. Site mediocrity should be avoided. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 21 '18 at 22:57
Maybe this is a meta question, but without searching the site myself, I won't necessarily know if the question is a duplicate and that my one line answer would be considered mediocre by @EdwinAshworth. Why can't I just answer the question as I see fit? – JeremyC Feb 21 '18 at 23:07
@JeremyC It is a Meta question. And it too has been addressed before. ELU's mission statement is not just to provide answers to every question asked (no matter how many times that question has been asked before). – Edwin Ashworth Feb 22 '18 at 0:49

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