Question

请教英语问题

Iron manufacturers which had starved for fuel while depending on charcoal also benefited from ever-increasing supplies of coal.
文中which应该指的是“iron manufacturers”，为什么不用“who”来代替。which一般不是用来指物吗？

Answer 1

您好，其实that 、which、who一定条件下是可以互换的
但是在以下情况只用that不用which：
1.当先行词为all, little, every, any, much, few, everything, none, no等不定代词时
2.当先行词既有人又有物时
3.当先行词有形容词最高级修饰时
4.当先行词有序数词修饰时
5.当先行词被the only, the very, the same, the right等修饰时
6.当主句是以which开头的特殊疑问句
针对本题
iron manufacturers是复数表一个集体，所以用which更为恰当。
希望能对您有所帮助

Answer 2

manufacturer作制造商,制造厂，制造公司都没问题，具体语境分析一下就行，who,which都可以的

Answer 3

which也可指人，但that是最常用的