Can I use THAT as plural?

Question

Hi all, I have a question. according to my book, below sentence is true and "that" qualifies "variety" word. is it true and why? "that" is used together "are" and I conclude "that" is used as plural meaning. Am I wrong?

What they share in common, however, is the extraordinary variety of plant and animal life-forms that are a necessary part of the ongoing process of their formation.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Hi chattt, Welcome to English Forums. Thanks for joining us. [<:o)] Sorry your post slipped thru the cracks.

Everything you say is correct.

When you ask if the sentence is "true," do you mean "is it correct?" Yes, it's correct.

<< What they share in common, however, is the extraordinary variety of plant and animal life-forms that are a necessary part of the ongoing process of their formation. >>

I think your book is wrong in claiming the word "that" qualifies "variety."

For one thing, the word "that" can't qualify anything. As a relative pronoun, it stands for, or represents a word or phrase. In my opinion, it stands for "life-forms." "Life-forms" is the antecedent of "that," or the word which comes before it, which "that" represents.

"That" is the subject of a relative clause, which runs from "that" to the end of the sentence. The clause, taken is a whole, is what qualifies the antecedent, "life-forms."

The subject of the sentence is "what," or the whole phrase, "What they share in common, however,."

"Variety" is a very important and key word in your rather complicated sentence. It's the noun complement of the main verb, "is." Everything else qualifies "variety" either directly or indirectly.
"Extraordinary" qualifies it as a simple adjective.
The prepositional phrase, "of plant and animal life-forms" qualifies it by answering "what variety?"
And, as I said, the rest of the sentence (the "that" clause) qualifies "life-forms."
So you can say that the "that" clause indirectly qualifies "variety."
Notice that your sentence doesn't say that the variety is necessary. It says that the life-forms are necessary. This is (I think) where your numbers question comes in:
Do we mean - The variety that is necessary; or the life-forms that are necessary?
The relative pronouns "that" and "which" can be either singular or plural. If the antecedent is singular, then the verb must be singular. If the antecedent is plural, then the verb must be plural.

Barbarajohnson · Answer

Well i think that your sentence is correct and the book which says "that" is "variety", i don't think that it is correct. As you already have written a sentence that contains the answer of your question .....

Can I use THAT as plural?

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