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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary

That

Hi.

"Einstein's gravitation is quite unusual, compared to other field theories like electricity or magnetism, in that the description of motion (i.e. how an object moves) is already built into the field equations (how space time is curved)." [From Introducing Stephen Hawking by J.P. McEvoy and Oscar Zarate.]

Is the word "that" a pronoun or a conjunction introducing that-clause as an object of the preposition "in" in the context?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

I suppose that etymologically "that" is probably a conjunction, but in practice "in that" itself functions as a conjunction, meaning "because or to the extent that". The individual meanings of "in" and "that" are not tremendously apparent.

— GPY

  • I suppose that etymologically "that" is probably a conjunction, but in practice "in that" itself functions as a conjunction, meaning "because or to the extent that".
  • The individual meanings of "in" and "that" are not tremendously apparent.
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4 Answers
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I suppose that etymologically "that" is probably a conjunction, but in practice "in that" itself functions as a conjunction, meaning "because or to the extent that". The individual meanings of "in" and "that" are not tremendously apparent.
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GPYI suppose that etymologically "that" is probably a conjunction, but in practice "in that" itself functions as a conjunction, meaning "because or to the extent that". The individual meanings of "in" and "that" are not tremendously apparent.
Thank you, GPY, for your useful reply. I wonder whether another understanding of it is possible; this is to say that th
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You mean in full it would read "in that that the description of motion..."? This does not seem possible to me. "in that" is a set expression or idiom that suffices by itself.
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Thank you, GPY, for your useful reply.
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