That

Question

"Here and there nets may upset the stability of submarine."Why don't they say "...that may upset..."?

Englishmaven · Accepted Answer

First we need to recognize that "nets" is the subject of "may upset," while "here and there" is a compound adverb. If we were to insert "that" right before may, we would be creating a relative clause to modify the noun before it (which would be "nets"). But we would have also placed "Here and there nets" in the position of being the main clause modified by the relative clause (an adjectival clause) "that may upset the ..."

"Here and there nets" is not a clause yet. It is the beginning of something. It is not a clause. There is no subject verb relationship. It would be the same as writing something like this:

The dog that ran down the street.

It's a classic fragment. It isn't a complete sentence. "That ran down the street" is a relative clause modifying "dog," but there is no independent clause.

I am afraid of the dog that ran down the street.
That is the dog that ran down the street.

Here and there are nets that may upset the stability of the submarine. (By the way, we need an article before "submarine.")

That

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